El Faro (The Lighthouse) Screened at Filmfest DC 1999 Reviewed by Mac VerStandig critic@moviereviews.org http://www.moviereviews.org 3 Stars (Out of 4)
"Extraordinary people never die." A character murmurs this line in the latest film from Argentinean director Eduardo Mignogna, "El Faro" (The Lighthouse). These four words seem to capture the entire essence of this 108 minute masterpiece.
As the production opens, images of a photo album appear on the screen. Memories. The family being pictured is happy. Then, less than ten seconds later, the family is no longer. The parents are deceased, the two daughters orphaned, and one crippled as a result of the car crash that will forever change their lives. That is where the heartwarming story of these two sisters commences.
The eldest sister's name is Carmela, but she goes by Meme. She is in the position of having to take care of her younger sister, Anita, as Meme is over 18 and legally responsible. Meme's only objective in life is to have her own baby. That has made her a very sexual and edgy young woman. Anita is a young girl who seems to live not thinking of tomorrow, but concentrating only on today.
Where Meme has a direction in life, Anita has none. Meme is sinful, with addictions to cigarettes, alcohol, and sex. Anita is young, pure, and innocent. However different, they both are still orphans surviving on a day to day basis, needing each other more than anything else in the world.
A classic plot would only damage, if not ruin, this fine film. The Lighthouse is a movie that chronicles two young girls trying to make the best out of a shattered life, and grow up while doing so. The interesting element is that they slowly seem to grow closer and switch positions. The film begins with Anita as young and immature and progresses until she is a woman. Meme starts off responsible and almost perfect. However, her drinking, smoking, unprotected sex and lack of care for a crippled leg, slowly turn her into the one needing care.
To Eduardo Mignogna's credit, he didn't attempt any complexity in his choice of filmmaking style. One of the simple, yet extremely effective things he did do was to use black out and white out editing effects from time to time. By allowing certain scenes to depart or arrive by fading, it gives the audience that little bit of extra time they need to absorb the incredible scenes they have just witnessed.
As much as the simplicity may be part of The Lighthouse's beauty, you also must wonder what it really cost the film. It seems that the independent budget may have denied the film some of the help it could have used. The lighting is often poor, thus leaving otherwise beautiful scenes dimly lit. The makeup seems to be sub standard as well. The one moment where Meme's scar is shown is brief, probably due to the extremely fake look that it carries. Inexcusably, the shot selection also left something to be desired. Very rarely do we ever get to see the girls' faces, and the only lengthy shot of either of them occurs when Meme has removed her shirt. But these are all forgivable flaws, especially when you weigh their magnitude against the magnificence of this film.
One of the most difficult tests that a film faces is the comparison between it and another previous work that was successful. Ironically, the best movie for "The Lighthouse" to be examined against was very much an opposite. The 1992 hit, "A League of Their Own" was unlike Mignogna's work, in that it was a big budget Hollywood film with big name stars and an accomplished director, Penny Marshall. However, by closely examining the common plot of two sisters trying to look out for each other, and growing in the process, you will find that the two films yield that one major similarity. In that aspect, The Lighthouse is a far superior film. The character development is far richer, and the emotional attachment of the audience is far greater. It also claims the wonderful advantage of not having the typically predictable Hollywood ending. This production seems to have passed that test with plenty of room to spare.
The Lighthouse is one of the most touching, heartwarming, and enjoyable films to emerge in years. It doesn't use any fancy effects, and it doesn't feature any big names. It is not even in English. Instead it uses a simple message and touches all that see it through that message: "Extraordinary people never die."
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews