The Light Between Oceans (film)



The Light Between Oceans is a 2016 romantic period drama film written and directed by Derek Cianfrance and based on the 2012 novel of the same name by M. L. Stedman. An international co-production between the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom and New Zealand, the film stars Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander, Rachel Weisz, Bryan Brown and Jack Thompson. The film tells the story of a lighthouse keeper and his wife who rescue and adopt an infant girl adrift at sea. Years later, the couple discovers the child's true parentage and are faced with the moral dilemma of their actions.

The Light Between Oceans had its world premiere at the 73rd Venice International Film Festival on September 1, 2016, where it competed for the Golden Lion. The film was released by Touchstone Pictures in North America on September 2, 2016, being the last DreamWorks Pictures film distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures through their 2011 output deal. The film will be released in the United Kingdom on November 1, 2016, by Entertainment One Films. It received mixed reviews and has grossed $15 million.

Plot
Tom Sherbourne, a veteran of World War I, is hired as a lightkeeper at Janus Rock, a lighthouse off the coast of Western Australia. He falls in love with a local girl, Isabel Graysmark, and they marry in 1921. Isabel loses two pregnancies in three years, and fears she may never become a mother.

Shortly after Isabel's second miscarriage, Tom discovers a rowboat has washed up on the shore near the lighthouse. He and Isabel discover a dead man and a badly frightened baby girl in the boat. Tom knows that government and company regulations require him to report the discovery. However, Isabel fears that the baby will almost certainly be sent to an orphanage, and persuades Tom to pass the baby off as their own. Tom grudgingly agrees. He buries the man on the island, and they name the girl Lucy.

As Tom and Isabel are about to have Lucy christened, Tom sees a woman kneeling in front of a grave. He discovers that the headstone bears the name of Frank Roennfeldt, and also mentions his missing daughter, Grace. Frank died on the same day that they found Lucy. Tom fears that Lucy might very well be the woman's missing daughter. He finds out that her name is Hannah Roennfeldt, and writes to her to tell her that her baby is safe and sound.

Three years later, Tom, Isabel, and Lucy attend a ceremony for the anniversary of Tom's lighthouse, and they strike up a conversation with Hannah and her sister, Gwen Potts. They learn that Frank was a German native, and had been accosted in the street in 1927 by a drunken crowd. He jumped into a rowboat and fled along with his baby daughter—who would have been Lucy's age. Tom realizes he can no longer in good conscience keep up their ruse, and sends Hannah a small rattle that was found with Lucy on the boat. One of Tom's coworkers recognizes the rattle on a reward poster, and turns Tom in.

When Tom sees that the police are on their way, he takes full responsibility, denying Isabel's role. Isabel is enraged that Tom is willing to give Lucy away, and breaks off all contact with him after his arrest. Lucy is reunited with her mother, but initially rejects her birth family, even refusing to answer to "Grace." She even runs away in an effort to go back to the lighthouse.

Tom's plan to take the fall backfires, however, when the police accuse him of murdering Frank. Furthermore, they are unable to draw an answer from the distraught Isabel as to whether or not they had discovered Frank when he was already dead. Just as Tom is about to be taken to Albany for trial, Isabel jumps on the boat and confesses everything. Moved by their gesture, Hannah offers to speak on their behalf at trial.

Almost a quarter-century later, a now-grown Lucy—now Lucy Grace Rutherford—manages to track down Tom. She has not been in contact with the Sherbournes in the intervening period, as the Sherbournes resolved to have no contact with her for the duration of her childhood. Tom must tell Lucy that Isabel died a few days earlier, and gives Lucy a letter that she wrote years beforehand. An emotional Lucy thanks Tom for rescuing and raising her (being the only father she can remember) for the few years on Janus. She introduces Tom to her son (his grandson), Christopher, and the two promise to stay in touch.

Cast

 * Michael Fassbender as Tom Sherbourne
 * Alicia Vikander as Isabel Graysmark Sherbourne
 * Rachel Weisz as Hannah Roennfeldt
 * Bryan Brown as Septimus Potts
 * Jack Thompson as Ralph Addicott
 * Caren Pistorius as Lucy Grace Rutherford (Adult Lucy/Grace)
 * Florence Clery as Lucy Sherbourne/Grace Roennfeldt
 * Anthony Hayes as Vernon Knuckey
 * Emily Barclay as Gwen Potts
 * Leon Ford as Frank Roennfeldt
 * Thomas Unger as Bluey
 * Benedict Hardie as Harry Garstone
 * Georgie Jean Gascoigne as 1-year-old Baby Lucy/Grace
 * Elliot and Evangeline Newbery as Baby Lucy/Grace
 * Jane Menelaus as Violet Graysmark
 * Garry MacDonald as Bill Graysmark

Production
DreamWorks acquired the rights to the novel on November 27, 2012, with David Heyman and Jeffrey Clifford producing through Heyday Films. DreamWorks approached Derek Cianfrance at the behest of Steven Spielberg, who was impressed by Cianfrance's Blue Valentine. In September 2013, Cianfrance was announced to direct the film. In May 2014, Michael Fassbender was announced in the film. In June 2014, Alicia Vikander joined the cast of the film. In July 2014, Rachel Weisz joined the cast. Participant Media joined the production in August 2014.

Filming


Principal photography started in September 2014, with filming locations in New Zealand and Australia. Filming took place in Dunedin, Port Chalmers and on the Otago Peninsula, Saint Bathans in Central Otago and at the Cape Campbell Lighthouse in Marlborough. Filming sites included the former Dunedin Prison in Dunedin and Stuart Street at the former King Edward Technical College building. Footage aboard a steam train was filmed in October inside a refurbished wooden "bird cage" passenger carriage from the Pleasant Point Railway in South Canterbury. Mainline Steam Heritage Trust used Ja 1240 "Jessica" for the movie and was transferred from the trust's Christchurch depot to Dunedin for filming to take place.

In November the production moved to Australia and filming began in Stanley, Tasmania where the crews transformed some locations in the town including the pier, which was refurbished, and the road, which was covered in gravel. Production wrapped on November 24, 2014.

Post-production
Cianfrance spent a year editing the film, with little breaks in between. with the first cut of the film ending up at 2 hours and 20 minutes.

Release
The Light Between Oceans held its world premiere at the 73rd Venice International Film Festival on September 1, 2016. The film was distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures through the Touchstone Pictures banner, being the last DreamWorks film to be released under the original agreement with Walt Disney Studios. Disney released the film in the United States on September 2, 2016. Disney opted not to give the film a limited release, a method often used by studios for adult dramas, and instead issued the film in general wide release at 1,500 locations with focus on upscale venues.

Disney also distributed The Light Between Oceans overseas, except for territories in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, where distribution was handled by Mister Smith Entertainment through other third-party film distributors; Entertainment One Films in the United Kingdom, Reliance in India, Arthouse in Russia, and Eagle Pictures in Italy.

Box office
In the United States, The Light Between Oceans was released on September 2, 2016, alongside Morgan, and was projected to gross $6–9 million from around 1,500 theaters in its opening weekend. It grossed $1.4 million on its first day and $5 million in its opening weekend, finishing 6th at the box office.

Critical response
The Light Between Oceans received mixed reviews from critics. On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 59%, based on 133 reviews, with an average rating of 6.2/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "The Light Between Oceans presents a well-acted and handsomely mounted adaptation of its bestselling source material, but ultimately tugs on the heartstrings too often to be effective." On Metacritic, the film has an average score of 60 out of 100, based on 43 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". According to CinemaScore, audiences gave the film an average grade of "B+", on an A+ to F scale.