Gerard Butler in The Vanishing
THE VANISHING
Directed by Kristoffer Nyholm
Certificate 15
☆☆☆☆
WE are told as the opening credits roll that this film is based on real events, and such information adds an immediate layer of intrigue to the characters as they are introduced to us on a quayside.
In 1900, three lighthouse keepers manning an isolated tower on the western coast of Scotland simply disappeared.
Such an eerie starting point can only usher in something dark – and what follows is not just an intense psychological thriller, but a masterful study of grief, greed and religious fervour (particularly a late-Victorian Presbyterian fear of your individual actions having a profound effect on your future fate, both on this earth and in the ever after).
Thomas Marshall (Peter Mullan) is the lighthouse captain, the senior member of a trio sent to this godforsaken rock to keep those hardy souls who bob across the oceans safe. He is joined by James Ducat (Gerard Butler), a toughened family man who obviously looks up to his white-haired leader and has a strong sense of duty and principles.
Then there is the rookie, Donald McArthur (Connor Swindells), a boy whose worldly possessions are nothing but a canvas bag containing a change of shirt and whose social standing in the port he comes from is worth even less than what he takes with him.
They set out for a six-week tour of duty on a windswept rock in what one can assume is the Irish Sea: the lump of grass and heath-topped granite in question looks a little like Ailsa Craig, the dormant volcano off the west coast of Scotland, and just as uninhabitable.
Our three settle down to keep the light swinging round and warning ships that something wicked awaits should they stray too close. Quite what degree of wickedness is about to unfold.
There are pointers to what is coming. From the trio having to clear up a spillage of deadly quicksilver, used to the keep the lanterns rotating, to a flock of seagulls that perish in a storm that breaks across the island, we are given Shakespearean portents that this is not going to be an idyllic getaway with not much more than stunning views to gaze upon until the work is done.
No: after the storm, the men find a wrecked rowing boat in a hidden cove, with a sailor sprawled out on the rocks. Next to him lies a hefty chest, a Pandora’s Box whose contents they should fear rather than covet.
There is an unmistakeable air of Macbeth about this: Gerard Butler’s character looks like a direct descendant of the Thane of Cawdor and has the same reaction to the trouble bubbling about him. Is director Nyholm referencing the haunting of Macbeth by Banquo at the table through Ducat’s behaviour? It feels very much so.
There are classic storytelling elements that have been used by others over the decades here: think Shallow Grave, for example, (and other Danny Boyle movies in which getting rich quick colours the behaviour of the leads).
The biblical line “the love of money is the root of all evil” is a stepping-off point for what happens next. This is terrific stuff. It is beautifully acted, bleakly shot, atmospheric, packed with meaning and with enough edge-of-the-seat moments to make the story howl along like the violent ocean winds.
