Robert Eggers on The Lighthouse, Pairing Robert Pattinson & Willem Dafoe, and Aspect Ratios

The Lighthouse is the mind-bending new movie out from Robert Eggers, a director who’s making a career out of revisiting America’s primal past in vividly imagined period films. In 2015, Eggers won the Best Directing Award at Sundance for The Witch, a chilling piece of horror set in a colonial New England settlement. In The Lighthouse, Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson star as two lighthouse keepers, a grizzled old-timer and his new apprentice, in 19th century Maine. For our latest Film Comment Talk at Film at Lincoln Center, FC Editor-in-Chief Nicolas Rapold spoke with Eggers about the art, craft, and angst of making the movie, fleshing out the details of its setting, and what he’d do with an unlimited budget.
Film at Lincoln Center is dedicated to supporting the art and elevating the craft of cinema and enriching film culture.
Film at Lincoln Center fulfills its mission through the programming of festivals, series, retrospectives, and new releases; the publication of Film Comment; the presentation of podcasts, talks, and special events; the creation and implementation of Artist Initiatives; and our Film in Education curriculum and screenings. Since its founding in 1969, this nonprofit organization has brought the celebration of American and international film to the world-renowned arts complex Lincoln Center, making the discussion and appreciation of cinema accessible to a broad audience, and ensuring that it remains an essential art form for years to come.
More info: filmlinc.org/
Subscribe: kzbin.info_c...
Like: / filmlinc
Follow: / filmlinc

[@sammavitae114]

He shoudna been on here ...spillin his beans.

[@elfsieben1450]

Lol!

[@Johnconno]

Smellin' o' shit... With his lobster!🚽💨

[@joshuanesbitt135]

Lmaooooo 😂🤣

[@yesindeed5608]

Why’d ye spill yer beans Bobby? Why’d ye spill yer beans?

[@brandonsellers5352]

I will watch anything this guy makes now

[@kasperbolding18]

Then you must be reaaaaallly dumb, like humongus.

[@Aperki2010]

@@kasperbolding18 'Humungous' is an adjective, not a noun. You also spelt it wrong. Don't call people dumb, but if you do, do it correctly.

[@flowerbomb333]

Agree totally

[@bethaniie_]

Me too!

[@zachloveless1827]

I really like this guy. His debut was arguably one of the best films of 2016, and still blew past it with the Lighthouse. Yet through all of this, he's one of the most humble directors I've seen. He's always talking about his crew and his writers, and how he relies so much on them, and how he trusts their instincts. At the time I'm writing this, I'm working on a short film, and I can't stress how important the rest of your crew is, so I really love the fact that he highlights all of their contributions.

[@hakontorp390]

Link to your short film?

[@blakeandcamp]

Robert is brilliant. Even though he's rather young you can tell he just has an encyclopedic knowledge of film and it shows with his work as well. He's one of those directors I'll watch anything he makes. The Lighthouse and The Witch were both fantastic.

[@jachrishalt]

You'll be delighted he's currently working on something called "The Northman" right now, together with an icelandic lyricist.

[@one_man_community]

If he shaved his head. He really would be Robert *Eggers.*

[@sketta.]

That’s clever, that’s clever

[@NASkeywest]

After watching "The VVitch." the first time, I immediately looked up the writer/director...it was, him, the same person! I love when a writer is also the director. the vision of the script is carried out exactly as intended.

[@Frederick0220]

Agreed 100%. My favorite film of all-time Donnie Darko was written and directed by the same dude too.

[@coatster]

Just call it 'The Witch'.... why on earth are you spelling it VVitch

[@mxyzptlk...]

This film was very well edited. My favorite film this year.

[@susanorenduff4121]

Cinematography is outstanding. The story is mind boggling and really shook me to the core!

[@aaronkennon9960]

I've been wanting to see a western with horror elements done a certain way, eggers would be great for this. Just saying

[@tonywords6713]

Ravenous, Bone Tomahawk

[@Sweet_Karma]

@@tonywords6713 Bone Tomahawk is a great example

[@CH-kd3rz]

High plains drifter

[@herrschneider5310]

not really horror, but "the proposition" was a great movie

[@Santiago-xw7dk]

I've think he could do an awesome movie based on the Aztecs or their mythology.

[@MrChaz9999]

His Lord of the Rings, could you imagine

[@XDarkBrotherhoodHD]

Charles GW when did he mention LOTR??? That’s my favourite trilogy of all time

[@lilbigman777]

@@XDarkBrotherhoodHD 19:20

[@jd808]

good god

[@brandonsellers5352]

Holy Shit

[@TheTheode]

I think peter Jackson's is a masterpiece, but I'd love to see another capable director try their hand at it. It's hard to imagine anyone other than Ian McKellen playing gandalf though. Viggo Mortensen is who I'll always imagine as aragorn as well.

