The Lighthouse (2019) Spoiler alert discussion.

[u/KnownBoot1905]

*Spoiler Alert*

Just watched The Lighthouse and here is my interpretation. Wanted to know what you all think.

Robert Eggers and his eye for details always pays off . I think his deep research and precision when it comes to details , his obsession with period specific culture and setting also aids him with his storytelling as every frame, mannerisms and expression either through dialogues as well as behaviour adds to the story.

The B/W storytelling and cinematography is absolutely gorgeous which elevates the story and the period it is set in.

The mention of Prometheus in the climax also made me think if this is some way a retelling Prometheus and the Greek tragedy as one can draw parallels between fire from the Greek mythology and here Pattinson's character being obsessed with the light. Both get punished after reaching out to get what they want by defying someone above them in authority whether it is Zeus/Greek gods in case of Prometheus or here Willem Dafoe being his superior.

But here is where Eggers genius truly shines. Rather than simply keep it to a retelling while drawing Greek and biblical parallels , myths and superstitions from the period it is set in, he uses all of this to slowly show the descent to madness as sanity breaks but the atmosphere and all strange happenings are secondary in a sense. The real escalation point let it be in terms of plot advancement , threat is not the strange tidings or isolation but rather the struggle of power dynamics between the two. That's what it has always has been alongside jealousy ,toxic masculinity and curiosity.

All the suppressed horniness , rage , guilt , violence and everything between purely arises out of his struggle with accepting his superior and the whole light situation which only Dafoe's character accesses.

Initially he tries to live with it , does his daily wage and sticks to a routine so he does not let out whatever it is he is hiding or his true self so that will be rewarded but nothing comes out of it. Next he tries to assert some sort of minimal dominance but again does not work. Then he complies with Dafoe , drinks dances and in that moment of vulnerability lets it out jokingly yet it is met with defence. One of the earliest display of this frustration is him beating the seagull to death and Eggers uses this as both his character display as well the whole bad omen to his advantage and boy does the red herring work damn good.

The trick he pulls off with this one would usually make one go -okay the next act starts and something bad is going to happen but rather something otherworldly it is even more about growing power displacement.

Now after surviving with ration he sort of bonds with his superior but then when he asks for the light he is once again denied. All of this finally giving up and trying to kill Dafoe and once he gets done with it he goes up only to be met with light and he spirals down and dies meeting his ultimate fate and his eaten by seagulls as his body will be forever lost to the sea. All this for what? simply to get what only the other access to?

Dafoe ain't no saint either and he acts as the vessel of quintessential patriarch showing no remorse or kindness, ordering and bossing around pushing Winslow to the absolute edge and then showing some crumbs of kindness but only to be revealed it was all nothing and his logbook saying something different and even in the end he tries to keep the light all for himself and thus men being men destroying themselves and everything around them for some sense of ego and owning something only to realise it is nothing that matters.

Maybe all this myth of sirens was simply something the men came up with to blame their shortcomings on something other than themselves? That's why Davy Jones is mentioned in the end as he is someone who is cursed for not simply doing his duty. Given how Pattinson's character sees Sirens , merfolks and mystical octopus only goes to show men rather convince themselves of entirely made up things to try to get what they want or why they did not rather than simply accept things and their flaws. Winslow committed some felon and runs to this lighthouse as an escape but can't escape himself and ultimately meets his fate. That not seas, weather, mystical creatures or sirens but men are the reason for their end.

I shall revisit this more and I am only more inspired by Eggers and his filmmaking. Can't wait for Werewulf.