Jaye (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
jayes_musings) wrote2019-07-08 09:52 pm
jayes_musings) wrote2019-07-08 09:52 pm
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Movie Review: The Vanishing
I'd been looking forward to this movie ever since it was announced and was known as "Keepers" (a title that I feel they should have kept).
It is very loosely based on a true story in which three lighthouse keepers who, in 1900, vanished without a trace from a remote lighthouse on a small island west of the Outer Hebrides. When the relief crew arrived they found the table set for dinner, an overturned chair, and nothing else. To this day no one knows what happened there. The Vanishing creates a story of what might have happened, but aside from the lighthouse and the three keepers, it is fiction.
It's a slow burn thriller that is more a character study of the three keepers than relying on action to move the story (although there is some of that). It starts with the keepers, Thomas Marshall (Peter Mullan) the head keeper, James Ducat (Gerard Butler) experienced assistant keeper, and Donald McArthur (Connor Swindells), the rookie, heading out for their six-week rotation to maintain and keep the lighthouse, some 20 miles off the Scottish coast, functioning. When they arrive, they learn from the departing crew that the radio isn't working, so they are pretty much on their own. What follows are scenes of cleaning the glass, fixing the foghorn, and making dinner showing that while they are a crew, the three men are not really friends, even though Thomas and James have clearly known each other years. We also learn that Thomas' family is all dead and that James is the muscle of the trio. Despite small instances of friction between them, all three are good, honest men who are there to do their jobs.
That changes when after a storm they find a small boat washed up at the bottom of a cliff. There is a man apparently dead and a wooden chest. Donald as the least valuable man is sent down to investigate. He is just tying the rope around the chest for James to haul up when the apparently dead man whacks him from behind. There is a fight and Donald ends up killing the man in self-defence. They are all shaken up, Donald most of all, but Thomas makes it clear that it was self-defence and he won't be in trouble when they return home. The wooden chest, he orders, is not to be opened.
Of course, that doesn't last long and Thomas is the one to break his own order one night. Under a pile of clothing, he finds several gold ingots. He puts it all away but it's not long before James and Donald also unlock it and find the gold. Thomas cuts short their celebrations (possibly the only happy moment of the film), warning that they can't just go home and spend the money. So they come up with a plan how to basically fence the gold and take only a little of their shares at a time. It would be interesting to see just how well this plan would have unfolded as they are many ways it could go wrong between three men who aren't really friends. However, that will never be known.
A boat lands on the island and two Scandinavian men (referred to as the thieves) come ashore. They are looking for their friend and his chest. Thomas tells them very little, hoping they will leave. Eventually, they do and the keepers breath a sigh of relief, but shortly the boat returns and they follow it as it sails around the entire island. Once it's night, James remains outside watching while Thomas and Donald go back inside the lighthouse. James is taken by surprise and beaten up by the larger of the two thieves while the other goes inside to take care of the other two. Donald is knocked out quickly, and the thief ties Thomas up to interrogate him, stabbing him in the leg. The big thief arrives to back up his friend but James staggers in and attacks him. Donald wakes up and kills the other. They are scared, shaken, but it's over.
Until Donald spots another man through the window. They go out to chase him down, James carrying his crabbing hook. Catching him up, James swings the hook and kills him instantly, only to realize he's only a boy, not much older than James' own son.
Things start to unravel quickly as greed and paranoia begin to envelope them. James is just barely functioning and then attacks Donald, blaming all this trouble on him for going down to the shipwrecked boat. He hides himself away in the small chapel that's for the keepers. He eventually comes out and they take the thieves' boat to dump the bodies out at see. Although James helped carry bodies down to the boat. He just sits on the boat, almost catatonic.
Once they return, James seems to be functioning a little more rationally. He helps Thomas to try and fix the radio but to no avail, and he makes dinner. The table is set and all seems normal once again. Thomas goes into the pantry to get the bottle of scotch when James suddenly locks him in. As Thomas tries to beat down the door, he hears a struggle. Finally, he breaks down the door and Donald is dead with James' hands around his neck. They once again go out on the boat, this time with the chest, to dump Donald's body. James decides to commit suicide by throwing himself overboard, but he quickly surfaces and begs Thomas to hold him under. Which he does.
As I said this is a very slow burn thriller. The first act does drag a little with just lighthouse keeping stuff, although many small occurrences play a role later on. Once they discover the chest, however, the suspense picks up and never lets go. And it does keep you guessing as to what will happen and who will kill who because you really do get the sense anything can happen.
The performances were all excellent and subtle. This is Gerry's best performance since Corialanus and reminds the audience that given the right material he is a very talented actor as he takes James from a nice family man who wouldn't hurt anybody to succumbing completely to paranoia and the darkness within. It was also wonderful to hear him speak with his full Scottish accent again...it has been missed! It was also good to see him with longer hair and his natural curls as unruly and messy as they get.
If there are any criticisms, there are a couple of loose ends, the main one being a big deal is made of a mercury spill from the light array, and then a little later as James is staring out of the glass, a little mercury can still be seen on the floor, yet nothing was made of this. Did the mercury also have an effect on James' madness? It's not clear. Also, there is a dog that lives at the lighthouse and is seen with them during many scenes, although it is absent during the fight scenes. It's also not clear if Thomas took the dog with him at the end or if it remained at the lighthouse.
