Le Phare du bout du monde

This is an adventure film based on a Jules Verne's novel about a pirate captain and his crew that take over a small island with a lighthouse on it; the idea is to turn out the light at night when ships are at sight so that they crash against the rocks and the pirates can easily steal everything from the passengers and the wrecked vessel. The point is that one of the lighthouse servers -the only survivor- manages to escape into the island and will try to ruin the pirates sinister plans.

Though not a great film at all and a bit slow, "The Light at the End of the World" doesn't lack some sort of charm and interest perhaps because of the lone man's fight against the whole bunch of criminals all by himself and perhaps also because of the hostile and lonely atmosphere in which the action takes place.

Kirk Douglas is the lonely fighter and Yul Brynner plays the flamboyant and deadly captain Kongre, leader of the pirates. The feminine touch is brought by Samantha Eggar as a survivor of a ship wreck that is captured by Kongre's men.

Not a great adventure film, but sort of original and worth a look in my opinion for fans of the genre.

The film was shot in the coast of Spain, but Verne's novel settles the action in the "Isla de los Estados", a small Argentine island a few miles east of its most southern province called "Tierra del Fuego" (Land of Fire) where you can still visit the lighthouse that inspired Verne.

3 stars for the cinematography by Henri Decaë--a beautiful, windswept, remote, rocky coastline in Spain, standing in for the story's location. This is an odd kind of adventure film, with sudden and numerous violent deaths of innocent victims. Those scenes create a downbeat, even depressing atmosphere that never leaves the mind. Acting powerhouses Kirk Douglas and Yul Brynner are not really used to advantage. They're just there to keep the plot going with a relentless, mutual antagonism. Some special effects are impressive, others not so much. An oddly romantic score by Piero Piccioni seems meant for a different movie. See it for the locations.

Pirates led by the supremely evil Yul Brynner, take over a lighthouse run by Kirk Douglas, Fernando Rey on a rocky island. They then execute a devious plan to cause ships to run aground, pillaging their wrecks. Douglas survives, and he desperately fights their plot whilst plotting and planning to avoid Brynners gang of demented bloodthirsty savages, Sammantha Eggar is the shipwrecked maiden that avoids the pirates slaughter soon complicates the situation. 'The Light At The Edge Of The World' is based on a novel by Jules Verne. It is nothing short of thrilling and for it's time shocking, It deserves a little more recognition.

An interesting adventure film based on a Jules Verne story filmed in 1970 and financed by Kirk Douglas' Bryna Productions and banks and backers from Spain, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. I first saw it when it was aired by the Beeb in the summer of 1995 and was most impressed. Off the bleak location of Cape Horn around 1865, three lighthouse keepers: a jaded ex-miner Will Denton (Kirk Douglas), Captain Moritz (Fernando Rey) and young Felipe (Massimo Ranieri) are confronted by wreckers led by pirate captain, Jonathan Kongre (Yul Brynner). After his companions are brutally murdered, later including Felipe's cute capuchin monkey, Mario, Denton ekes out a passive existence in a cave till he resolves to fight back assisted by Montefiore (Renato Salvatore) a survivor from one of the ships lured to the rocks by the pirates. The desperate situation is complicated by another survivor, a young English woman, Arabella (Samantha Egger), who is used by Kongre to mimic Denton's former love, Emily Jane. Douglas and Brynner act with flair - Douglas gives another heroic sub-Nietzschean performance vis a vis 20.000 Leagues under the Sea (1954) and Ulisse (1954). In appearance he looks like a Nineteenth-Century hippie adventurer - bearded and with straight lightbrown hair and fiery blue-green eyes. Brynner is a flamboyant counterpoint. Despite some squeamish scenes and illogical phases the extraordinary Spanish settings - the white-topped rising arches and surreal psychedelic colours plus a soaring romantic light popular classical Italian score by Piero Piccioni give this film a metaphysical feel.

After seeing "The Light at the Edge of the World," over 40 years after its release, I understand why it was a dismal flop in 1971. I remember the billboard advertising highlighting Kirk Douglas and Jules Verne, with small pictures of Yul Brynner and Samantha Eggar. I am certain many a parent dragged her kids screaming from a "Jules Verne/Kirk Douglas pirate movie" featuring mutilations, gang rape and the skinning of one especially beloved character. Those few adult couples likely attracted to the movie were likely put off by the weak pacing, inept direction and abysmal music.

However those of us who can look beyond the cheap jack trappings will be rewarded with strong lead performances by Kirk Douglas and, especially, Yul Brynner. Samantha Eggar, who has much less screen time, also impresses, even though most of her scenes are undercut by the weak direction.

At 2 hours and 7 minutes, "The Light at the Edge of the World" is at least 20 minutes too long. The flashback exposition regarding Douglas' character is not only unnecessary, it undercuts what little suspense the ineffectual direction could muster. One of these days, I would love to have video editing software to deconstruct and reconstruct this movie, removing unnecessary scenes, tightening camera fields and replacing the awful music. Barring that, "The Light at the Edge of the Word" is worth seeing, if only for Yul Brynner's chilling performance.

I give "The Light at the Edge of the World" a "6".