[@TheGabrielberki]

He believed there were some enchantment in the light. Ravin’ about sirens, merfolk, bad omens and the like...

[@Bitplex]

35:46 A masterful visionary and one of my favourite emerging directors, yet he spells ghost out loud as, "gohst" hahaha.

[@jonathanb1406]

I've listened to quite a lot of interviews with him talking about The Lighthouse now and I'm pretty sure in every single one of them he's used that "crusty, dusty, musty, rusty" line.

[@kasperbolding18]

Well, considering the quality of the movie, what'd you expect? He's obviously illiterate.

[@jonathanb1406]

Kasper Bolding / This is one of the worst takes I’ve ever read.

[@chungusthewise2906]

Jonathan B - I’ve realized this guy has had many bad takes on this video. Begone Bolding, ye’ dog.

[@bruhmoment-yc5zg]

@@chungusthewise2906 I like your name sir

[@bethaniie_]

The idea of a very talented director using the line "crusty, dusty, musty, rusty" (as well as both Willem and Robert P using it at least once as well, I remember) is just too funny to me

[@caricatureparty]

I love how honest and thorough Roger is.

[@jsheekey1]

He's lovely and his work is so good

[@nemanja4626]

I have watched at least 7 videos with Robert Eggers and in all of them he was in black.

[@tonywords6713]

Satan

[@alexsilva28]

Anti-Christ confirmed

[@andresgajardo9273]

“I want questions instead of answers “ EXACTLY, that makes for a much more intriguing and compelling experience

[@soulspherebfg7774]

I could listen to Eggers, Defoe and Pattinson talk about writing/shooting and acting this movie for hours.. Awesome flick! I've seen it 4 times and I'm still kind of digesting it.

[@kasperbolding18]

Then you must be very stupid.

[@deluxeclavier345]

@@kasperbolding18 Jazz is stupid

[@derekburbank5312]

20:12 “...the floorboards, the foghorn, the flatulence “

[@alexsilva28]

The perfect trifecta

[@skyborax5159]

35:45 "G O H S T"

[@prettyaverage97]

Love this guy. The Witch has quickly become one of my favourite horror movies, and The Lighthouse is astounding as well. I can't wait to watch his third film -- and his Nosferatu remake!!

[@joanr6915]

Brilliant movie - the acting was astonishing, the atmosphere and tension were rivetting. I felt like I'd been hit by a train afterwards. The audience clapped at the end which is the sign that this is as classic. Looking forward to seeing it again in a movie theatre.

[@bfffggffdfd]

People clapped at my showing of captain marvel too, doesnt really mean much these days. I think people just like to clap

[@joanr6915]

@@bfffggffdfd The only other movie that I've attended where people have spontaneously clapped, was Hidden Figures. Not sure where you live, but I 'm in England. We're a bit more reserved where I live!

[@nightangel3578]

Most of my accompanying audience looked disturbed and upset. Me included.

[@joanr6915]

@@nightangel3578 I'm surprised. There are a lot of funny moments in the movie which lightened the mood. Everyone in my screening seem to have loved it.

[@nightangel3578]

@@joanr6915 The 'funny' moments were far and few in between to me.

[@violinsinthevoid4579]

Watched the film twice in 24 hours; the first time I was just so engrossed with the mood and plot of the film, the second time I was appreciating the minuteia of language, setting, music, cinematography etc. even the costuming is something to behold. One of my favorite films in a couple of years.

[@nekrokulter]

My favorite part of this film (though I have to admit it's almost impossible to determine which aspect of this great production is my favorite) would be it's thematical diversity. You can find so much different meanings in the story and the images presented, which can lead to many different interpretations. Is it about the male ego/self image? About social power dilemmas? About an inability of understanding between generations? Just a wild meditation on losing ones identity? Or all of them? Or none of them? Absolutely brilliant film, loved it. In my eyes a modern masterpiece, can't wait to see it again :)

[@sketta.]

Great analysis I don’t see myself watching it anytime soon I’m a bit young so I want to wait a few years so I could understand the meanings more Well I’ve watched taxi driver maybe I’m just a pussi

[@kasperbolding18]

​@@sketta. U can analyze it now, the only ones pretending to find all sorts of meaning in this fragmented "story" are just typical movie snobs. Whole movie is riddled with cheesy symbolism gimmicks, designed to make stupid people feel like they cracked the da vinci code.

