The Lighthouse + H is for Happiness
Leigh and Tim descend into the riveting madness of The Lighthouse, then come up for air with the joyous H is for Happiness. Plus, we get first looks at Spiral: The Book of Saw and Bill and Ted Face the Music.
Find an edited extract of this episode below. You can listen to the full episode above and follow Popcorn Podcast on your preferred podcast platform for more
THE LIGHTHOUSE MOVIE REVIEW
Tim: We saw The Lighthouse, directed and co-written by Robert Eggers who recently did The Witch.
Leigh: I feel like I was blinded by the imagery in this movie.
Tim: It was a film of imagery, wasn’t it?
Leigh: My eyes, my eyes!
Tim: That was literally us in the film, yeah. What did you think initially?
Leigh: I didn’t know how I felt when we came out. To give you a bit of background about the movie, The Lighthouse is the tale of two lighthouse keepers who are stranded on a remote island off the coast of New England in the 1890s. And they start to slowly lose their mind. It stars Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe, and that's pretty much it.
Tim: Yeah, just the two of them. The first thing that I want to call out are the exceptional performances by Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson.
Leigh: Yes, I’ll agree with you there.
Tim: They were extraordinary, absolutely captivating. And I think what they were put through was just agonising.
Leigh: Agonising? What an interesting choice of words why agonising?
Tim: I did a bit of research into the production and I think that it was a very, very challenging production from the elements perspective because all that stuff, all the rain, apparently hardly any of it was film trickery, right? It was real rain. So they were the conditions they were filming in. It’s on this remote island exposed to the elements, and I think the insanity these two characters ultimately experienced was etched into every fibre of their performance – and you felt it all.
Leigh: And that insanity was heightened by this maddening use of sound. The soundscape was just horns going incessantly and seagulls squawking, and it was really unsettling.
Tim: There were a lot of techniques that added to that unsettlement. The aspect ratio that they presented…
Leigh: …it was a square…
Tim: …it was very claustrophobic. They shut the curtains on the screen so then you are forced by that creative choice to really focus on what’s happening on the screen because it is such a small window. It played to the claustrophobia, that isolation, all those sorts of feelings and emotions that these characters would have gone through stranded on this island.
Leigh: It’s a very different kind of horror film.
Tim: Horror. I’m glad you said horror because I was trying to put that into a genre. And that’s kind of what it was…
Leigh: Horror, but not quite horror, just really unsettling with undertones of Hitchcock. I thought it was similar to an old Hitchcock movie.
Tim: Something we haven’t mentioned is that the film was shot in black and white. Which added to its aesthetic. And the cinematography is nominated for Best Cinematography at the Oscars, which is so deserved, there was some incredible use of space.
Leigh: I guess the movie was deliberately designed to be uncomfortable, but at the same time, visually striking, it was that juxtaposition that just kept you unsettled the whole way through, but also intrigued…
Tim: And just like them it drew you along and you weren’t sure what was real or not. Because the characters didn't know what was real or not…
Leigh: Then the movie just descends into this ultimate chaos along with them!
Tim: It descends into complete madness and I was riveted. I feel like I need to watch it again. The dialogue was very specific, like the accents and the dialect. What they were talking about was, riddles isn’t the right thing, but it was…
Leigh: Sea shanty talk.
Tim: Yeah.
Leigh: Willem Defoe was very good at that. But I did have a little qualm with Robert Pattinson’s accent because he seemed to sort of slip into different accents every now and then I don’t know if that was deliberate or not.
Tim: I don’t have much experience in that specifically, but looking into the production, Robert Patterson’s accent was actually true and very specific, and the writer/directors made sure that they were true to those accents. So even though it felt a bit odd and dipped in and out – I’ve noticed that as well – I think that’s actually authentic.
Leigh: His character was sort of from all around.
Tim: It was great to follow a film that was focusing on just two characters and how they carried the whole film through their relationship, which was very bizarre and strange, and awful and violent. But funny. Lots of drinking. It was just so fun watching them descend into madness. The things they ended up doing to themselves and each other were so outrageous. It was comical, but really disturbing.
Leigh: Yes, bizarre but I feel like our review is just as chaotic as the movie [laughs].
Tim: Honestly! It’s so fitting because you come out of this film feeling like the wind’s been knocked out of you. I think that was really great. I quite liked that it was so fucking insane, and it looked good while doing that.
Leigh: It’s not for everyone, but the audience that it does find will really love it.
Tim: I was worried it was going to be a bit pretentious, but I didn't feel it was trying too hard. It was just a bit of an adventure and journey with these characters.
