The Light at the Edge of the World

Plot synopsis:
The year is 1865. Will Denton (Kirk Douglas) is a jaded American miner escaping a troubled past. Seeking isolation for two reasons - to mend his broken heart after a failed romance during the California Gold Rush, and also to escape punishment after he murdered a man in a gunfight - Denton tends a lonely and isolated lighthouse with a minimal crew of three men, himself included.
The lighthouse sits on a fictional rocky island adorned with many caves carved by the crashing waves of the Atlantic Ocean; it is however set in the geographic location of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago at the southern tip of South America. Before the building of the Panama Canal, the waters off Cape Horn were perhaps the busiest and richest shipping lanes in the world (all shipping between Europe and the western coast of America had to go around the Cape) and therefore very lucrative.
Denton is contented to retreat from the world and be away from the problems of civilization, and quickly adjusts to his new supervisor, old Argentine sea dog Captain Moriz (Fernando Rey) and his youthful and innocent assistant Felipe.
A shipload of utterly malicious and sadistic pirates show up, murder everyone they can find, and extinguish the light. They are wreckers, brigands who mislead ships into the rocks to loot the cargo and prey upon the victims. Their leader Captain Jonathan Kongre (Yul Brynner) is a diabolical fiend with a seductive and charismatic facade.
Denton hides out in the caves and amongst the rocks, hiding from the pirates. He saves Italian wreck survivor Montefiore from the pirates' massacre, and together they wage a war of guerrilla tactics against Kongre and his cutthroats. Kongre breaks his own rule by keeping one captive alive - a beautiful Englishwoman named Arabella (Samantha Eggar).
Montefiore is captured while creating a diversion for an attempt by Denton to rescue Arabella, who however opts for remaining with Kongre. On the next day, Kongre has Montefiori flayed alive on his ship, trying to draw Denton out of hiding, but Denton shoots Montefiori from afar. Angered, Kongre gives Arabella to his men and withdraws to the lighthouse. Denton uses the pirates' cannon to sink their ship, along with all the pirates except for Kongre.
The finale of the film is a showdown between the only two survivors left on the island, Denton and Kongre.

Tags: violence, murder, flashback

Review:
Brynner as the egotistic sociopath who is the leader of the cutthroats and Douglas as a man who must deal with a desperate situation in a fight for survival.
This is an adventure film based on a Jules Verne's novel about a pirate captain and his crew that take over a small island with a lighthouse on it; the idea is to turn out the light at night when ships are at sight so that they crash against the rocks and the pirates can easily steal everything from the passengers and the wrecked vessel.
The point is that one of the lighthouse servers -the only survivor- manages to escape into the island and will try to ruin the pirates sinister plans.Though not a great film at all and a bit slow, "The Light at the End of the World" doesn't lack some sort of charm and interest perhaps because of the lone man's fight against the whole bunch of criminals all by himself and perhaps also because of the hostile and lonely atmosphere in which the action takes place.Kirk Douglas is the lonely fighter and Yul Brynner plays the flamboyant and deadly captain Kongre, leader of the pirates.
The feminine touch is brought by Samantha Eggar as a survivor of a ship wreck that is captured by Kongre's men.Not a great adventure film, but sort of original and worth a look in my opinion for fans of the genre.The film was shot in the coast of Spain, but Verne's novel settles the action in the "Isla de los Estados", a small Argentine island a few miles east of its most southern province called "Tierra del Fuego" (Land of Fire) where you can still visit the lighthouse that inspired Verne..
An interesting adventure film from the early ' 70s based on a Jules Verne story.
Off the bleak location of Cape Horn around 1865,three light-house keepers: jaded ex-miner Will Denton (Kirk Douglas), Captain Moriz (Fernando Rey) and young Felipe (Massimo Ranieri) are confronted by wreckers led by pirate captain, Jonathan Kongre (Yul Brynner).
After his companions are brutally murdered, Denton ekes out a passive existence in a cave till he resolves to fight back assisted by Montefiore (Renato Salvatore) a survivor from one of the ships lured to the rocks by the pirates.
The desperate situation is complicated by another survivor, a young English woman, Arabella, who is used by Kongre to imitate Denton's former love, Emily Jane.
A lighthouse circa Cape Horn is cared by a keepers(Fernando Rey , Massimo Ranieri, Kirk Douglas).
A gang of pirates attacks the lighthouse .The pirates(Aldo Sambrell,Jean Claude Drout, Tito Garcia, among others) are fiercely commanded by Kongre(Yul Brynner).