[@elfsieben1450]

@@sketta. The best works of art you can revisit at different points of time in your life and find new perspectives on and meanings in each time you do. They grow with you and help you grow with them, almost like friends.

[@elfsieben1450]

Good examples for me are the novels "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" and "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", the epic poem "Paradise Lost", the films "Twelve Angry Men", "Taxi Driver", "Living in Oblivion", and quite possibly also "The Lighthouse".

[@elfsieben1450]

It could also be an existentialist film about isolation as part of the human condition.

[@albertomartin4812]

First time this happens to me, I just came home from seeing the movie and I'm looking forward to come back to the theater to watch it again. What a beauty.

[@officialrez496]

Dude I love how his wife supports and helps with his research.

[@vladbishbosch]

damn, both of my favorite performances by both pattinson and dafoe happened just by them reaching out like that. good time for pattinson revived him for me and dafoe has always been great but this is a whole new role he played amazingly.

[@Mohamad-nx3jl]

Great director and also a very nice guy, answered all the question

[@DwainDwight]

very talented guy, humble and focused. exciting times ahead.

[@flowerbomb333]

Fabulous Fabulous Director …Thank you Robert Eggers for sharing your genius. And Dafoe and Pattinson were perfect casting

[@hafssol82]

Eggers working with Brad Dourif - match made in heaven! Make it happen!!

[@Petergonzalezcomedy]

the last shot took me back to high school and learning about prometheus that I completely forgot about

[@LeeBailes]

Thank you for filming this and sharing it. Awesome

[@ZachDxn]

Incredible interview! What an awesome dude.

[@yankeedoodle7828]

Fantastic interview!

[@Pingaheimer]

Thank god for non comic book movies for adults

[@kasperbolding18]

You surely aren't talking about The Lighthouse, because isn't that exactly that?

[@abcdefghi2749]

@@kasperbolding18 No. Not at all. You obviously never actually saw the film.

[@tonywords6713]

thanks so much for this

[@violinsinthevoid4579]

Great interviewer!

[@reycaniche2870]

Can't wait for this film!

[@koninginvictoria]

Incredible film!

[@user-sh9bq9vf5r]

I love this guy, haven’t seen the movie yet but I’m absolutely dying to

[@frenchcoupon3391]

The Light House is amazing but I was disappointed in the non mythological stuff, especially Robert Patisson’s backstory. Other than that- a visual masterpiece, to say at least.

[@TheKieshaKiesha]

this guy is the real deal

[@one_man_community]

28:18 "Yes, i'm happy to shit"

[@stevenspielberg9198]

Does anyone know the specific scene he's talking involving the tide where he had wished the camera was closer?

[@rowanjeffree1094]

Why'd ye spill yer beans, Robert?

[@maryscott2864]

The movie is not what I expected. It was so bizarre. Remind me of Alfred Hitchcock/ Twilight Zone. And maybe a little Shining? My thoughts what the f***?

[@bartholomewesperanza3442]

mary scott when he Pattinson finds defoes log book for the first time and reads it... seems like a pretty obvious homage to the scene where Wendy finally reads jack’s “novel”

[@marcogianesello6083]

there is quite a bit of the shining in it, but in all the best ways, this is a more fitting spiritual successor to the shining than doctor sleep ( and not because of the axe or because of the book, theme and iconography wise however they have quite a bit in common)

[@walkinmr.sunshine809]

Offhand, does anybody know what brand jacket Eggers is wearing?

[@jesse4o8]

late, but its the dickies eisenhower jacket

[@walteralvinson1515]

Are any of his short films available? I've had no success in finding them.

[@walteralvinson1515]

Thank you!

[@Heinos_music]

@@walteralvinson1515 the comment was deleted, do you know where to see the shorts?

[@tonywords6713]

You can find the Hansel and Gretel one on archive or Reddit it's pretty bad though he wasn't lying

[@okapi7559]

There are two Robert Eggers films available on Vimeo! Brothers and The Tell-Tale Heart. Just look up his name on Google with "vimeo" next to it, and you should find them!

[@nectithil]

all of them are on youtube, just search them here

[@wallacelovecraft8942]

Good vid. Love the movie. Honestly though, if you watch a lot of his interviews, he says a lot of the same stuff. Enjoyed it still!

[@rockomundo]

gohst

[@emily123jc]

it's common for artists to be dyslexic

[@nicksnow1843]

I think he's outgrown those pants.

[@KimBTown]

What was that thingy hanging down? And hiking boot socks? Trendsetter?

