Analysis of The Robert Eggers Movie “The Lighthouse”
We have compiled for you the hidden messages behind “The Lighthouse”, another successful psychological thriller by Robert Eggers, whom we know with “The Witch” horror movie.
The Lighthouse tells the story of two lighthouse keepers living in Maine in the early 20th century. Thomas Wake (Willem Dafoe) and Ephraim Winslow (Robert Pattinson), a former sailor, are lighthouse keepers on a mysterious island. In the movie, we witness the change in the character of Winslow, played by Robert Pattinson, over time.
Object of Desire
Living on an island far from society, these two characters live in harsh conditions. Played by Willem Dafoe, Thomas, a much more experienced lighthouse keeper, wants Winslow to do all the heavy lifting while he takes care of the lantern. The injustice in this distribution of duties causes the two characters to clash with each other. Thomas doesn't even want Winslow to see the lantern lamp. Therefore, the lantern lamp turns into an object of desire for the character of Winslow and he wants to reach it. In order to reach the object of desire, we see that he lost his mind and clashed with the character of Thomas.
Traces of Greek Mythology (Prometheus and The Proteus Myth)
In the movie, we see scenes and characters inspired by Greek mythology. If we examine these myths separately; “Proteus” represents the "old man and the sea" in Greek mythology. He is the son of Poseidon and is considered a god. So, we can say that Proteus is the character of Thomas in the movie. Thomas is a knowledgeable old character and is trying to establish a power over Winslow, portraying himself as the "god" of this lighthouse. He looks at him from a "divine" perspective, makes him do all the hard work, and just wants to deal with the “light”.
“Prometheus” is a Titan in Greek mythology. He is depicted as "challenging the gods", "cunning" and "the god of fire". Prometheus is a character known for stealing fire under the control of Zeus and bringing it back to earth. We can say that he took his divine features by challenging Zeus. The concept of fire in the story is referred to as light in the movie. Here we see that the character of Prometheus is Winslow in the movie. At the end of the movie, we see Winslow seizing the light and taking on Thomas' divine attributes.
An Art-Inspired Scene
Sascha Schneider's painting 'hypnosis' was inspired by a scene in the movie.
The Mermaid Figure
The mermaid figure we see in the movie is a hallucination that sailors see when they stay at sea for a long time and suffer from sexual deprivation. According to the legend, the mermaids, enchanting the sailors with their siren sounds, then they want to kill them.
