Country: United States
Genre: Action/ Drama/ Suspense
Director: Kevin Billington
Year: 1971
Rating: 
TRASH CINEMA RECOMMENDED MOVIE
Back when I first saw The Light At The Edge Of The World in the theaters, my grandmother tried to cover my eyes at the goriest parts. I have to admit, I was taken aback by the brutality of those scenes at the time.
Sitting down to watch it again, I figured that it wouldn’t have the same kind of impact now, but I was surprised.
The key to the success of The Light At The Edge Of The World is that it is presented matter of factly, with a minimum of spin.
In the year 1865, a skeleton crew mans a lighthouse on the outer reaches of the shipping lanes. When they’re taken surprise by pirates, the assistant lighthouse keeper, Will Denton (Kirk Douglas) is forced to hide out on the rocky island, playing cat and mouse with the pirates, led by Captain Jonathan Kongre (Yul Brynner).
It’s a basic, even elemental plot. The paradox is that the movie runs over two hours, but I wasn’t bored. Those who are conditioned by MTV editing patterns might find themselves shifting in their seats, but that is because they mistake mindless motion for meaningful action. Screenwriter Tom Rowe, working from a novel by Jules Verne (yes, that Jules Verne), works out a surprising number of involving permutations on this basic material.
The key decision that results in the movie’s effectiveness is that director Kevin Billington resolutely avoids empty stylistic flourishes and employs an almost documentary approach, so when a man is casually butchered, it seems real and gives the events that follow a real sense of menace. In this case, the carnage is viewed through a spyglass, so it seems almost like war footage.
When you make a viewer accept the reality of a deadly situation, it isn’t necessary to pound on them with jump cuts, graphic violence, explosions and other desperate visual tricks to retain their attention.
It helps that the performances are based in reality, physical and psychological, although it’s a bonus that the stars have a strong unforced dose of charisma. You can believe that Kirk Douglas would be able to evade dozens of armed pirates. Yul Brynner instantly convinces as a brutal sadist in the guise of an educated man.
Some literal minded viewers will probably object to a couple of scenes involving falls from high places. Dummies, and not very good ones, were clearly used. Also, in the night scenes, it’s obvious that director Kevin Billington was using day for night cinematography. But so what? I was able to overcome my disbelief because the characterizations were consistently on target and the director wasn’t constantly trying to remind me how brilliant he was through distracting visual tics.
If I have a complaint about The Light At The Edge Of The World, it would have to be the ending. It lacks the rigorous logic of the rest of the picture. And, given how detestable a villain Jonathan Kongre is, his comeuppance could have been milked a bit more.
But still, I’m impressed that The Light At The Edge Of The World still has a lot of power, almost forty years after it was filmed.
