El misterio del faro

From the premise I almost thought this was similar to "The Lighthouse" with Pattinson and Dafoe. But this is nothing like that. While this is quite somber (for a movie with Butler in it), it is not nearly as intense or good as that. Still the movie is at least decent, with nice play between the 3 main characters. With some added flavor of others thrown in.

Being on an island can do things to your mind. When an outside "force" comes it adds a new ingredient to the mix. This is not always a good thing. And nothing comes for free either ... even if you don't know or haven't read up on the story, once you open something, you know you'll have to live with the consequences. Whatever those may be

Admittedly I am rating this higher than I think it should be rated. I am doing this to do my part in bringing the overall rating up. Many people decide whether or not to watch a movie, based on these ratings and I think more people should watch this movie. Did it have a slow pace? Yes. I thought the acting and story were fantastic. I see people complaining about the claim that this was based on real events. It was. The true story is that nobody knows what happened to the three men. This was simply a filmmakers take as to what might have happened. I have quite a bit of knowledge about what is known to have happened and the filmmakers did a wonderful job of including that in the movie. They simply filled in the blanks with what I thought was an intriguing story, and deep, engaging characters. Please don't let the overall rating dissuade you from watching. The people who didn't like this movie, are probably people who can't appreciate a movie without a high level of "excitement". I would give the flick an 8.5.

The movie is not about the disappearance of the three lighthous keepers from 1900. That was just a pretext. It is about ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. Greed, guilt, suspicion... We always think that we are able to manage extraordinary circumstances, but do we?

What a breath of fresh air. I don't mean the literal air on these desolate island but a movie without an intrusive soundtrack or where the producers have made sure every scene is fully explained to a dumb audience.

A stark production from a director moving up from TV for the first time and showing talent in the way that Spielberg did with Duel.

Strong acting from a small bunch of blokes in a claustrophobic environment.

I watched The Vanishing because:

• It's a period piece
• I love lighthouses
• Scotland is gorgeous
• Lighthouses are even better on an island.

I got all of these, of course, in a classic tale that owes to authors such as Stevenson or Leroux. A pretty good story indeed.

Great cast. Including a very credible Scotsman played by that Greek actor, the one from Sparta.