The Light Between Oceans film is the upcoming adaptation of M.L. Stedman’s 2012 debut best-selling novel of the same name and it’s already sounding like it could well be an early contender for award nominations. With the acting credentials of Michael Fassbender (Macbeth (2015)) behind it, along with the powerful storyline of the book, the movie is shaping up to be a potential heavyweight.
The trailer below is a fairly emotional beast, so you might want to pack a few hankies with you along with the popcorn to make it through to the teary end.
Release date
The UK release date had been previously slated for the 8th January 2016, but it has since between put back until Friday the 4th November 2016. It was already a lengthy production cycle with filming getting underway in Autumn 2014, but the release reschedule moves things out even further. It’ll be out in US cinemas in early September, following its premier at the Venice Film Festival.
Storyline
The story is set just after the harrowing battles of the trenches in World War I as Tom Sherbourne returns home to Australia after serving four years in action. Taking a job as a lighthouse keeper on the isolated island of Janus Rock, he and his young wife Isabel hunker down for the long haul, but when a dead man and a baby girl wash up they’re faced with a huge moral decision that sees them keeping the child as their own, leading to some monumental consequences to face.
Cast
Fassbender takes on the role of the troubled lighthouse keeper, having joined the cast following the completion of his work for the 2015 movie adaptation of Macbeth earlier in 2014. With his multiple nominations for his parts in 12 Years A Slave and Shame, both with British director Steve McQueen, it’ll be interesting to see if he can do the same for The Light Between Oceans film adaptation.
He’ll be joined by Alicia Vikander on the isolated island as she takes on the role of his wife Isabel, who encourages her good soldier to keep things quiet to keep the baby as their own. It should see her continuing her rise to stardom, following on from the success Ex-Machina. Rachel Weisz (The Lobster) stars alongside the pair as Hannah Roennfeldt, the real mother of the child back on the mainland.
Production
The Light Between Oceans is being created by Dreamworks Studios and Participant Media with Derek Cianfrance (The Place Beyond The Pines) in the director’s chair. Heyday Films’ David Heyman (Paddington (movie)) and Jeffrey Clifford are producing the film.
The film has been given a certificate of 12A in the UK by the BBFC.
First impressions
This is a movie that looks and sounds like it might have everything in place to pick up a lot of critical acclaim. The combination of Fassbender, Cianfrance and Stedman look like a pretty powerful mix and we’re surprised it hasn’t had more attention in the run-up to the belated release date in November 2016. It’s filled to the brim with a massive moral dilemma that sets things up for dramatic delivery and the backdrop of a post-war Australia and the lone lighthouse makes for a unique cinematic insight from the look of the trailer below.
If you’re interested in reading the book before watching the film, there’s an interview with M.L. Stedman on Bookpage that sheds some light (bad pun!) on things, including the fact that the Janus Rock lighthouse from the book is fictitious – although apparently, he did take a lot of inspiration from the region where the Southern Ocean and the Indian Ocean meet.
