Testing the boundaries of true love and it’s accompanying bliss can unfortunately end in catastrophe for even the most deserving people. They care so much about securing more happiness in their connection that they ignore the dangerous repercussions that can potentially arise. Having the willpower to do what’s right for the greater good, instead of just focusing on the effects that an action can have on one couple, is enthrallingly explored in the new romantic drama, ‘The Light Between Oceans.’
Based on the acclaimed 2012 Australian war fiction novel of the same name by M.L. Stedman, ‘The Light Between Oceans’ will be distributed into theaters nationwide on Friday by DreamWorks Pictures. The film was written for the screen and directed by ‘Blue Valentine’ and ‘The Place Beyond the Pines’ scribe-helmer, Derek Cianfrance.
While ‘The Light Between Oceans’ marks the first time Cianfrance has adapted a novel, he has long been interested in creating movies that intimately explore such themes as love, family legacy, loneliness and choices. Those realistically gripping themes has helped make Stedman’s novel resonant with so many readers since its release. The filmmaker naturally connected with those messages that are riveting presented in the source material. As a result, he effortlessly infused his signature thematic style into his new drama, which successfully explores the moral dilemmas that one married couple will have to overcome in order to achieve their goals.
Even though Cianfrance’s new drama is set during the immediate aftermath of World War I, viewers can still appreciate its old-fashioned tale of love, and the impossible choices that lay beneath. ‘The Light Between Oceans’ invokes the power of landscape and the aftermath of war, and uses them as stunning backdrops for the all-consuming state of passion that pushes a couple into moral dilemmas.
Set in the years following World War I, ‘The Light Between Oceans’ follows Tom Sherbourne (Michael Fassbender), a young veteran who’s still numb from his years in combat. As a result, he decides to take a job as lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock, a remote island off the coast of Western Australia. As the island’s sole inhabitant, he finds comfort in the monotony of the chores and the solitude of his surroundings. But when he later meets the daughter of the school’s headmaster, Isabel Graysmark (Alicia Vikander), in the local town of Partageuse on the mainland, Tom is immediately captivated by her beauty, wit and passion. As a result, they are soon married and move together onto the island.
As their love flourishes, Tom begins to feel contentment again. But their happiness is marred only by their inability to start a family. So when a rowboat with a dead man and infant girl mysteriously washes ashore, Isabel believes their prayers may have finally been answered. As a man of principle, Tom is torn between reporting the lost child and pleasing the woman he loves. Against his better judgment, he eventually agrees to let Isabel raise the child as their own, which is a decision that comes with devastating consequences.
Cianfrance, Fassbender and Vikander generously took the time recently to participate in a press conference at The Ritz-Carlton New York, Battery Park Hotel to discuss writing, directing and starring in ‘the Light Between Oceans.’ Among other things, the filmmaker and actors discussed how they embraced bringing resilient characters to the screen in a drama that thrives on such themes as the power of love and the need to overcome prejudice. The trio also mentioned how they appreciated shooting the movie in a somewhat isolated location, as it helped distance the actors from the distractions of the real world, and also helped bond everyone who was working on the set.
Vikander began the press conference by noting that she “loved working with Michael. I was a huge fan of his work” before production on the drama began. “I think he has proven himself to be one of today’s bravest and most diverse actors. I would love to work with him again. I think we all had a wonderful time making this film.”
The reigning Best Supporting Actress Academy Award-winning performer added that she’s appreciative of the fact that Cianfrance offered her the opportunity to portray Isabel in ‘The Light Between Oceans.’ “He told me that she’s a fighter, and she is; she’s a survivor. I love that she’s so transparent,” Vikander revealed while discussing why she enjoyed portraying the film’s female lead.
“I even felt like I couldn’t know where she was headed, as she says and does things without thinking,” the actress admitted. “It’s quite liberating to have that freedom as an actor sometimes. You don’t always want to be comfortable and only do things you have already done before, which is a challenge.
“The Sherbournes are good people, but they don’t always make the best decisions. Isabel always acts from the heart, so I don’t think you can really blame her. You really have to get to her heart to understand her actions,” Vikander added.
“I said to Derek, ‘This girl frightens me,'” Fassbender then admitted about his co-star, which garnered a laugh from the reporters. “She’s so fierce and brave. It really made me feel like I had to come to work in the morning. But we had a great chemistry from the beginning. We really relied on, and supported, one another, which is really the ideal scenario when working together,” the two-time Oscar-nominated actor also divulged.
Fassbender added that he and Vikander did “have fun together between takes. We would have a laugh, which was important. We all spent so much time working, I thought we might as well have fun while doing it.”