[@tylerdickey911]

You came here to criticize his outfit? 🤦‍♂️

[@daniels.rogers480]

I want Eggers' jacket

[@maddestmax6522]

Awesome director. The Northman is going to be great

[@emeraldviolet2001]

Eggers having a moment at 4:30

[@1deviousmama333]

Imagine if Ari Aster and Robert Eggers and Ari Aster did a film together. That shit would be legendary!

[@DizzyBusy]

He writes and the other one directs.

[@nota_2526]

any spoilers in this video?

[@ekmb]

No

[@nota_2526]

Thank you

[@inigo137]

@@nota_2526 did you watch the movie? Did you like it?

[@stevebob240]

Genius young filmmaker. Excited for the Northman and Nosferatu, whatever he does in the future.

[@Armin.h6]

I don't intend this comment to be rude, but you're The Lincoln Center. Can you please purchase a camera and record with something of higher quality? The massive artifacts are quite distracting. just a thought. Thanks for this interview!

[@joryosiecki5795]

Them black nike mids major respect Robert as a northeastern

[@grundlefly]

Really like this interviewer. Better than Rogan.

[@carlosaycart919]

Is gonna give, to the cinema culture, a good terror bunch of movies this guy

[@lilbigman777]

18:19 31:53 19:20

[@christopherthompson651]

Hey im watching the same video as one of my favorite youtubers .

[@TheCountfrankula]

Interesting ... he hints what he's currently working on something that has a lot of night exteriors. I heard he was interested in doing a Nosferatu remake so who knows.

[@lilbigman777]

@@christopherthompson651 💓you! [& I'm just doing research lol....preparing]

[@yankeedoodle7828]

Count Frankula he’s working on The Northman, a Viking revenge movie. Unless he is talking about a different project

[@alexmaldonado1706]

@@christopherthompson651 ayyyy Parquet Courts is the shit. Love every album

[@diegosza]

I've been watching a bunch of his interviews; Robert uses the same clothing, like a uniform. Is he trying to make a point, or is he being extremely practical? What do you think?

[@AVspectre]

Practicality I imagine. :)

[@helmutsecke3529]

Salt Chunk Mary and the Yeggs!

[@helmutsecke3529]

I wonder if Eggers has seen Carl Dreyer’s Day Of Wrath?

[@tonywords6713]

yes

[@jamesfox8930]

i really hope he never does a super hero movie....

[@kasperbolding18]

i really hope he never does another movie....

[@luciamota1249]

@@kasperbolding18 Seriously dude, I'm the second person saying this to you: Get a life, loser!

[@elfsieben1450]

@@luciamota1249 ...and probably neither the first nor the last person to do so. This guy is but a pathetic waste of skin.

[@elfsieben1450]

I'd watch a loose Ghost Rider adaptation of his if he were given carte blanche.

[@servidio236]

he said he has no desire to make mainstream movies in a Q&A he did.

[@J.Street.48]

A movie made in greece would be cool for him, horror, epic or something, something about a philosopher lol

[@AndrewKamenMusic]

I've got those socks

[@timwright4263]

Pinter. That's the magic word for me.

[@manasbansal7946]

His next movie is The Northman starring Willem Dafoe, Ana taylor joy, Nicole Kidman, others.

[@kasperbolding18]

SKIP, ty.

[@rupertcornelius]

should have shot The Lighthouse on iMax...?

[@valentinraffo]

great, now I want a fucking Robert Egger's Lord of the Rings that will never be made thanks for nothing, dawg

[@paulsamte]

Thems yer beans they do be salty still

[@madmaxvoncorswant]

No, Robert Eggers is not like Ari Aster or Martin Scorsese. He's an even better director.

[@kasperbolding18]

Better than Scorsese? Please... It was a nice, hit & miss movie, with the usual pseudo intellectual symbolism gimmicks. All the nonsense symbols is what make movie snobs feel intellectual. Not that they have any actual meaning or impact on the so called "story". Isn't it nice tho? To have material that boosts the confidence of people of lesser intelligence.............

[@madmaxvoncorswant]

@@kasperbolding18 Wow, I din't expect to have the CEO of Mensa reply to a comment from a simpleton such as myself. In my opinion Eggers is a way better director then Ari Aster. As for Scorsese, he's made some unforgettable classics and some of my favorite movies of all time like Taxi Driver and The Departed. I should probably have been more specific in my original comment that I meant to compare Eggers' films to contemporary Scorsese movies and I honestly didn't like The Irishman nor The Wolf of Wallstreet all that much, Silence I have yet to see.