Denton soon realizes that the island in the base of pirates who lure ships to their doom on the rocky coast and arrange shipwrecks(appear castaways as Samantha Eggar and Renato Salvatori) for profit .
Denton discovers the truth and confronts Kongre in a fight to death.This is an enjoyable adventures tale with tension, suspense, thrills and good action scenes.
Kirk Douglas gives vigorous physical performance, he's magnificent as individualist, stubborn hero, such as ¨Spartacus, Vikings,Ulysses and 20000 leagues under the sea(also by Jules Verne)¨.
I can recommend this work to everybody who enjoy good adventures and spectacular maritime outdoors, however no for small kids by violent and realistic scenes..
In his fine book 'The Films of Kirk Douglas' Tony Thomas also highlights some of the above shortcomings (with the running time given for the version he reviewed even being 6mins shorter than other releases listed!) Tony also notes the overindulgence and explicit brutality that kept this film away from much of it's target audience.
With smart post production editing this could have, should have (and still can be) a classic.Look at the dynamics of the story: Will Denton, Assistant light-keeper, witnesses the terrifying murders of his only colleagues.
Strangely, the film almost throws away an expensive opening scene (the inauguration of Argentinas first serious navigational aid 'The Lighthouse at the Edge of the World' on Christmas Day 1865) it does so, by presenting this colorful ceremony under the opening credits!
Shorter versions were released in Australia and the U.K. etc, these were in many ways better...Several of the more overdone scenes were dropped, this offered considerable improvement to the overall believability, although, one cut left a gap in continuity...IE: Denton's underwater flashbacks to his past, following his fall from a cliff.Surprisingly, the latest Studio Canal re-issue has removed one of the films stronger scenes (but sadly left in all the overindulged segments that would have been far better removed) The scene in question, involves Denton and Montifiore's escape on the antagonists magnificent white horse.
Why make this cut and not the others...?The cast is strong and mostly convincing, even the support characters are interesting: Ferando Rey (Head Light-keeper) Renato Salvatori (Montefiore - ships engineer) with Massimo Ranieri's 'Felipe' adding innocence, warmth and credibility as apprentice light keeper.
And even though the sinking of a passenger ship is inter-cut with models (not too bad overall) the shots on board, involving the passengers desperate panic, are quite convincing.It's difficult to understand though, with many well done effects, why the scene involving a dummy falling over a cliff was so badly done.
Drop such scenes as Denton and Arabellas kiss (just a tiny clip during the 'charade' set up) The foolishness of noisy, cross dressing Pirates cavorting around the island.
Mr Douglas has given us many great films, and even though this was nearing the end of his distinguished career, it seems he should have taken a far more focused approach.
Once I overlooked the slow moving action (at times) and hokey plot and dialogue, I found this movie really entertaining in a circus and carnival (freaky pirates, treasure, monkey, violence, wild colors in a rough landscape with spaghetti western flashbacks) sort of way.
Seemed to really push the envelope for that time period in terms of gay and trans-gender undertones - what with the pirate captain's attachment to his butler and to his androgynous second in command (the character who paraded around in a dress and feathers and appeared much more interested in Will than in Arabella).
Anyway,that made the movie all the more interesting and unique - although likely far removed from what Jules Verne envisioned..
I remember the billboard advertising highlighting Kirk Douglas and Jules Verne, with small pictures of Yul Brynner and Samantha Eggar.
I am certain many a parent dragged her kids screaming from a "Jules Verne/Kirk Douglas pirate movie" featuring mutilations, gang rape and the skinning of one especially beloved character.
Those few adult couples likely attracted to the movie were likely put off by the weak pacing, inept direction and abysmal music.However those of us who can look beyond the cheap jack trappings will be rewarded with strong lead performances by Kirk Douglas and, especially, Yul Brynner.
Samantha Eggar, who has much less screen time, also impresses, even though most of her scenes are undercut by the weak direction.At 2 hours and 7 minutes, "The Light at the Edge of the World" is at least 20 minutes too long.
Barring that, "The Light at the Edge of the Word" is worth seeing, if only for Yul Brynner's chilling performance.I give "The Light at the Edge of the World" a "6"..
Some of the criticisms levelled by fellow armchair critics are valid (e.g.overlong) but it's still a very picturesque and curious movie that's definitely worth a look.Douglas is fairly restrained as the sole survivor of a remote island lighthouse, besieged by pirates led by the pitiless Yul Brynner, his clan of bandits opportunistically decide to use the lighthouse to misdirect approaching ships into the rocks where they can pilfer the payloads.
