Movies - The Light at the Edge of the World

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	Movies - The Light at the Edge of the World

The Light at the Edge of the World is a 1971 suspense thriller movie, adapted from Jules Verne's classic 1905 action-adventure novel "Le Phare du bout du monde
". The plot involves piracy in the South Atlantic during the mid 19th century, with a theme of survival in extreme circumstances, and events centering on an isolated lighthouse.

Despite having a large Hollywood budget, collaboration with prestigous foreign film studios, exotic shooting locations in Europe and some big name American movie stars, the movie was mainly a failure at the box office. This was was in part due to classification problems (the film was generally considered too violent), which was not only a problem for getting the film to its intended audience but it also forced the film makers to heavily edit the film - subsequently resulting in a lack of cohesion and continuity between scences, confusing its viewers. Also, some considered the adapted screenplay to be of a poor quality, containing poor and flimsy dialogue. Perhaps most importantly, prior to its general release there was also a lack of an organised marketing program to promote the film, and also a lack of advertisements, which no doubt hindered the films success.

Synopsis

The year is 1865. Will Denton (Kirk Douglas) is a jaded American miner escaping a troubled past. Seeking isolation for two reasons - to mend his broken heart after a failed romance during the California Gold Rush, and also to escape punishment after he murdered a man in a gunfight - Denton tends a lonely and isolated lighthouse with a minimal crew of three men, himself included.

The lighthouse sits on a fictional rocky island adorned with many caves carved by the crashing waves of the Atlantic Ocean; it is however set in the geographic location of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago at the southern tip of South America. Before the building of the Panama Canal, the waters off Cape Horn were perhaps the busiest and richest shipping lanes in the world (all shipping between Europe and the western coast of America had to go around the Cape) and therefore very lucrative.

Denton is contented to retreat from the world and be away from the problems of civilisation, and quickly adjusts to his new supervisor, old Argentinian sea dog Captain Moriz (Fernando Rey) and his youthful and innocent assistant Felipe.

A shipload of utterly malicious and sadistic pirates show up, murder everyone they can find, and extinguish the light. They're wreckers, brigands who mislead ships into the rocks to loot the cargo and prey upon the victims. Their leader Captain Jonathan Kongre (Yul Brynner) is a diabolical fiend with a seductive and charismatic facade. Brynner's performance in this film was in some scenes almost regal (perhaps implying an aristocratic history in the character) and as such compared to Brynner's earlier performance in The King and I
.

Denton hides out in the caves and amongst the rocks, and Kongre initiates a cruel game of cat-and-mouse. Denton manages to survive and cannot keep himself from striking back: he saves innocent Italian wreck survivor Montefiore from the pirates' massacre, and together they wage a war of guerrilla tactics against Kongre and his cutthroats.

Kongre breaks his own rule by keeping one captive alive - a beautiful Englishwoman named Arabella (Samantha Eggar). When Denton realizes she's there, the rules of the cat-and-mouse game change radically and the situation becomes more complicated then either side could have imagined. Kongre decides to use her as bait in luring Denton.

The conclusion to the film results in some the best choreographied battle sequences in cinematic history, as well as some of the most daring stunts ever committed to celluloid (for example a man on fire jumping from the top of the lighthouse) until only the protagonist and villain are left to fight it out to the death.

Filming Locations

Upon initial release the film was noted for its exotic cinematography and applauded because of the inherant difficulties of shooting on rocky outcrops, and also at night far away from civilisation. Most of the movie was filmed in Spain. Some of the shooting locations included:

Jávea, Alicante, Comunidad Valenciana, Spain
La Manga del Mar Menor, Murcia, Spain
Cadaqués, Girona, Cataluña, Spain
Cabo de Creus, Girona, Cataluña, Spain
La Pedriza, Manzanares el Real, Madrid, Spain

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