The Lightship * (1985, Robert Duvall, Klaus Maria Brandauer, Badja Djola, Arliss Howard, William Forsythe) – Classic Movie Review 11,678

Director Jerzy Skolimowski’s 1985 American drama film The Lightship is a very odd, quite theatrical piece, about a trio of criminals led by Caspary (played by Robert Duvall in offbeat casting as a caricatured, though well-played, homosexual) who take over Kapitan Miller (Klaus Maria Brandauer)’s small coastguard lightship.

The criminals then have to battle the crew for control of the vessel, while the Captain is at loggerheads with his son Alex (Michael Lyndon), who wants to attack the criminals and apprehend them, while the Captain merely seeks to protect the lives of his crew.

Director Skolimowski throws in all manner of symbolism and pretension but the result is a mess, full of half-baked ideas and unfulfilled emotions.

The pretentious voice-over by Skolimowski’s son Michael Lyndon (playing Brandauer’s boy Alex Miller) is another minus. However, apparently the film’s narration was a last-minute editing fix since budget problems eliminated a few opening scenes, and Skolimowski added the voice-overs to explain what happened in them, so the film is told from the boy’s point of view.

It is mostly filmed in West Germany on the island of Sylt in the North Sea but it is set off the coast of Norfolk, Virginia, at Cape Hatteras ten years after World War Two.

The screenplay is by William Mai and David Taylor, based on German author Siegfried Lenz’s novella Das Feuerschiff (The Lightship), which had earlier been made into a 1963 German film of that title.

Duvall and Brandauer swapped roles before shooting began.

The cast are Robert Duvall as Caspary, Klaus Maria Brandauer as Kapitan Miller, Badja Djola as Nate, Arliss Howard as Eddie, William Forsythe as Gene, Tim Phillips as Thorne, Tom Bower as Coop, Michael Lyndon as Alex, and Robert Costanzo as Stump.

This was the last film by CBS Theatrical Films, which closed in November 1985. It was distributed by Castle Hill Productions nine months after the studio’s closure, and by Rank in the UK. Despite Duvall receiving the Best Actor award and Skolimowski winning the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival, The Lightship had only a very limited release.

The Lightship is Skolimowski’s first US production.

A lightship is a floating lighthouse permanently anchored in one place.

Robert Selden Duvall turned 90 on 5 January 2021.

Klaus Maria Brandauer in 2012.

Austrian actor and director Klaus Maria Brandauer was born Klaus Georg Steng on 22 June 1943. He is the son of Maria Brandauer and Georg Steng.

© Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 11,678

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