M.L. Stedman's best-selling romance novel comes to life in an evocative film from writer/director Derek Cianfrance (Blue Valentine, The Place Beyond the Pines). While occasionally melodramatic, The Light Between Oceans boasts stellar performances, a riveting story, and the best cinematography this reviewer has seen in 2016.
Michael Fassbender plays Tom Sherbourne, who is selected to be the keeper of the Janus lighthouse off the coast of Western Australia. He falls in love with Isabel (Alicia Vikander). The couple marry and live together at the isolated lighthouse. After a tumultuous turn of events, Tom and Isabel find a rowboat adrift in the shallows. On it are a dead man and a crying, newborn baby girl. When they decide to take the child in rather than report it to the authorities, Tom and Isabel open a Pandora's box with consequences neither of them are prepared for.
The Light Between Oceans is a film in three, possibly four, distinct parts. The first is your classic romance; the second raises the stakes with the arrival of the baby; the third gives us the consequences of Tom and Isabel's decision; the fourth is a satisfying epilogue. I can understand how some viewers might find these proceedings a bit slow. In many ways, The Light Between Oceans is a big cheesy romance. But it's so much more than that. Cianfrance has always paced his films deliberately, and if you're patient, you'll be rewarded by the performances and the visuals at the very least.
Fassbender and Vikander are wonderful in their respective parts. These are two of the best film actors working today, and I expect them to be in contention for awards at year's end. Rachel Weisz rounds out a rock-solid supporting cast.
Visually, this is a positively resplendent film. Cianfrance has gone on record saying that he sought to make "a John Cassavetes movie in a David Lean landscape." It isn't particularly colorful, or stylized, or what have you. The rocky island on which Tom and Isabel live is evoked in dim, grey tones. It feels slightly gothic that way. Cianfrance and DP Adam Arkapaw also lean heavily on extreme close-ups during some of the more dramatic, interpersonal moments. Maybe this contributes a bit too heavily to the whole "melodramatic" critique, but I think it services the performances quite well. This is a film that wears its emotions on its sleeve, and the performances and camera work meld beautifully in order to support that.
Even if you're not a fan of sweeping Hollywood romances, give The Light Between Oceans a shot. There's enough going on here that it should deliver something for everyone - cinephiles, romantics, bookworms, and all who appreciate engaging stories alike.
A-
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