Eggars is decidedly a dedicated director to the craftmanship of film. He has shown his skill at creating atmosphere with setting, sound, and a story. He is an actors' director and is malleable to each and every method of acting. From this, he is able to elicit exciting performances that highlight the excellence of his actors. The downside to his films is the focus on the craft of making and focus on a return to the aesthetics of film making. This leaves me wondering what he is trying to tell me with his films, as the esoteric nature of his "slowburn" approach dilutes much of the intensity of what he can create. In this film, he circles around and around again to show the descent into madness of characters that were mad at the beginning. So what was the point of the 2 hours of watching this film. Aesthetics? Craftmanship? Acting excellence? This he does. But these are not enough to build a film and enhance storytelling (which is different than setting a story). I wish Eggars would take a bit more time to create the "whole" versus intense focus on the minute details that, while showcase his talent, leave the film without a center upon to build a whole.
Review of The Lighthouse
