"The Lighthouse" - American independent film that won the Best Cinematography Award at the 92nd Academy Awards in 2020.
It is not so much a thriller and horror film as it is a fable, a story of fighting against fate and desire:
There are only four characters in the film, but not all of them are real. Winslow's mechanically boring life as a sailor is intertwined with bizarre, absurd dreams; Thomas's usually arrogant, ugly image of Winslow as a lackey overlaps with his drunken, old father-like image; and the dead Thomas' body and mermaid are both Is the source of Winslow's fears and nightmares. What is real? What is fantasy?
Only Winslow is a real character in the film
First of all, from the plot point of view, as a young and strong sailor, Winslow would be at the mercy and humiliation of an old man. Sometimes he hated the old Thomas deeply, and sometimes he trusted him very much. Secret-to die for a former comrade, and steal other people's clean identities. This is incredible for Winslow, who is just trying to work hard and earn some money. It seems to be his inner struggle for the sin he has committed - Winslow, a man who has lost his dignity, but desperately longs for it.
After running out of ammunition and food, Winslow finally wanted to escape this island, but Thomas destroyed his ship and tried to hack him with an axe. After Winslow was trapped in the room, Thomas just slashed the axe on the table. Hurt him, and tricked Winslow into having the blade in his pocket ready to kill him. Logically speaking, two people whose contradictions have intensified to such a degree should have a fight scene where you die or I live at this moment. Here it appears that Winslow is a poor creature trapped by Thomas, who had the opportunity to resist and escape, but always had no way of doing it. It's like fate, the fate that you hate but can't get rid of.
In the end, Winslow, who was tortured by the storm, starvation, cold, and humiliation to the point where he couldn't bear it, still killed Thomas, let Thomas roll into a deep pit and bury him alive. Winslow finally got the key and was about to walk towards the beacon he had been yearning for and curious about. Thomas suddenly flashed and slashed him again, which further suggested that Thomas might just be an illusion of Winslow.
The Symbolism of Thomas' Vision
In fact, whether Thomas is Winslow's hallucination or a real lighthouse watchman. For Winslow, Thomas is the master who uses "flattering words" to urge himself to work hard, but also humiliates himself to surrender; he not only seduces himself with "beacon beauty", but never lets himself see and touch.
In the end, Winslow approached the lighthouse, immediately fell down the stairs, and was shaved off every inch of skin by the seagull while awake. What makes me curious the most is, did Winslow, who finally saw the lighthouse, feel that he died rightly or that he was wronged when he died? We have no way of knowing.
Those who have experienced nightmares must know that the horror is not a sudden shock, but a dark and eerie atmosphere surrounded by various strange sounds. Director Robert Eggers used black and white tones; throughout the tsunami, the sound of the lighthouse, the screams; and the imagery of the mermaid, the god's carcass with glowing eyes in the storm, etc., to create such an ancient mythical fable-style film, Presented in the form of a 1:1 composition, probably to make the audience look at this story, which is both true and false, from the perspective of God who is on the sidelines.
As the saying goes: when the false is true, the true is false, and there is something inactive and there is nothing. Isn't this also a description of the mysterious fate? The inhumanity of heaven and earth regards all things as cud dogs. It makes confused human beings enslaved by desire all their lives. This "lighthouse" is a symbol of desire. When it is placed in front of you, you will find that it is just a lighthouse~
Schopenhauer said that life is like a pendulum swinging back and forth between boredom and pain. If you don't get it, it's painful, and if you get it, it's boring. When you are bored, you have new desires, and you have new pains.
Life is a process of fighting with fate, and a person's defeat starts from the loss of dignity. Just like in the movie Winslow was desperate for his comrades and then stole his identity, and since then he has lost to himself.
About the author of the article: Drama Sea Mystery Whale, accompany you to watch dramas and movies from the most unique perspective, and chat from poetry and songs to philosophy of life in the sharpest language.
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