Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: BEACON [Tribeca Film Festival 2024 - New York, New York]
The notion of fate blazed by a trail od circumstance is a known narrative crutch but one that is interesting depeding on the motivation. With "Beacon" [Midnight], the story is based in a sense of folklore but a context of lonliness. The location we see that the main character ends up on is never quite established. The story follows a lone modern day sailor Emily (Julia Goldani Telles] who is trying to circumnavigate the globe on a small sailboat like her father and gradndfather did before her. When this doesn't go as planned it seems near the Cape Of Good Hope at the bottom of South America, she ends up in the care of a lighthouse keeper Ismael (Damian Bechir) who at first seem benovolent. As the film evolves, the aspect of why and how for the most part, he saves her seem elusive until the final shot, but then it does take a moment to register. Ismael's motivations could seem like the brain of a man alone too long. But the details mater even if the muddled motivations seem to shift quickly.
Ismael's sense of self seems to waver but the call of madness seems to beckon. The mythology when all is said and done is very specific without hitting viewer over the head. It is a simple sound effect but makes it point. The psychology of Emily works the best in many moments since the realization is balanced between what we know of her as a person before on the ship and what she may be becoming. The interesting aspect is that it becomes indicative of her nature rather than a human strength or flaw. The only moving detail comes in how the radio works and connection to what would be an abandoned isle and how it looks. The film was shot in NewFoundland and at one point uses Quebec call signs and makes reference to Magdalen which is odd considering where Emily could have shipwrecked. Bichir plays his role grizzled and world weary and yet initially looking for connection which is both odd and understandable. But his actions at times do not coincide with certain rules per se (which he does put down) which might not actually exist at all. "Beacon" is a tale of lost hope wrapped in a notion of possibility, that might never come to be. B
By Tim Wassberg
