Hardly a movie is so mesmerizing to me. Hardly a movie is so gripping and captivating for most cinema goers these days I believe. The Light Between Oceans is one such movie! I did not expect it to be so absorbing when I chose to watch it while having a day off. I just thought it could be a bit boring as the story is based on a faraway light house. But at the end I was glued in to my seat spellbound by its infinite beauty and strength; quite pleasantly captivated by great acting of Alicia Vikander and Michael Fassbender. Particularly Alicia truly lives in the character and wouldn't let your mind roam anywhere else. She makes it so real and emotional that you feel that it's you who is inside her character. I was just thinking how lucky we are that Alicia came to this world to make us so fulfilled with her spellbinding acting! One of the best scenes displayed with utmost acting talent was the scene Tom agreeing to Isabel's plea to adopt the child, keeping the incident a secret. The facial expressions and the body language of both Tom and Isabella are so natural and intense in those few minutes, you could be frozen to your seat! Fassbender plays the role equally well too, a character well displayed with his identical razor sharp eye and intense facial expressions. He needs no extra effort to play such a complex character as he is born with such fascinating acting talents. Rachel Weiz does justice to her role well but I believe her character belongs to a younger actress to match the story. You get to see great cinematography by Arkapov in such beauty that captures spellbinding New Zealand landscape at its best. It rhymes well with the melancholic music by Desplat. Last but not least I had never watched a movie by Derek Cianfrance before but he simply has done smart work by directing this ingenious epic.
My only disappointment is towards the end of the movie, as the final scene building loses its momentum. When Tom is in remand the characters begin to lose cohesiveness a bit but it sinks further when Isabel passes away, Lucy is suddenly grown up and become a mother too, within the next five or ten minutes. That chaotic haste really smashes the beautiful rhythm so well built up throughout the movie. And the the age related make-up is totally hopeless as Tom still looks the same person even when Lucy is a mother and visits him after 25 years! However, all in all it's an engrossing cinematic experience that brings you the quality of film making and you will never regret watching such a great creation!!
It is so sad that great sublime creations like this movie didn't even get a a single nomination for Academy awards in 2016, while a synthetic junk crap raked almost all the awards. It shows what a deep stinky Hollywood political sinkhole the Academy has sunk in to now!
My only disappointment is towards the end of the movie, as the final scene building loses its momentum. When Tom is in remand the characters begin to lose cohesiveness a bit but it sinks further when Isabel passes away, Lucy is suddenly grown up and become a mother too, within the next five or ten minutes. That chaotic haste really smashes the beautiful rhythm so well built up throughout the movie. And the the age related make-up is totally hopeless as Tom still looks the same person even when Lucy is a mother and visits him after 25 years! However, all in all it's an engrossing cinematic experience that brings you the quality of film making and you will never regret watching such a great creation!!
It is so sad that great sublime creations like this movie didn't even get a a single nomination for Academy awards in 2016, while a synthetic junk crap raked almost all the awards. It shows what a deep stinky Hollywood political sinkhole the Academy has sunk in to now!