To the Lighthouse (1983 TV Movie) User Reviews

It may be slow, but that is the way of life here in Cornwall

[one4 · 17 December 2000]

This is a most excellent film, and it is great to see that the BBC choose the correct setting to film, Godrevy Lighthouse is a beautiful site and Godrevy itself a magical place, I visit it at least twice a week, and you can feel Miss Woolf's magical writing coming alive.

Yes it may be a little slow, but life has always been more laid back here, we the Cornish people see no reason for rushing around and still getting nowhere, take a tip from the film and the novel.

Sit back and enjoy life as it really should be, no mobiles, no ratrace. Good luck and try sometime in your life to visit Godrevy, its in Cornwall, near Gwithian, main town Hayle, in the UK look us up on the map.

Slow, boring, but tolerable.

[tcbaker · 4/10 · 29 July 1999]

When watching this 115 minute movie, one can see why it was made for television rather than a big screen release. It starts off slow and goes on and on without much to keep the viewer interested. The title is deceiving - except for a few screen shots in the beginning of the movie, the lighthouse does not exist. The plot is old and un-original - taking place in rural coastal England in 1912, it is a story about a family and its problems as it vacations near a lighthouse. This film has two strengths - Kenneth Branagh (Hamlet, Othello, Wild Wild West) plays a young graduate student vacationing with the family, and this offers a glimpse into his younger acting before his notable performances in Shakespearean movies. Secondly, the filming locations were beautiful and were really the only other thing that kept me interested. All in all, it is slow, long, and boring, but not the worst movie I've ever seen.

"Nothing Happens"

[ps22 · 8/10 · 12 March 2006]

I read somewhere that Kenneth Tynan took a friend who knew nothing about Chekhov to see a production of "The Cherry Orchard;" as they were leaving the theatre, Tynan asked the other guy what he made of the play, and got the reply, "Rather boring, I thought. Nothing happens." "Nothing except the end of an age and the birth of the next one," was Tynan's response. I think that something similar applies to this version of "To the Lighthouse;" the film is heavy with pathos, regret, longing, decline, all coming from the interactions each member of the household has with all of the others. I felt again the pleasure of watching Mrs Wolff's genius at work, in the mosaic created by so much seeming-random-but-always-revealing dialogue as well as the interior monologues spoken by some of the characters. I was completely enthralled by the film and deeply impressed by the great honesty of all the actors' performances. Definitely a winner in my estimation.

Some literary works should not be made into films and this is one of them!

[denizov · 4/10 · 26 December 2013]

This long film ( almost two hours) should not have been made at all. Knowing very well the style and characteristics of Virginia Woolf as a writer, I think that her novels are not suitable to be put onto screen. They hardly have a plot, they put much emphasis on language ( which cannot be shown on screen—it is not by chance that in the film characters speak their thoughts—this is a literary device and I would say—a sign of weakness) and on perceptions, thoughts, associations, philosophical analysis etc. All this is impossible to show through images. Literature and cinema are two different kinds of art. Literature works with words and language, cinema –with images. No wonder this film is a failure. It is trivial and boring although the actors do their best. I have mixed feelings about Virginia Woolf as a writer. I like some features of her works and I do not like others. Still, I must say that her books are good literature. But they do not make good films—it is as simple as that. Movie directors should understand this and leave them alone.

Where can I watch this film?

[aneib · 13 February 2019]

Hello! I need to watch this film but I cannot find it anywhere. Those of you who have seen it, can you help me? It would made my day! Thank you in advance!!

Pretty countryside shots.

[Byrdz · 10 March 2017]

The scenery is nice. The costumes are really authentic looking. Everyone does a bang up job of playing pretty, boring, olde-timey English literary and academic types but all that said and done ... it was quite forgettable.

It was one of those films that need to be written about immediately after viewing if you want to have anything coherent or helpful to say. I watched this a week ago and could only remember that a young Kenneth Branaugh was in it and Michael Gough was really good.

Other than that. Nada.