The actor also explained that he “learned early on that it wasn’t going to be an easy day. We may only have a quarter page (of the script) to shoot, but Derek could be rolling for hours. He kept pushing us to find new things.”
Fassbender also echoed Vikander’s testament that it was an honor to star in the romantic drama. The actor admitted that he read the script before the book, but overall, he “was so moved by the story. I thought, wow, this is such an old-fashioned human story about ordinary people who are trying to navigate life. There weren’t any clear-cut villains or good guys; they’re just decent, ordinary people who make some decisions that are very damaging and costly.”
The performer added that the characters touched him emotionally. “I found Tom, as a character, to be a hero. He’s someone who I would aspire to be like. He lives by his choices, and he’s loyal to the end to Isabel. He’s also a man of his word, and he carries his responsibility very seriously.”
Fassbender then pointed to the fact that when Tom is first introduced in the film, “he decides to go to into isolation on an island to get away from people. Part of the reasoning of that is that he had seen so much death and destruction during World War I, and he had his own portion of blame in that. So he decided that he didn’t want to bring harm to anyone else in what remained in his life.”
Tom “is also a very noble character. Even through the hardship of trying to have children, when they discover the child, he knows in his heart of hearts that they should notify the authorities. That’s a very impressive decision to make, considering what they’ve been through as a couple,” the actor added as he further praised his character.
Cianfrance then divulged that he was attracted to directing ‘The Light Between Oceans’ because he’s interested in making films about what really happens between families. He explained that when he was a child, “I always thought it was weird that our behavior changed inside our house when we had guests. Then when they left, we went back to being real. I would then go to my friends’ house, and realize that every family has their secrets.
“So I made it my mission to show what really happens” between families when no one is watching them. “But I wanted to show that in a respectful way; I never want to be exploitative when I make a movie.” Cianfrance added that it’s difficult to shoot these types of family-driven dramas, “so what you need is brave and courageous actors.”
The director then praised Fassbender and Vikander for their commitment to their characters, as “they really went for it in these devastating scenes. Michael and Alicia were really there for each other, even during the most heartbreaking scenes.
“I remember on day two of the shoot, Michael was hammering some metal in Tom’s shop. Tom was praying for himself, so Michael just cried,” Cianfrance also divulged while talking about the difficulties the actors faced when connecting with, and subsequently disconnecting from, their characters. “I remember thinking, ‘Yes, he cried!'”
But when the drama was nearing the end of its shoot, which lasted 45 days, “Michael and I got together to discuss the remaining scenes. We said, ‘Whatever happens, let’s not cry here. The entire shoot was so emotional that everyone was always crying on the set. So we were trying our hardest not to cry anymore. So for the last few scenes, we said, ‘Whatever you do, don’t cry Michael.’ But he couldn’t help it, and he started crying anyway.”
Fassbender also chimed in on the sentimentalism that arose between him, his co-stars and the crew while they were filming ‘The Light Between Oceans.’ “We were often tired at the end of the day, so we would often crash. We also got up pretty early, because a lot of times we would try to (shoot) in the first light,” the performer explained.
In order to help ease the heightened emotions that were created on the set while they were filming, the cast and crew “had barbecues and a movie night…We did some pretty simple stuff, because we were away from everything.” The actor garnered a laugh when he added that the farmer who was working on the peninsula where the film was shot “was happy to have some company.”
Cianfrance also mentioned he’s not afraid to admit how emotional he became when he read Stedman’s novel, as he feels that many people would also have the same reaction. So when he began adapting the novel into the screenplay, he “wanted to stay true to that emotion I had while I was reading the book for the first time.
“But you can’t just film the book” in its entirety, the filmmaker explained. “If you just film the book, you would have a mess on your hands, because the literary and cinematic mediums aren’t the same.” Cianfrance added that the adaptation process “becomes intuitive, but that doesn’t mean it’s not painful when you cut” material from the book for the script.
The writer-director added that Stedman “told me after she saw the first rough cut of the movie, she walked around weeping the entire next day. She said that she finally felt understood. She asked, ‘Isn’t that the biggest gift or complement you could ever want in life?’ But that’s not to say that the film is an exact mirror of the book. In a lot of ways, the movie is inspired by the book,” Cianfrance revealed.
“One of my favorite scenes in the movie is when Alicia shaves Michael’s mustache, and that scene wasn’t in the book,” the helmer added as he continued discussing the adaptation process. “I sent Michael some old pictures of lightkeepers, and one of the guys had a mustache. He said, ‘Why don’t I have a mustache, so that she can shave it?’
“But I can’t tell you the struggle we had to shoot that mustache scene,” Cianfrance revealed, before Vikander chimed in and said, “Yes, it’s a one-take scene!” The director added that many of the executives on the drama “were nervous about that scene, and said, ‘Why don’t we let the art department shave his mustache first? Then she can come in and put shaving cream on him, and act like she’s shaving him.’ I said, ‘I think she can do it.'” The filmmaker added that he had that conversation about the scene for months.
