The Light Between Oceans

For those who were fans of the book, it was a great adaptation. It was slow, but that was certainly true to the book.

The acting was excellent, and I loved the cast. Fassbender and Weisz are always winners, of course - Vikander I have enjoyed in the three movies I've seen her in. She was great when she needed to be great in this movie - there were some very dramatic and poignant scenes, and she pulled them off.

I loved the cinematography – especially the scenes filmed on the island – the constant wind! That was something which was conveyed in the book, but it's hard to keep "constant ferocious screaming wind" in your head while reading, because it would be awful if it were mentioned every paragraph, yet it's easy to forget that crucial detail while reading – the movie definitely conveyed that. Very atmospheric.

Yes, it was on the slow side - so don't watch it while drowsy, and you should be fine!

This film tells the story of a married couple living in a remote lighthouse, who finds a drifting boat in the sea with a healthy baby and a dead man inside. They raise the baby as their own, but soon moral challenges arise and they find themselves at an important crossroad.

I'm impressed by how beautiful "The Light Between Oceans" is. The scenery is so beautiful that it makes me want to visit that place and feel its serenity. The pain of the couple and their reasons for making such a decision is well portrayed in the film, and I do feel for them for having live with the consequences of their wrongs. The story is really beautiful because it is a story of love, and paradoxically tells that sometimes the right thing to do may not be the right thing to do. It is so hard to determine what is right and what is wrong in this situation, thereby creating a conflict which keeps the film captivating. I'm deeply moved by both Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander's performances. The film haunts me after it finishes, and I'm still affected by it and ruminating about it.

In my review of "The Two Faces of January" I described it as a film that "will be particularly enjoyed by older viewers who remember when story and location were put far ahead of CGI-based special effects". In watching this film I was again linking in my mind to that earlier film... and that was before the lead character suddenly brought up the two faces of Janus! For this is a good old-fashioned weepy melodrama: leisurely, character based and guaranteed to give the tear ducts a good old cleaning out.

It's 1918 and Michael Fassbender plays Tom Sherbourne, a damaged man seeking solitude and reflection after four years of hell in the trenches. As a short-term job he takes the post of lighthouse keeper on the isolated slab of rock called Janus - sat between two oceans (presumably as this is Western Australia, the Indian and the Southern Oceans). The isolation of the job previously sent his predecessor off his trolley.

En route to his workplace he is immediately attracted to headmaster's daughter Isabel (Alicia Vikander) who practically THROWS herself at Tom (the hussy), given that they only have snatches of a day at a time to be together during shore leave. Tom falls for her (as a hot blooded man, and with Vikander's performance, this is entirely believable!) and the two marry to retire to their 'fortress of solitude' together to raise a family and live happily ever after.... or not... For the path of true motherhood runs not smoothly for poor Isabel, and a baby in a drifting boat spells both joy and despair for the couple as the story unwinds.

(I'll stop my synopsis there, since I think the trailer - and other reviews I've read - give too much away).

While Fassbender again demonstrates what a mesmerising actor he is, the acting kudos in this one really goes again to Vikander, who pulls out all the stops in a role that demands fragility, naivety, resentment, anger and despair across its course. While I don't think the film in general will trouble the Oscars, this is a leading actress performance that I could well see nominated. In a supporting role, with less screen-time, is Rachel Weisz who again needs to demonstrate her acting stripes in a demanding role. (Also a shout-out to young Florence Clery who is wonderfully naturalistic as the 4 year old Lucy-Grace.) So this is a film with a stellar class, but it doesn't really all gel together satisfyingly into a stellar - or at least particularly memorable - movie. After a slow start, director Derek Cianfrance ("The Place Beyond the Pines") ladles on the melodrama interminably, and over a two hour running time the word overwrought comes to mind.

The script (also by Cianfrance, from the novel by M.L.Stedman) could have been tightened up, particularly in the first reel, and the audience given a bit more time to reflect and absorb in the second half.

The film is also curiously 'place-less'. I assumed this was somewhere off Ireland until someone suddenly starting singing "Waltzing Matilda" (badly) and random people started talking in Aussie accents: most strange.

Cinematography by Adam Arkapaw ("Macbeth") is also frustratingly inconsistent. The landscapes of the island, steam trains, sunsets and the multiple boatings in between is just beautiful (assisted by a delicate score by the great Alexandre Desplat which is well used) but get close up (and the camera does often get VERY close up) and a lack of 'steadicam' becomes infuriating, with faces dancing about the screen and - in one particular scene early on - wandering off on either side with the camera apparently unsure which one to follow! A memorable cinema experience only for Vikander's outstanding performance. Now where are those tissues...

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Derek Cianfrance, who directed the poignant Blue Valentine and the riveting The Place Beyond the Pines, brought probably the best out of Michael Fassbender and Rachel Weisz in quite some time, even if the film pulls at your heart strings a few too many times.

Amidst the beautiful landscaping shots of sunsets, beaches, and oceanic views, Cianfrance crafts the story of a couple who desperately want a child but can't have one, extremely well. As much as this film deals with tragedy, grief, and sorrow there was something so beautiful about the way Cianfrance tells the story. It unfortunately becomes flooded with sadness and difficult circumstances, but I never stopped rooting for these characters. Even when they are at the brink of a bad decision, I wanted the best.

That can be directly contributed to the terrific performances from the cast, and particularly Fassbender, Vikander, and Weisz. Fassbender brings so much power and gravitas to his roles, but I've never seen him so vulnerable. We saw a peek at the emotional weight he can bring to his characters in X-Men: Apocalypse last spring, but nothing can prepare you for his heartbreaking turn in this film.

Vikander and Weisz are just as good. All 3 characters have bad qualities and choices that could turn them into unlikable human beings, but Weisz and Vikander add a graceful human touch to their roles. Though Vikander doesn't have children in real life, I believed she could be a mother someday with her turn. Weisz on the other-hand is a mother, and that motherly instinct exudes onto the screen. Both performances are so mind-bendingly good.

One of the issues that's been brought up about this film is its over-reliance on pulling at your heart strings. It's a valid argument, especially considering all of the tragedy and horrible circumstances that occur. I can't really say it's a film I will revisit, but at the same time, I found Cianfrance's directing and the performances enough to get over the depressing nature of the film's plot. It's not an easy watch by any stretch of the imagination, but it's an important one for sure.

+Oscar worthy performances from all 3 leads

+Beautifully shot

+Cianfrance's style

-Manipulative at times

7.7/10

The Light Between Oceans starts Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander and Rachel Weisz. And its the story of a couple living in a lighthouse and in the ocean they find a baby. And that's all I am going to say since the trailer again ruined some important plot points of the film. This movie is very slow but is the kind of movie in which almost everything is on point and it never goes to a route in which derails the movie, I was pleasantly surprised! I loved this film! The cinematography is amazing with a lot of shots of the ocean and the wind, it was truly jaw-dropping. The acting was also great, Michael Fassbender as always gives a brilliant performance. But the actress who surprised me a lot is Alicia Vikander. She is fantastic as this lady who has lost a lot and has a lot of regret. She was truly Oscar-worthy. The story was great as it is not only about the relationship between Tom and Isabel, but it's also about guilt, sadness, loss, etc. The ending floured me, I absolutely loved it. The only issue I have is that Toms and Isabels relationship is a bit rushed and with no real sense of direction, and the beginning is kind-off slow but then it picks it right back up the next 5 minutes. I had a great time with this film and i would recommend it to everybody who wants to experience a heart-breaking story that is actually realistic and authentic.