Derek Cinafrance is a director on a mission to make ‘the last great American film.’ His vision is based on an almost avant-garde blend of sound and image; Cianfrance was a student of experimental filmmakers Stan Brakhage and Phil Solomon, as well as the emotional conflicts of protagonists in the vein of John Cassavetes’ works. A shattered family, or as the title of his penultimate film ‘The Father’s Sins’ suggests, is what torments his soul. ‘The Light Between Oceans’, based on the bestselling novel of the same name, is the first misstep in the career of the 42-year-old director. His points of inspiration this time were family melodramas/thrillers from the 1940s, such as Hitchcock’s ‘Rebecca’, and perhaps unconsciously, newer films by Terrence Malick. However, the result is a dull and lukewarm film. ‘The Light Between Oceans’ thus resembles the ‘chamomiles’ of the 90s, like ‘The English Patient’, in the hands of an immature imitator of Malick. From the mystique and cruelty carried by the ocean’s waves to the moral-legal dilemmas faced by the heroes, there was material for a much better film, which will remain most interesting as the backdrop where Michael Fassbender and the talented Alicia Vikander began their romance.
The Light Between Oceans: A Film More Interesting for the Actors’ Romance than for Its Quality
