The Lighthouse

Programme: Bordwell / Thompson : Carte Blanche Directed by Robert Eggers, USA (Canada 2019) With Robert Pattinson, Willem Dafoe, Valeriia Karaman 109 min / B&W / Subtitles: FR David and I saw Robert Eggers’ film in 2019, on our last visit to the Venice Film Festival before Covid hit. Two years later David’s chronic lung disease started his slow decline, and we were not able to return. I am not particularly fond of the horror genre, but I admire German cinema of the 1920s, notably Expressionism and Kammerspiel—which were often respectively horror films and psychological dramas. The Lighthouse is an excellent pastiche combining both. It imitates the look of silent film, right down to manipulating modern film stock to have the quality of early cinema. The story of two isolated lighthouse keepers who gradually go mad and turn against each other fits well into the tone of those German silents. It’s genuinely creepy, if not exactly scary. – Kristin Thompson Theatre: Ledoux