Leigh: One thing that I did come out of there knowing, that I didn't know before, is what a mermaid vagina looks like…
Tim: Oh my goodness.
Leigh: Now if that doesn't get you into the cinema, I don’t know what will!
Tim: Imagine the percentage of box office receipts that were just curious about what a mermaid’s vagina looks like...
Leigh: So what would you give this movie out of five?
Tim: Look, to your point earlier, I don’t really know what I watched. I think that maybe in like 24 months, you know, two years, I should revisit this and take it all in again but I’m going to go straight out there right now, with how I feel and how crazy it was and awesome, and give it a four. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Leigh: I agree with you there. I’d go four, too. I was debating between three-and-a-half and four, but just due to the visual cinematic experience, I mean, you don’t know what the hell you’re watching but it’s pretty impressive filmmaking.
Tim: The incredible feat of dedication and trauma the actors put themselves through to realise those moments of madness and panic… it was interesting, Robert Pattinson had this technique where, because they were drunk a lot and he had to pretend to be drunk, he would make himself gag and almost be sick right before the take, and that really disturbed Willem Dafoe. But it was how he got into that character and had that glassy-eyed look rolling around everywhere.
Leigh: Well, that’s The Lighthouse!
H IS FOR HAPPINESS MOVIE REVIEW
Leigh: We also saw H is for Happiness, which is just a delightful Australian film. We love a locally made film.
Tim: H is for Happiness was filmed and set in Albany, Western Australia, which is great, and we’ll just rattle off a few more details about the film and the setting and all of that was just such a beautiful layer to this story. It’s from first-time film director John Sheedy and it’s adapted from the young adult novel My Life as an Alphabet by Barry Jonsberg.
Leigh: It stars Daisy Axon as Candace Phee, a 12-year-old with endless optimism. And her optimism was endless, it wasn’t unshakable, but it was endless. It also stars Emma Booth, Richard Roxburgh, and British actress Miriam Margolyes.
Tim: Miriam is a wonderful, quirky addition to a film of many quirks. She was the teacher for the kids. I was a bit apprehensive going into this film, because I didn’t think I would connect so strongly to these characters and these quirks, but this is a beautifully-shot film and just superbly acted.
Leigh: Oh, the acting was incredible, especially the star Daisy, I’m not sure how old she really is. My god, she was phenomenal.
Tim: And it’s a challenging role because when you delve deeper into this, it’s quite a sad film. For the girl, even though she has that endless optimism, her family life is quite broken. There was loss in the family. Her mother is severely depressed and struggling, and cannot raise her daughter, let alone raise herself as a human being. Her father, played by Richard Roxborough is so disconnected from his family.
Leigh: They’re kind of all estranged from each other. But they’ve got this little gem, this shining light at the centre of it. This girl who is just wonderful and despite all of that she’s taking care of herself and taking care of everyone else. And not in a sad way, she's happy to do it.
Tim: She has a plan for everyone. It’s warm and fuzzy, and it’s quite beautiful to see her plot that plan. That optimism shines through in quirky and weird ways with all the surrounding quirky and weird characters, and it comes together in this beautiful way.
Leigh: I really enjoyed this film.
Tim: I think it was really well made. Can I just point that out? The production value.
Leigh: Not that that’s surprising. But sometimes you get Australian movies that are just kind of thrown together and cheap passion projects. While this may not have had a great budget, it didn’t need to, it didn’t look cheap.
Tim: It actually looked like it had a pretty substantial budget. I think maybe it didn’t, but what they did with that money was they used it in all the right ways. In the costumes and set direction. All that stuff was really beautifully realised. There was a very clear vision from the director and the script was one of the funniest, well put-together stories I’ve experienced in a long time, especially for that sort of genre, which is hard to resonate with people I think.
Leigh: I really loved that she called everyone by their full names with additions. So Uncle Brian was Rich Uncle Brian and her friend’s name was something Benson from another dimension. You can see the young adult novel elements are in there and they’re not isolating. They don’t put you off as an adult. I found just as much in this film as a teenager will.
Tim: I was so glad that we stumbled across this film and can bring you that review because it is a is an Aussie film that you need to see.
Leigh: What would you give it out of five popcorn kernels?
Tim: I will give H is for Happiness, four. Without any hesitation.
Leigh: I’m going to give it four-and-a-half.
Tim: Wow, that’s so good. Honestly, it’s really deserving.
Leigh: Please go and see it, you won’t be disappointed
Tim: And take your kids because it touches on subject matter that’s really important to talk about and does it in such a beautiful way.
