Hell on Earth: The Use of Film Style in The Lighthouse

This article will feature in depth plot details of The Lighthouse (2019).

The Lighthouse (2019) by Robert Eggers. Set in the 1890's, the film follows two men isolated on an island, charged with the upkeep of the titular lighthouse as they descend slowly into madness. Throughout this article I will be analysing the film’s use of ‘film style’ and technique, the manner with which Eggers’ craft is deployed to create one of the most effective films of the 21st century. The primary ways in which Eggers portrays this mental deteriation are: Full control over the Mise-en-scene (set design and arrangement of actors in scenes), as well as his use excellent use of sound, editing, and cinematography. All of these elements are implemented in isolation as well as being used to form a cohesive environment that is beyond the natural world. A key concept explored throughout this article will be the basis of The Lighthouse used as a parallel for the myth of Prometheus; a Greek tale detailing how a titan gave humanity the gift of fire and as a result was bound to a rock and forced by Zeus to endure being eaten by an eagle for the rest of time. A reflection of this myth can be seen in The Lighthouse as the characters are placed on an inescapable rock as they’re ravaged by the nature around them; the lamp of the lighthouse itself being the representation of the fire, their upkeep of its light being a gift to the sailors outside of their enclosed island. The elements of film style all come together to make the island the film takes place on seem as close to an almost barren purgatorial realm as possible whilst still ensuring the film is set in a somewhat realistic world. There are no scenes outside of this island, the characters are completely isolated, at points becoming delusion - hallucinating what is happening to them and their surroundings. The two characters Winslow (Robert Pattinson) and Wake (Willem Dafoe) are the only people on the island. Although they start quite unsure of each other, they are reasonably civil yet their isolation begins to drive them mad, causing frequent confrontation and attacks between the two. This opposition is only furthered by the abrasion of naturally occurring elements taken to an almost supernatural extreme; the constant screeching of seagulls, the crashing of the waves, and the howling of the wind. It is in this way that The Lighthouse shows the nature of madness and how individuals can be driven to their breaking point. Academic, Foucault said in 1961 - “What desire can be contrary to nature since it was given to man by nature itself?”. The Lighthouse can be seen as a response to this idea, positing what if the desires men were given were from forces outside and above nature itself; the almost eldritch, lovecraftian torture seemingly being inflicted with concious intention. We see throughout the film, the slow loss of humanity and civility and its replacement with conflict and aggression. With this in mind I argue that in The Lighthouse, film style functions in order to display the fallible nature of humans when faced with elements beyond their humanity.

One element of the film’s style that highlights the fallible nature of humans when faced with elements beyond their humanity is Eggers’ use of sound throughout the film. Audio landscapes being used to create a constant attack on both the characters and the viewer creates an offensive atmosphere from which there is no escape. Within the opening scene on which the two characters arrive at the lighthouse, the first things we hear are the screeching of a seagull, followed by the crashing of waves. These two noises become constant features of the diegetic soundscape in the entirety of the rest of the film, even when inside their cabin we can hear the waves in the distance, a constant reminder of how trapped they are on this island. The final scene of the movie also ends with a cut to black whilst the sounds of the seagulls and the waves continue to play, signalling that the island had destroyed two men but more would come to take their place, that The Lighthouse would remain. Earlier on in the film the cry of seagulls drives Winslow to a breaking point, after coming face to face with one of the birds, he grabs it by the neck and violently, almost gratuitously smashes it over a rock; the prolonged medium-long shot without any cuts serving to highlight and emphasize the violence and depravity of Winslow’s actions. This outburst of anger is a key example of how the unnatural persistence of the sea birds and the area around him has led Winslow to lose part of his humanity, overtaken by the anger and fear that the island has imposed upon him. After the killing of the seagull, Robert Fernandez, the head of sound for the film, has the rest of the flock start crying even louder; nature itself has taken offence at the actions of Pattinson’s character and has begun to further its torment of him. Within this scene, we also hear the soundtrack - a deep ominous horn that sounds exactly like that of a ship, adding to the maritime torture and yet also signalling to the audience the weight of Winslow’s actions. This, combined with the noise of the birds as well as the howling of the wind creates the hellish soundscape present throughout a large section of the film. There is generally very little reprieve from the noise, the persistence of the auditory attack serving both to push characters to breakdown as well as to inform audiences of the purgatorial, even hellish nature of the island. In talking about musical interpretations of Dante’s Inferno in the twentieth century Maria Ann Roglieri talks consistently about composers' use of ‘anti music’ in order to create the necessary hellscape within their productions. This is an idea that can be easily applied to the use of sound within The Lighthouse, Mark Korven’s soundtrack is largely made up of noises as opposed to symphonies. In addition to the horns replicating the sound of ships passing, we also hear drums seemingly mirroring the crashing of waves upon rocks and the sound of machinery. This concept of anti music is key in giving the film it’s unnatural feeling, the very basis of the soundtrack was envisioned to “create ethereal bounds” and explore the area of sound around these boundaries. The use of sound to create an unnatural atmosphere in the viewers helps to immerse and reflect the unnatural atmosphere outside the bounds of human experience that the characters are now actually experiencing.

