The Light Between Oceans

THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS

Director : Derek Cianfrance
Year : 2016
Genre : Romantic drama
Rating : ***1/2

Remember the iconically shocking scene from the otherwise underwhelming action sequel 'Indiana Jones & The Temple Of Doom' where the demonic cult leader Mola Ram rips out the still-beating heart from a sacrifice victim's chest and holds it up with maniacal glee for all of his bloodthirsty disciples to see? Well, that's exactly what director Derek Cianfrance ('The Place Beyond The Pines', 'Blue Valentine') did to me with his latest film 'The Light Between Oceans'. Adapted from M.L Stedman's critically acclaimed debut novel of the same name and starring Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander, the film is a sweeping, nostalgically charged romantic drama that may have been maligned by some of the more tight-lipped critics of the publishing world as too melodramatic but worked for me thanks to its engaging story, Cianfrance's wonderful direction and its two emotionally draining central performances. 

Set against the backdrop of a post-World War I Australia, Fassbender and Vikander star as Tom and Isabel, the only two inhabitants of Janus, a tiny lighthouse island situated hundreds of miles away from the nearest coast. While the island may at first seem like a nirvanic paradise to the newly married couple, Janus soon becomes an inescapable prison when Isabel suffers a number of horrific miscarriages. Isabel quickly loses her carefree personality and retreats into an almost reclusive stupor while Tom busies himself with the everyday maintenance of the lighthouse, hiding away from his true feelings and emotions.  However, when a small rowing boat carrying a tiny baby miraculously washes up on the beach of their remote sanctuary, the couples life is irrevocably changed as Isabel, much to Tom's emotional distress, decides to keep the child and raise it as her own. 

As you would expect from a plot like that, 'The Light Between Oceans' is a turbulent and unstable rollercoaster ride of emotional torment and anguish. Many of the scenes illicit genuine tears and while not every poignant set piece works to it's full potential, it must be said that the film is easily one of the most upsetting I have ever seen in a cinema. Any other actress would be crushed by the emotional distress that a performance of this magnitude requires but Academy Award winner Vikander is more than up to the challenge, as proven in both the sorely underseen period drama 'A Royal Affair' and of course 'The Danish Girl' - the film that ultimately won her the coveted Best Actress Oscar earlier this February. If I had my way, Vikander would be nominated for a second statuette but due to the mixed reviews the movie has egregiously relieved, that is probably not going to happen which is a shame because she gives one of the strongest female performances of 2016. As it to be expected, the always engaging Michael Fassbender is also very good here but there is no doubt that 'The Light Between Oceans' is Alicia Vikander's movie - a movie that may admittedly be overdramatic and somewhat heavy-handed at times but will nonetheless find an audience with those willing to go along with it's beautiful yet heartbreakingly tragic premise.