But all in all, I was not let down by this at all and it was pretty much all that I was hoping for. I hope that Gerry had such a great time making this, that he will consider other small budget projects that can really showcase his talent rather than run-of-the-mill subpar action films.
Rated 9/10
It is very loosely based on a true story in which three lighthouse keepers who, in 1900, vanished without a trace from a remote lighthouse on a small island west of the Outer Hebrides. When the relief crew arrived they found the table set for dinner, an overturned chair, and nothing else. To this day no one knows what happened there. The Vanishing creates a story of what might have happened, but aside from the lighthouse and the three keepers, it is fiction.
It's a slow burn thriller that is more a character study of the three keepers than relying on action to move the story (although there is some of that). It starts with the keepers, Thomas Marshall (Peter Mullan) the head keeper, James Ducat (Gerard Butler) experienced assistant keeper, and Donald McArthur (Connor Swindells), the rookie, heading out for their six-week rotation to maintain and keep the lighthouse, some 20 miles off the Scottish coast, functioning. When they arrive, they learn from the departing crew that the radio isn't working, so they are pretty much on their own. What follows are scenes of cleaning the glass, fixing the foghorn, and making dinner showing that while they are a crew, the three men are not really friends, even though Thomas and James have clearly known each other years. We also learn that Thomas' family is all dead and that James is the muscle of the trio. Despite small instances of friction between them, all three are good, honest men who are there to do their jobs.
That changes when after a storm they find a small boat washed up at the bottom of a cliff. There is a man apparently dead and a wooden chest. Donald as the least valuable man is sent down to investigate. He is just tying the rope around the chest for James to haul up when the apparently dead man whacks him from behind. There is a fight and Donald ends up killing the man in self-defence. They are all shaken up, Donald most of all, but Thomas makes it clear that it was self-defence and he won't be in trouble when they return home. The wooden chest, he orders, is not to be opened.
Of course, that doesn't last long and Thomas is the one to break his own order one night. Under a pile of clothing, he finds several gold ingots. He puts it all away but it's not long before James and Donald also unlock it and find the gold. Thomas cuts short their celebrations (possibly the only happy moment of the film), warning that they can't just go home and spend the money. So they come up with a plan how to basically fence the gold and take only a little of their shares at a time. It would be interesting to see just how well this plan would have unfolded as they are many ways it could go wrong between three men who aren't really friends. However, that will never be known.
A boat lands on the island and two Scandinavian men (referred to as the thieves) come ashore. They are looking for their friend and his chest. Thomas tells them very little, hoping they will leave. Eventually, they do and the keepers breath a sigh of relief, but shortly the boat returns and they follow it as it sails around the entire island. Once it's night, James remains outside watching while Thomas and Donald go back inside the lighthouse. James is taken by surprise and beaten up by the larger of the two thieves while the other goes inside to take care of the other two. Donald is knocked out quickly, and the thief ties Thomas up to interrogate him, stabbing him in the leg. The big thief arrives to back up his friend but James staggers in and attacks him. Donald wakes up and kills the other. They are scared, shaken, but it's over.
Until Donald spots another man through the window. They go out to chase him down, James carrying his crabbing hook. Catching him up, James swings the hook and kills him instantly, only to realize he's only a boy, not much older than James' own son.
Things start to unravel quickly as greed and paranoia begin to envelope them. James is just barely functioning and then attacks Donald, blaming all this trouble on him for going down to the shipwrecked boat. He hides himself away in the small chapel that's for the keepers. He eventually comes out and they take the thieves' boat to dump the bodies out at see. Although James helped carry bodies down to the boat. He just sits on the boat, almost catatonic.
Once they return, James seems to be functioning a little more rationally. He helps Thomas to try and fix the radio but to no avail, and he makes dinner. The table is set and all seems normal once again. Thomas goes into the pantry to get the bottle of scotch when James suddenly locks him in. As Thomas tries to beat down the door, he hears a struggle. Finally, he breaks down the door and Donald is dead with James' hands around his neck. They once again go out on the boat, this time with the chest, to dump Donald's body. James decides to commit suicide by throwing himself overboard, but he quickly surfaces and begs Thomas to hold him under. Which he does.
As I said this is a very slow burn thriller. The first act does drag a little with just lighthouse keeping stuff, although many small occurrences play a role later on. Once they discover the chest, however, the suspense picks up and never lets go. And it does keep you guessing as to what will happen and who will kill who because you really do get the sense anything can happen.
The performances were all excellent and subtle. This is Gerry's best performance since Corialanus and reminds the audience that given the right material he is a very talented actor as he takes James from a nice family man who wouldn't hurt anybody to succumbing completely to paranoia and the darkness within. It was also wonderful to hear him speak with his full Scottish accent again...it has been missed! It was also good to see him with longer hair and his natural curls as unruly and messy as they get.
If there are any criticisms, there are a couple of loose ends, the main one being a big deal is made of a mercury spill from the light array, and then a little later as James is staring out of the glass, a little mercury can still be seen on the floor, yet nothing was made of this. Did the mercury also have an effect on James' madness? It's not clear. Also, there is a dog that lives at the lighthouse and is seen with them during many scenes, although it is absent during the fight scenes. It's also not clear if Thomas took the dog with him at the end or if it remained at the lighthouse.
But all in all, I was not let down by this at all and it was pretty much all that I was hoping for. I hope that Gerry had such a great time making this, that he will consider other small budget projects that can really showcase his talent rather than run-of-the-mill subpar action films.
Rated 9/10