Yeah, I know it's not an official trilogy of films. But I feel I should review all of Robert Eggers films so far, as I have spent much of this Easter weekend watching them. So for those of you who have no idea who Robert Eggers is, he is an up-and-coming filmmaker whom since 2015 has given us some very interesting films, having moved from being a designer and director for broadway features. Each with their own unique style, substance and inspiration, he is quickly becoming a very talented filmmaker who has a clear vision, knows what he wants and gives us exactly that. We've got three films to look at including one that literally just came out in the cinemas so let's take a look at them and see if he is worthy of being up there with the likes of Spielberg, Cameron, Kubrick, Hitchcock and many others:
The VVitch
We are in the 1630s in New England, where English settler William (played by Ralph Ineson) and his family have been banished from a Puritan colony due to a religious dispute. They find and build up a farm near a large secluded forest. There William's wife Katherine (played by Kate Dickie) gives birth to her fifth child, Samuel (played by the Dube baby twins), who mysteriously disappears under the watch of her eldest daughter Tomasin (played by Anya Taylor-Joy). A witch may be nearby, which puts the family on edge as their heritage and religion is tested against this supernatural threat. I'm not a fan of slow paced things, but I think it works well in this film. It's very unsettling, thought-provoking and quite compelling too. Its visuals make it look as bleak as its story and characters, and right from this film, I can see Eggers doing a great thing with films going forward. The first film is always going to be the toughest for newcomers, but it's great that his first film was a good one, albeit disturbing in places. 9/10
The Lighthouse
We are in New England again, but this time it's the 1890s for the time period. A man called Ephriam Winslow (played by Robert Pattinson) takes up a contract job as a lighthouse keeper for initially a month on a small isolated island off of the coast under the supervision of the island's long-time keeper, Thomas Wake (played by William Dafoe). Winslow discovers a small mermaid figure and keeps it in his jacket. Wake proves to be quite demanding with giving Winslow some increasingly taxing jobs and the pair soon start to descend into madness when Wake ascends to the light and disrobes every night while Winslow hallucinates seeing mermaids (which makes him sexually aroused), sea monsters and gets quite annoyed at a one eyed seagull which Wake tells him not to kill due to bad luck. All this just as a violent storm begins, which makes them test themselves as madness quickly takes over. Although very difficult to determine what the genre is for this film, it's very clear from the start that Eggers wanted this to be a bit different to
The Witch. For a start, rather than have a bleak feel, the whole film is shot in black and white with an aspect ratio that's reminiscent of those very old black and white films that withhold information from the viewer. Got to admire Pattinson and Dafoe, they are brilliant actors whom give out quite possibly the best performances they have given in their entire careers. But like
The Witch, there is something very unsettling about this film, which again further establishes Eggers' place as being a great filmmaker. 9/10
The Northman
In Eggers' latest film, we go all the way back to the year 895 where King Aurvandill (played by Ethan Hawke) returns to his homeland on the Irish coasts from doing conquests overseas. Upon arrival, he reunites with his wife Queen Gudrun (played by Nicole Kidman) and his son and heir Prince Amleth (played by Alexander Skarsgard). The King's brother Fjolnir (played by Claes Bang) soon follows, and the king bestows his responsibilities over to Amleth due to being battle injured. The pair later on take part in a spiritual Norse ceremony overseen by a he-witch (played by Dafoe) where Amleth takes his vows. But the next morning, things change when Fjolnir murders his brother and takes his role as king while Amleth escapes vowing to avenge his father, save his mother and kill Fjolnir. But may not be as easy as one might imagine. As the film goes on, I started to realize that this was inspired by one of the sources that helped in the making of the Shakespeare play
Hamlet which is all about vengeance, which this film does a very good job of following in concept. It is epic, full of bloody violence, some betrayal and hints of comedy, which definitely makes it another worthy film of Eggers'. But not all that unsettling than his previous films, but does have elements of thrills and horror like the previous two. 9/10
Yep, I'd say Eggers is doing well. So far, all his films have been great. All original with inspiration from other works, each with their own unique style and substance, and I look forward to seeing what he does next. 9/10
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