by Frank Calvillo
Until the press screening of The Light Between Oceans, I had never heard so many grown men sniffling in all of my life. And while I didn’t shed tears, my eyes certainly welled up at a number of moments in what is one of the strongest dramas of the year and a perfect vessel to lead us into pre-awards season. Even skeptical and cynical moviegoers will surely find something within The Light Between Oceans captivating and enthralling enough that they will not be able to shake the film’s beautiful power for quite some time.
Set off the coast of Australia, The Light Between Oceans opens on the emotionally damaged Tom (Michael Fassbender), a former soldier from WWI who has decided to take a job as a lighthouse keeper on an isolated island. Shortly after assuming his post, he falls in love and marries Isabel (Alicia Vikander), the daughter of one of the neighboring town’s most prominent families. As their love grows, so does their desire to have a child. When Isabel experiences two miscarriages however, the couple feel that perhaps it is not meant to be. Suddenly one day, a row-boat drifting along the sea washes ashore carrying a dead man and a crying infant. After much pleading, Isabel convinces Tom to bury the body and together they will raise the baby as their own. Tom eventually agrees and soon falls in love with the child they name Lucy. As time goes by, all seems well until it is discovered that Lucy’s real mother Hannah (Rachel Weisz) is still searching for her long-lost daughter.
Yes, there are a number of dramatic moments and gut-wrenching plot twists throughout The Light Between Oceans, particularly in the second half. Yet each one feels real and organic story-wise, making the film as a whole a truly compelling experience. However, at the heart of the movie is an incredibly beautiful love story between two people who were a little more than unsure about love. Both Tom and Isabel are products of the war and its aftermath. While Tom faced danger and survived, Isabel suffered the loss of her two fallen brothers who went off to fight and never returned. And yet, the two have found love in spite of the hardships they faced. Their love is presented and believed to be so steadfast and unwavering, that there wasn’t a moment when the audience doubted the two would overcome whatever was thrown at them. Their romance and devotion proved so enrapturing that I found myself wanting to just stay in it forever. It is truly a great testament of what can come out of something as ugly as war.
There are very few aspects of the film’s overall technical qualities which chip away at its otherwise unstoppable power. The first is the glaring decision on behalf of the cast (all of whom are playing natives of the country) to forgo the use of accents. While Weisz tries her hand in a couple of scenes, Fassbender and Vikander abandon the idea altogether. It may seem trivial, but such an element greatly contributes to the film’s sense of place, which isn’t helped when australian character actors such as Bryan Brown are present. Secondly, while the movie’s cinematography is good, stunning even, it seems to be trying too hard to look and feel like an indie film. The Light Between Oceans is a Dreamworks/Touchstone production, two of the biggest studios in the moviemaking business, and the move of trying to disguise a studio film as an indie darling comes across as rather false.
A film such as The Light Between Oceans is so rich in character and emotion that any actor would be more than happy to take on any of the three main roles. There is so much dramatic heft afforded to each of the central characters that the material brings out the best from its trio of actors. Fassbender is quiet for large pockets of the film, yet manages to perfectly show his character’s more fragile qualities as well as his humanity. Vikander may have the film’s trickiest role as Isabel, who must make sure the audience never holds her actions against her. The actress does this by bringing out her intense longing and need to give the love within her to a child of her own. Finally, it would be easy to see Hannah as a semi-villainous character, if she herself hadn’t gone through so much grief and torment. For her part, Weisz invests so much into Hannah, making sure you feel everything she has experienced, and why it leads her to the decisions she makes.
Based on the bestselling novel of the same name, the literary origins of The Light Between Oceans sparkle almost as much as the stunning oceanside shots director Derek Cianfrance is so (understandably) fond of. Every new moment in the film feels like the turning of the page in a book. This is far from a criticism. Instead it’s because of this intense literary feel that the film’s themes of love, forgiveness, understanding and peace shine as brightly as they do in this incredibly cinematic offering. Sure, it may be easy to spot a moment or two coming, but the sheer emotional force that accompanies each scene can never be underestimated or expected.