Another way in which film style functions in order to display the fallible nature of humans when faced with elements beyond their humanity is through the use of cinematography. The most obvious element of cinematography is the fact that the film was shot in black and white. Film analyst, Matt Miller states “black and white changes a movie thematically, providing atmosphere, tone, and visually providing stark contrasts and a dreamlike view of the world. It can at once make a film feel more real... while making it feel unreal”. The use of black and white in The Lighthouse being used to create an immersive reality of the 1890’s as well as, according to Eggers, “a bleak austere lifestyle and setting”. The realism helps in reminding viewers of much older films, perhaps as far back as the golden age of Hollywood, allowing audiences to almost subconsciously place themselves in the disparate atmosphere of the 1890’s in which the film is set. Miller’s point of black and white being used to make the film feel unreal is also key, combined with the fact that real life is in colour so viewers are automatically displaced from truly finding a reality that humans are accustomed to within this film; the blackness of the waves that trap the characters within the island creates this almost Lovecraftian scene, again furthering the world of the film from anything that is within the normal earthly bounds. This removal from the typical human experience both in a temporal and spatial manner underlines the surreality of the film creating a situation in which Winslow and Wake break through their consciences and their human nature to become beings outside of civilization. One scene in which we see humanity become stripped away from Wake is during his monologue in which he places a sea curse upon Winslow. The low angle looking up at his face creates an almost godly sense of power over his fellow man, his freedom from the restraints of his humanity granting him dominion over Winslow. This is thematically in line with the motif of Gods in The Lighthouse. The Greek Gods that were said to have punished Prometheus being called upon to punish Winslow in the same way strengthens the parallels between the two. The shadows in this scene are also heavily emphasised by the black and white cinematography; the high contrast and Dafoe being lit from underneath creates unusual shadows that distort and disguise his face in such a way that he looks almost monstrous. The darkness of shadows consuming characters’ faces indicates their darkest inhibitions becoming unleashed by their time on the island, their humanity being destroyed opens up a Pandora's box of evil and suffering between the two. This also contributes to the idea that the unnatural place the characters find themselves in has torn away his humanity and elevated him to a higher power. This scene is played in combination with the use of sound to emphasize Wake’s power during his cursing of Winslow, the cracks of thunder play over the dialogue, again not only adding to the hellish environment but also drawing parallels to Zeus, the controller of lightning in Greek mythology, which aligns with Winslow as the punished Prometheus, thus showing Wake’s loss humanity to become something more powerful if only for a brief period of time.