[@madmaxvoncorswant]

@@vince1000 So has Ari Aster

[@elfsieben1450]

@@madmaxvoncorswant I truly love "Taxi Driver" and "Bringing Out the Dead", but I was ever so deeply disappointed with "The Wolf of Wall Street". I really like "The VVitch", but I love "The Lighthouse". Anything you'd recommend me by Ari Aster?

[@helmutsecke3529]

Scorcese took the shilling years ago, f%cking twat!

[@fegu]

How can they sit like that?

[@paulmcdonough1093]

this was a true story about a lighthouse in wales uk called smalls in 1801 not in new England a fact

[@Johnconno]

He's making all the 'research' up as he goes along. I don't blame him. In 5 years he'll be ruined.

[@convolution223]

Is Eggers sponsored by Nike?

[@biggestronald]

Crusty, dusty, musty ,rusty. Says that in 75% of his interviews.

[@rhysroberts515]

Which is the perfect explanation every time

[@ahmetmehmet7591]

I couldn't help, I needed to write this. I've seen both of his films and liked both of them a lot. He is a truly brilliant filmmaker. But can we call him an author? Maybe, maybe not, I don't care, I think that would make a really unimportant debate. The problem is where he disses Lovecraft (FYI, I am no heated Lovecraft fan, not even a Lovecraft fan) and says Lovecraft would explain everything in the end, yet he himself cares about questions rather than answers. This is the biggest bullshit I've heard in a while and I am dissapointed in him. You make horror flicks man, what are you talking about? Dear Mr. Eggers, listen to me, don't pretend to be something else than you actually are. I believe you are a very bright genre filmmaker; don't try to sell us some line you picked up from the interviews of great art film directors like Kiarostami, Haneke, Ceylan etc. You made very good mystery/horror films, and you unquestionably belong to entertainment cinema. A clever viewer knows very well that ambiguity in the kind of films that you made can only lead up to tension or curiosity or mystery, and has no kinship whatsoever to how it functions in the films of those I named above, and for the part of mystery, when you cannot close the deal (Obviously not every mystery film is Mulholland Dr.), next time, please don't give us this kind of horseshit, geez...

[@kasperbolding18]

Dude, this whole movie is made for pretentious pieces of shits, it's literally a cascade of symbolic gimmicks made to make movie snobs feel like they cracked the da vinci code. Pretentious people, breed pretentious art and pretentious people buy it, naturally.

[@luciamota1249]

@@kasperbolding18 And still the only one who sounds like a pretentious POS. It's you. At least Original Post gave good and well thought arguments...

[@tonywords6713]

Kasper Bolding aren’t you doing the exact same thing by saying you’re way smarter than people who like the movie who are just “pretending “

[@brettshelby881]

Dude this Kasper bitch just commented like 100 times to tell everyone they're stupid for enjoying this movie. What a psychopath.

[@brettshelby881]

@@kasperbolding18 psychotic piece of shit

[@loltheworld]

His calves are massive

[@jackr_4382]

Those who don't like his cinema should go back watching transformers, rather than spend time talking about something they clearly don't understand (and it's okay)

[@aaronkalahar-_-_-]

I really loved both of his movies but Eggers stumbles, umms, ahhs, and, and, and, and so much. Very distracting. Just saw The Lighthouse last night. It was amazing!

[@Dannyboyy86]

Distracting from what? Are you focused on the wall behind him or something?

[@aaronkalahar-_-_-]

Daniel Jensen his talking is distracting. Just an observation.

[@Dannyboyy86]

@@aaronkalahar-_-_- but his talking is the focal point 😆

[@aaronkalahar-_-_-]

Daniel Jensen I know lol

[@jonathanb1406]

@@aaronkalahar-_-_- So how can him talking distract from him talking?

[@johndeagle4389]

Eggers thinks he's so smart. He keeps saying, "Like..Like.." Annoying!

[@servidio236]

shut up john deagle

[@agamemnon533]

I saw this movie recently because of the hype. A truly hellish film. I wouldn't recommend this film to anyone to see. Undisputably one of the worst films of 2019. Terrible.

[@cathyforgue]

agamemnon533 Strongly agree to disagree! My favorite film of 2019 ! A masterclass in film!

[@marcogianesello6083]

yeah sure thing mate, undisputably my ass

[@deanerhockings-reptilianhu8701]

Obvious Troll is obvious.

[@jojo_n_dat7325]

@@deanerhockings-reptilianhu8701 Quoting cinemasins doesn't translate intelligence. They are the worst channel on youtube for any sense of film criticism.

[@deanerhockings-reptilianhu8701]

@@jojo_n_dat7325 Shhh!