The Light Between Oceans (2016)
Honestly, who cares if it’s a little melodramatic? The Light Between Oceans is so brilliantly acted and filmed, it’s an earnest and compassionate look at love, the choices we make, and the people for whom we sacrifice.
What is The Light Between Oceans about?
A lighthouse keeper and his wife living off the coast of Western Australia raise a baby they rescue from a drifting rowing boat. (from IMDB)
My review of The Light Between Oceans
The cinematography is excellent, and the visuals are chilling and haunting. Whether it’s the tossing grey-blue of the waves or the misty, dreamlike atmosphere of lighthouse, it’s like another world; tender and wistful, with an undercurrent of something deeply tragic.
The performances couldn’t be more perfect. Fassbender and Vikander are brilliant actors, and their chemistry is effortless and affecting. Vikander has a gorgeous, subtle way of pulling you close, and her performance is gut-wrenching and heartfelt. The characters are all so well drawn and dynamic, and the addition of the ever reliable Rachel Weisz (who arrives halfway through the film) gives even more assurance of an already stellar cast.
I sobbed my eyes out during this movie. Despite the frequent overwrought emotions, it’s undeniably moving and in a way that’s so earnest and well acted you can’t help but tear up.
Yes, the emotion is frequently overdone and melodramatic. At the beginning, the romance between Tom and Isobel appears very melodramatic, and it all seems too dreamlike and detached from real life. Initially it feels uncomfortable; rather than romantic.
As the story progresses, it gets slower and more exhausting. The acting is excellent and it’s beautifully tragic, but it does drag on for a long time. It gets tedious, a little boring, and then......oh my gosh, the twists and turns. They are tiresome, and I just wanted the story to "cut!"; especially when the writers start to include flashbacks for Weisz's character. These are boring and unnecessary and a pathetic attempt to try squeeze in more empathy and more characters to the already cluttered cast.
And, then there’s ending. Through the tears - there were plenty of those - I felt cheated and annoyed. It drifts back into the unrealistic, dreamlike state of Tom and Isobel's romance at the beginning of the film, and it feels random and silly. I know that it's completely likely that Isobel could have died before Tom, but looking at them - seeing the very obvious age difference - it just feels contrived in an effort to make a poetic conclusion.
