The Light Between Oceans (2016)
Country: GB/NZ/US
Technical: col/2.35:1 133m
Director: Derek Cianfrance
Cast: Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander, Rachel Weisz, Jack Thompson
Synopsis:
After the Great War, a veteran takes a temporary job as lighthouse keeper on an island off the south coast of Australia. His isolated existence, and the extension of his contract, soon give way to marriage with a girl on the mainland, but her inability to carry a baby to term leads to unhappiness, godsend and, finally, tragedy.
Review:
A story that well and truly puts you through the mincer, just as it does its characters, all of whom are sympathetic. Such a prolonged story arc lends itself uncomfortably to theatrical running times, but the adaptation overcomes this limitation well, and one is rarely left feeling that sense of perfunctory elision common to large-scale literary narratives on screen. Above all, the film eschews grandiosity in favour of an intimate engagement with the characters' inner lives, which are conveyed through close-up, tell-tale objects, letters, and the performances.
Country: GB/NZ/US
Technical: col/2.35:1 133m
Director: Derek Cianfrance
Cast: Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander, Rachel Weisz, Jack Thompson
Synopsis:
After the Great War, a veteran takes a temporary job as lighthouse keeper on an island off the south coast of Australia. His isolated existence, and the extension of his contract, soon give way to marriage with a girl on the mainland, but her inability to carry a baby to term leads to unhappiness, godsend and, finally, tragedy.
Review:
A story that well and truly puts you through the mincer, just as it does its characters, all of whom are sympathetic. Such a prolonged story arc lends itself uncomfortably to theatrical running times, but the adaptation overcomes this limitation well, and one is rarely left feeling that sense of perfunctory elision common to large-scale literary narratives on screen. Above all, the film eschews grandiosity in favour of an intimate engagement with the characters' inner lives, which are conveyed through close-up, tell-tale objects, letters, and the performances.
Country: GB/NZ/US
Technical: col/2.35:1 133m
Director: Derek Cianfrance
Cast: Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander, Rachel Weisz, Jack Thompson
Synopsis:
After the Great War, a veteran takes a temporary job as lighthouse keeper on an island off the south coast of Australia. His isolated existence, and the extension of his contract, soon give way to marriage with a girl on the mainland, but her inability to carry a baby to term leads to unhappiness, godsend and, finally, tragedy.
Review:
A story that well and truly puts you through the mincer, just as it does its characters, all of whom are sympathetic. Such a prolonged story arc lends itself uncomfortably to theatrical running times, but the adaptation overcomes this limitation well, and one is rarely left feeling that sense of perfunctory elision common to large-scale literary narratives on screen. Above all, the film eschews grandiosity in favour of an intimate engagement with the characters' inner lives, which are conveyed through close-up, tell-tale objects, letters, and the performances.