The visual presentation of the film through its Mise-en-scene serves to show the world as something beyond the humanity of the characters. The entire film takes place on a rock of an island, the only structures being a small cabin and the lighthouse. In this way the film portrays the lighthouse itself as the watcher over an almost primordial land. The beam of light acting as a Godlike spotlight overseeing a hell on Earth. Its constant presence in the background of scenes reminds viewers and characters that it’s influence is persistent, driving Wake and Winslow to madness. Along with the black and white cinematography, one element of the mise-en-scene that truly illustrates the troubling living conditions within the film is the cabin in which they live and take shelter from the elements on the island outside as well as their clothing which is relatively elegant and refined at first, the buttoned collars and well maintained hats marking a sense of civility and class amongst the incoming lighthouse keepers. However, as the film progresses and the characters begin to lose a grip on their sanity, their clothing begins to become a lot more patched together and basic, nothing flashy or removed from the essentials necessary to survive, their clothes becoming wet, torn, and dirtied by their interactions with everything on the rock that is outside their cabin - which is the only thing that keeps them separated from the hellscape world outside. The climax of the film sees Winslow naked on the rocks being eaten by seagulls. His clothing is stripped away, removing any vestige of humanity that he may have had, just like in the myth of Prometheus, birds descending upon him as punishment for his actions. Towards the end of the film, the roof of the cabin starts leaking, allowing the storm that encompasses the island to leak into the living space of the characters; this parallels their departure from sanity and human nature - the almost supernatural elements have broken through the boundaries of the cabin and have taken control of Winslow and Wake. The cabin itself is also very primitive, a collection of boards and basic furniture; the bare necessities for these characters to survive on the island. This is in juxtaposition to the structure of the lighthouse which is made of stone, and kept in peak condition. The strength and height of the titular building in comparison to the cabin can be compared to the struggle of man itself, the light being the fire of the gods while the cabin houses the humans who crave this power. It’s imposing spiral structure creating a staircase of power almost, Wake’s attempt to dominate the light acting as an attempt for him to step outside his nature as a human being and become something much more. This of course leads to his downfall as well as his ultimate demise. The structure of the lighthouse is also very influential over the aspect ratio of the film, it could be said that the 1:19:1 aspect ratio in which the film is shot acts as a visual nod to the lighthouse itself, the long black bars at either side of the frame creating an image that is reminiscent of the building. Primarily though the aspect ratio serves to create the sense of claustrophobia and inescapability that comes with the island. The characters being focussed on in this way allows us to see their emotion and their depravity in extreme detail, in addition to the fact that we may feel as close to them as they do to each other.

Furthermore, editing is also used in The Lighthouse in order to the fallible nature of humans when faced with elements beyond their humanity. Most relevant in its use during the fight sequence in which we see a manipulation of audiences expectations of standard industry continuity editing. Winslow and Wake begin to fight and throughout the scene every cut back to Wake’s character sees them replaced with a different stand in be it a sailor from whom Winslow stole his identity, a mermaid, or Wake covered in coral seemingly embodying Triton, the god of the sea. This scene comes after an indefinite exposure to the elements on and surrounding the island. It acts as a clear indicator not only to the audience but also Winslow himself that he has lost his sanity due to his time faced with an unnatural world. The match cuts paired with deliberately mismatched compositional elements show us that Winslow is hallucinating while not confusing the audience about what is happening in the scene. The sound is used in combination with the editing here. Every time the ‘person’ being attacked by Winslow changes there is also a change in the audio, the mermaid being much calmer and more ethereal than when Winslow attacks Wake. The editing is also used in combination with set design when looking at the establishing shots throughout the film. The first scene opens with a view of the island from afar, this allows us to see the shining light of the lighthouse from a distance; this establishes its ominous omnipresence that is seen through the rest of the film. Scenes that take place outside the cabin usually have an establishing shot which is very wide allowing a view of the lighthouse in the background, this being a constant reminder of the influence it is having on the characters, their proximity to the building constantly influencing their mental state. These establishing shots also serve as another way to include the birds and the waves, their unnatural persistence of presence a key cause of the insanity that envelopes the pair. The irregularity of the ‘natural’ world on the island is also demonstrated before Winslow kills the seagull. There is an eyeline match between Winslow and the seagull - the fact that the bird’s viewpoint is given the same weight of importance in the edit and the man’s shows that there is an inherent disbalance in the world order on the island. Men and animals have become levelled by both the island, and from a filmmaking perspective, the edit. This apparent desecration of the appropriate world order would’ve been seen as a perversion of God in the 1890’s and further added to the idea that the island was a form of super nature which was driving the two men to insanity.

Conclusively, film style in The Lighthouse functions to display the fallible nature of humans when faced with elements beyond their humanity. It does this through a combination of Mise-en-scene, editing, sound design, and cinematography. The use of the sounds of seagulls and waves crashing, in combination with the editing to make them seem like an imposing threat to the characters at every moment is equally as important as the cinematography; the high contrast shadows subconsciously exposing the darkness within the characters that all the elements of mise-en-scene such as their oil covered clothes brings to the forefront. These elements, propagated by the myth of Prometheus as well as a backbone of mythological references throughout the piece shows Eggers’ intention to bring Winslow and Wake beyond the realm of ordinary human nature as a result of their time spent in and around the lighthouse. We see them become something more powerful than men only to be punished, for their ambition and their resultant lack of humanity, by higher powers. Higher powers which are both implicitly and explicitly embodied by the structure of the lighthouse itself, a watchtower which observes the descent into madness of two men trapped on an island.