Respond to these rapid questions in our The Light Between Oceans quiz and we will tell you which The Light Between Oceans character you are. Play it now.
Great drama requires trust. Without smothering their performances with manipulative filmmaking devices, the director needs to have faith in his actors so that they can successfully convey the complexities of the human experience. In addition to this, he has to put his faith in the audience’s ability to interpret and feel the events of the story in their own unique ways, meeting the characters half-way along the spectrum of the human experience. In “The Light Between Oceans,” an adaptation of M.L. Stedman’s novel, director Derek Cianfrance is unable to locate this sense of trust. It’s a film with greatness within it that’s been lost due to varying degrees of distrust; ridiculously tight close-ups in soft focus feel like they’re pushing you to cry instead of allowing emotion to come naturally out of the experience of watching the movie. Narrative beats and recurring themes are brought up multiple times for the sole purpose of ensuring that you do not pass up an opportunity to feel something. One can see the film that could have been, which would have been anchored by great performances and emotional truth, but it is buried beneath this melodrama and doesn’t shine through nearly enough to justify a look. The fog has simply obscured its visibility.
Tom Sherbourne, played by Michael Fassbender in a performance that is very measured and self-assured, is a veteran of World War I who was suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) before the condition had a name for what it was. We learn that Tom has been burdened by the randomness of life and death in some of the film’s best scenes. These scenes are some of the film’s highlights. Why did he get to live while the rest of his fellow soldiers got killed? One almost gets the impression that Tom does not believe he “deserves” to have made it home, and that he plans to spend the rest of his life by himself, defiantly refusing to accept the creature comforts that other young men gave up for good when they went off to fight in the war.
In order to achieve this goal, Tom decides to accept a position that very few people would want: he will be working in an extremely remote lighthouse in Australia, which is situated in a location from which one can see two different oceans. The previous keeper of the lighthouse was dismissed after he revealed to another person that he had permitted his wife to signal an approaching ship. The fact that his wife had been gone for several years was a much more significant issue than the fact that there had been a breach in protocol. When Tom meets Isabel, a strong-willed and stunning young lady who is the daughter of his new boss, his life is forever altered, despite the fact that this job was not at all what he desired (Alicia Vikander). Soon enough, Isabel and Tom will be wed, and they will make preparations to start a family on Janus Island. Isabel becomes pregnant, but she miscarries the baby during a scene that will break your heart because Tom is trapped in the lighthouse and she can’t reach him. She has another baby after this. Tragedy strikes again.
But you shouldn’t waste any more time and start this The Light Between Oceans quiz.
A miracle takes place while Isabel and Tom are in the midst of their grief over the loss of their second child. A dead body and an infant were found in a rowboat that washed up on shore. Nobody on the mainland is aware of the fact that Isabel did not succeed in having a second child. They could simply claim this new child as their own, and no one would be the wiser about the situation. At first, the plan appears to be a success as Isabel, Tom, and their new daughter Lucy find happiness. However, a trip to the mainland compels Tom to meet a mysterious woman played by Rachel Weisz, which results in an encounter that changes everything.
The Light Between Oceans Quiz
Derek Cianfrance has an undeniable talent for directing actors. He was able to coax outstanding performances out of Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams in “Blue Valentine,” and he directed a large ensemble in “The Place Beyond the Pines,” which is a film that is vastly underrated. This skill is primarily demonstrated in Fassbender’s predominantly internal turn in this piece. His interpretation of Tom is that he is frequently stoic, as though he is being watched over by the ghosts of World War I in a way that makes him quiet and occasionally unsure. Vikander frequently goes in the opposite direction, revealing the more extreme emotions that Tom conceals, but she is hardly ever given the opportunity to infuse the performance with her own life and personality. And I mean that in an extremely literal sense. Cianfrance and cinematographer Adam Arkapaw put us right in her face in an extremely close-up shot, with the expectation that this will encourage a response from the audience. It’s more of a distraction than an effective tool, just like the hazy focus and the overdone score that Alexandre Desplat composed. When Arkapaw and Cianfrance step back and give their characters some breathing room, or when the characters simply take a moment to appreciate the breathtaking scenery, the movie feels more effective and less manipulative.
Also, you will find out which character are you in this The Light Between Oceans quiz.
Trust is the most important factor in the end. Don’t try to coerce us into feeling anything; instead, have faith that we will. This is a movie that I kept wanting to form an emotional connection with and surrender myself to the human power of the tragedy it depicts, but the movie kept pushing me away from doing either of those things. We would have followed these three actors through this harrowing story regardless of whether or not there were signposts along the way that told us how we should feel because of the undeniable and consistent skill of the actors who serve as the film’s core.
For more personality quizzes check this: Love And Friendship Quiz.
