Customer Reviews

To the Lighthouse [VHS]

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This 1983 British made-for-TV adaptation of Virginia Woolf's novel begins with the Ramsay family vacationing in their summerhouse in Cornwell shortly before WWI. Rosemary Harris plays the mother, the ideal woman of the time, who forgives her husband's outbursts of temper and is loving to her six growing children, summer guests, and neighbors. Michael Gough plays the husband, an educator who is frustrated by the confines of family life, and Kenneth Branagh plays a graduate student with strong political beliefs.

Constant throughout is the six-year old son's request for a trip to the lighthouse, but the weather is never quite right. It's symbolic, of course, as it stands off in the distance, a future adventure that keeps being postponed.

The essence of the Woolf story is well captured although some of the characters were left out. But we get to see a piece of the seemingly idyllic world through the eyes of the family and the resultant effects of the following ten years, which are filled with tragedy. Cinematography is excellent, capturing the mood and beauty of the English countryside. It's a melancholy story that keeps getting sadder as it moves through time. And so, when the coveted trip to the lighthouse actually happens, it seems anticlimactic although this act is the glue that holds the story together.

I watched the first half of this video on one day and the rest of it on the next. In this way, I was able to enjoy the acting and the atmosphere. As I had read the book, there were no surprises and my interest was less in the storyline than how it was presented. This kept me from being bored because the story is really very slow. Virginia Woolf fans will like it. Others might wonder what all the fuss is about. I enjoyed it.

Anyone who understands Virginia Woolf cannot but enjoy this adaptation of one of her most famous and well-known writings. It is a study of a family on their annual holiday. Transition is afoot as one observes the time-held tradition of that holiday against the world on the edge of World War I. Throughout the film, the juxtaposition of old world versus new world is evident: the aging professor (Mr Ramsey) and his wife versus their children who are coming of age at a time when their world will be shattered by WWI; Mr Ramsey's young student guest for the holiday (who so reminds Mr Ramsey of himself) so full of science, yet stuffed and conservative versus the daughter who questions her lot in life in; another guest - Lily the 'spinster' versus Mrs Ramsey the matron. It is also a film about the modern woman (Lilly) versus the old-world woman (Mrs Ramsey). Mrs. Ramsey can never understand a world outside the confines of her husband and children; Lilly on the other hand, dreams of being a great painter among a world of men. This is a film of coming of age - both personally and worldly. This isn't a film about any "star" or Hollywood hoopla. If you are looking for this element, you best look elsewhere. This a mindful look into human frailty and the gaps each generation tries to bridge.

Starring two-time British Academy Award winner Kenneth Branagh and Emmy and Golden Globe Winner Rosemary Harris, Virginia Woolf's To The Lighthouse is the 115 minute, full color, visually impressive DVD adaptation of Virginia Woolf's classic novel about treasuring the moments in this mortal world, where war, illness, sudden accident, or the simple passage of time inevitably brings about loss. Sweepingly beautiful photography, and the heartfelt treasure of family and friends sharing a summer before going their separate ways makes for a lasting tale of emotion and love. DVD exclusives include notes about the author, about the cast, and about the novel itself, as well as a variety of discussion topics.

Filmed in Cornwall with fine photography. Virginia Woolf set the book in the Hebrides; at the time, she had never been to Scotland. She got all the flora and fauna and landscape wrong. Her actually holiday home was for many years in Cornwall, which she gets right.
Mr Bankes, alas, is omitteed from the film. Surviving parts perfectly as you would imagine them, esp. Mr Ramsay and Lily. Clever leap over the ten years without destroying the story line. Snap shots fill in the missing ten years and events occurring then. Film emphasizes and clarifies some of the books motifs. Juxtaposing of scenes brings out the significance brilliantly.
A superb film of the sort, alas, no longer made by the BBC or even available in the UK.
Richard Camp

Let me first say that I adore Brit drama/period productions. I enjoy the slow pace of these types of productions, where character development reigns over special effects or excessive violence and sensuality.
That being said, this production made absolutely NO sense and I finally had to turn the movie off after watching over 1 hour. In vain did I try to "get into" it, but as there was no plot, no storyline nor any characters to develop that I could find (believe me, I tried), I gave up in frustration.
I give kudos to those of you who not only understood it, but actually liked it as well. I concede defeat on both counts!

I couldn't bear to watch the whole DVD--it was too different from one of my favorite books, Virginia Woolf's "To the Lighthouse." Like the recent "adaptation" of John Galsworthy's "The Forsyte Saga," this seemed to have little in common with the literary masterpiece behind it except for the setting, the title, and the names of the characters. Very disappointing!