“I asked Alicia if she could do it, and she said, ‘I think so.’ I asked Micheal, ‘Do you trust her?’ He said, “I trust her,'” Cianfrance also disclosed, which garnered another laugh. “When she finally did shave his mustache, I can’t tell you how dramatic it was on set.”
When then asked if the shaving scene had any significance within the context of the story, Fassbender communicated that he just thought “it would be more comfortable for (Isabel) to kiss (Tom) without the mustache. It’s just one of those instances where you change things in order to work together.” The actor added that “Alicia thought it was a fun idea, too.”
Fassbender also spoke about how the events of World War I had influenced Tom, Isabel and the rest of their community. “There weren’t many men left in the town; it was decimated of its male population,” the actor noted. “I think one thing that’s really important is that (the loss of the men) is overshadowed by (Tom and Isabel’s) experience after the loss of their children.”
The actor also pointed out that the community in the film also faces a larger social issue that audiences can still relate to today. Fassbender was distressed that one of the characters, who had nothing to do with the war, still gets killed because of his nationality. “We’re living in a society today where we’re dealing with the exact same problem. Migrants are still getting persecuted…because of their ethnicity and religious beliefs, and that’s frightening.”
The actors and writer-director then discussed the experience of shooting ‘The Light Between Oceans’ on location in Australia and New Zealand. “I wasn’t allowed on the set the first day the film started shooting,” Vikander revealed with a laugh. “Michael had his first day when they started filming, and I was left by myself.
“But I had to be on the set at 3am the next day, so they picked me up then. It was completely dark, and I knew the first scene I was going to shoot was the first day Isabel arrived on the island,” the actress divulged. “When I arrived, they made me close my eyes as they took me down to this wood shed, which was next to the house. That’s the way they made me put on my make-up and costume every day,” Vikander also revealed.
“They would then let me out and said, ‘Look for Derek-he’s out there with the camera. Just head towards him.’ So I did, and they started rolling. So they were filming as I was exploring the island for the first time, like Isabel. It wasn’t good acting-it was just Alicia getting quite freaked out,” the performer added with a laugh.
But Vikander enjoyed the experience of shooting in on the peninsula that stood in for Janus Rock, as it “had the most beautiful sunset I had ever seen in my entire life. But it ended up being different every single day. I had also never seen the kind of nature” that was present on the peninsula before.
The actress added that “Michael had wanted everyone to stay out there Monday through Friday while we were shooting. But I was like, I don’t know about that; it seems like a bit much,” which elicited a laugh from the reporters.
“But when we went out there, it really was a gift to be get to explore. Getting to go to places and meet people that you wouldn’t normally get to, like on this films, is extraordinary,” Vikander also mentioned.
“I ask my actors to surprise me, and in return, I try to give them an experience,” Cianfrance then stated as he described the process of filming the romantic drama on location. “One of the experiences on this film was to live in this isolation. Anytime you make a movie, and its in its best form, you have this summer camp feeling. You’re with a group of people, and you get to know each other incredibly well. But we had a camera and sound crew there, and made a movie.”
The director added that he thought it would be beneficial for the actors “to try to get rid of all of these distractions of the real world.” The cast and crew would sleep in the trailers at night, and “It would be great to wake up at 4 in the morning and shoot the actors experiencing the sunrise. The experience does something to you psychologically.”
“So I’m always looking for places where I can make a collision between fiction and non-fiction, the story and real life, and the acting and behavior. So by living in that place, it allowed us to do that,” Cianfrance then revealed. “Luckily, Michael and Alicia were game. Michael did say, ‘Give it one more night. Then pretty soon, it was like, ‘Do we have to leave?'”
Fassbender then jumped in and revealed that Cianfrance “didn’t initially want to film on (Otago Peninsula in New Zealand), because it wasn’t an island! We had a lighthouse that was perfectly set up, and you couldn’t get anything that was closer to (the one in) the book. But Derek was like, ‘It’s not an island, so I’m not sure.'”
The helmer then explained that it was his “dream to go out to an island, and then we couldn’t get off of it. That way we would have to film the madness that actually happened on the island. We did find an island, but the light house was only 30 feet tall.
“So we found a light house that was more appropriate, but it was on this peninsula. It also took an hour and 20 minutes to get there on this dirt road,” Cianfrance added. “So I said, ‘Do we really want to drive on a dirt road in the dark twice a day? So we just lived there, and that was a gift.”
Watch the official trailer for ‘The Light Between Oceans’ below.
Written by: Karen Benardello