The Light Between Oceans Blu-ray review
Mathew Plale
February 22nd, 2017
“I’m just looking to get away from things for a little while.”
That decision is uttered by Tom Sherbourne (Michael Fassbender, STEVE JOBS), a veteran of World War I. He has a distant look in his eye, as if trapped by a memory. It is partly these experiences that cause him to take the position of lightkeeper at Janus Rock, an isolated plot off the coast of Australia.
Before his duties begin, he meets Isabel (Alicia Vikander, THE DANISH GIRL). It is an instant infatuation and soon the two marry. It is a quick yet joyous happening, although it is soon disrupted by a string of miscarriages. They are incomplete; until, by chance, two figures wash up at the base of the island. One is a dead man, the other a baby.
They decide they will raise her as their own as Lucy, a name that has its origins in light. Their new life, however, is steadily disrupted when Tom discovers that a mourning woman, Hannah Roennfeldt (Rachel Weisz, Paolo Sorrentino’s YOUTH), is the widow of the man and the mother of the girl. So much for getting away from things for a while…
It’s a compelling plot, and THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS could have been a compelling movie had it not taken a nosedive into melodrama. For a good portion, there is just the kind of material here to create a tragedy, one that might rip right through the viewer and leave them a disaster when the credits roll. (What’s wrong with that?) But then at some point, once the cards are laid out and certain accusations are made, it begins portraying the traits of a soap opera.
Often, THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS—based on M.L. Stedman’s 2012 novel—takes the easiest ways towards conveying loss and guilt. It, presumably like the source, doesn’t consider just how heavy-handed the whole story is or how forced every scenario comes off. These tendencies, when in full force, completely take away from what is meant to be the central dilemma of the story.
This, too, gets swallowed in the pacing. The movie, written and directed by Derek Cianfrance (2012’s THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES, 2010’s BLUE VALENTINE), is terribly slow, moving at a trudge that extends the first act well beyond reason and expands the runtime to at least a half hour longer than it needs to be.
THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS, however, does benefit through some aspects. One is the stellar performances from the main cast, with Vikander proving a standout as she did in THE DANISH GIRL. There is also the style of the movie; it is quiet and borderline-hypnotic, as if the characters are in some sort of trance for which they desperately want to escape but can’t. This stems from a combination of Adam Arkapaw’s gorgeous cinematography and composer Alexandre Desplat’s delicate piano and strings. (Desplat may have earned an Academy Award nomination had the film been better received.)
Still, these efforts don’t do enough for THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS, a movie that tests patience and provides far less depth than it thinks.
BLU-RAY REVIEW
Video: 2.40:1 in 1080p with MPEG-4 AVC codec. While the image is soft overall, there are still some nice details in both interior and exterior scenes, as well as healthy colors.
Audio: English 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English 2.0 Descriptive Audio; Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital; French 5.1 Dolby Digital. Subtitles in English, Spanish and French. Dialogue is clean, Alexandre Desplat’s score comes through without flaw and the sounds (especially during the storm scene) have a strong effect.
Audio commentary with director Derek Cianfrance and film studies professor Phil Solomon: Cianfrance and Solomon offer a strong commentary in which they discuss a number of technical details in a fairly professional tone.
Bringing THE LIGHT to Life (16:47) covers all of the expected ground, with notes on the themes, locations, cast and more. Interviewees include Cianfrance, Alicia Vikander and Rachel Weisz.
Lighthouse Keeper (5:40) covers more of the locations used in THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS.
UltraViolet