Samantha Eggar plays one such shipwrecked maiden taken as a romantic gesture by Brynner, and who Douglas (who's taken refuge in a subterranean cave with his pet monkey), must try and free.Reasonably violent, though it's Jules Verne inspired, it's not the typical family fare you might expect.
Pirates led by the supremely evil Yul Brynner, take over a lighthouse run by Kirk Douglas, Fernando Rey on a rocky island.
Douglas survives, and he desperately fights their plot whilst plotting and planning to avoid Brynners gang of demented bloodthirsty savages, Sammantha Eggar is the shipwrecked maiden that avoids the pirates slaughter soon complicates the situation.
'The Light At The Edge Of The World' is based on a novel by Jules Verne.
the nuances of gray, the inspired use of clichés, the portrait of pirates- who is far to be an usual one-, a good role for Brynner as more than the bad guy but a strange, cold blood, sadistic leader of a group of savages, the same status of Kirk Douglas as hero with few dark shadows of past, the terrible scene of arrival of pirate ship, the fight scenes are good points of an old fashion adventure film who reminds performances- Fernando Rey, in a short presence -, reimpose names - Renato Salvatori or Samantha Eggar- and the real flavor of genre..
Uneven and uneventful adventure in which a group of cruel pirates, led by Brynner, takes a far island and start a game of cat/and/mouse with the lighthouse keeper (Douglas).
Jules Verne a prolific writer gave us many classic adventures through his books, some were taken to the big screem and becames a huge success, this one is a minor movie but not disregarded of interest at all, having a strong duo leading roles as Douglas and Brynner enhance too much, the battle between the main characters are the key of all that, shot in a remote island almost entirely, it results a valuable improvement, besides it was explicity cost-effective on a tight budge, the nasty casting remind us some centuries ago and how those olds pirates really did killing, rape and torture, a bit underrated, this picture deserves a second chance!!Resume:First watch: 2005 / How many: 2 Source: DVD / Rating: 7.
The Light at the Edge of the WorldLighthouses are the best places for troubled loners because they have all the comforts of a clock tower.However, university students aren't the targets in this action movie, pirates are.Fleeing from a failed romance and a murder rap back in the States, ex-miner Denton (Kirk Douglas) heads down south to Cape Horn in 1865 to man a lighthouse.When Kongre (Yul Brynner) and his marauders land on the coastline intent on wrecking ships by dowsing the flame, it's up to Denton and his skeleton crew (Massimo Ranieri, Fernando Rey) to abate the cutthroats and liberate their female captive (Samantha Eggar) before the next cargo ship arrives.Noted for its Spanish locales, particularly the craggy topography where the swashbuckling occurs, this adaptation of Jules Verne's novel is a forgotten gem in the adventure genre.
Kirk Douglas was one of the people that lived on the island with the lighthouse.
Even with the enormous eye candy of Kirk Douglas and Yul Brynner in a pirate movie together, The Light at the Edge of the World isn't very entertaining.
Kirk is the lighthouse keeper, content in his solitude, and Yul is the leader of a band of pirates who specialize in taking control of lighthouses and crashing ships.
This is very much a "man's movie", as there's only one woman in the film, Samantha Eggar, and she isn't treated very nicely when Yul takes her prisoner.
Yes, I know, if Yul Brynner took me prisoner, I wouldn't complain about it either, but trust me, in this movie he's a real bad guy!There's lots of action scenes, and tension-filled violence, but not very much of a story.
Dudes who like macho movies with senseless fighting between two macho dudes might like this one, especially since it's strongly implied that Samantha Eggar gets passed around the pirates during her capture.
The Light At The Edge of the World marks Kirk Douglas's second filming of a Jules Verne novel.
The first of course was one of his most popular films 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea. But this film is far more serious and has far more adult themes than Walt Disney's film aimed for the kid trade.This was the last novel Jules Verne had published during his lifetime and it's a story of survival against almost impossible odds.
In the original novel Kirk Douglas's character was named Vasquez which certainly was more in keeping with someone assigned to lighthouse duty on Cape Horn.
But in giving Douglas's character an Anglo name it better explains his presence on the island and it certainly is in keeping with the international tradition of Jules Verne's writings.Cape Horn is one of the loneliest parts of the globe and the geography of the southern tip of South America.
Remember also this is 1865 as Yul Brynner identifies the year and the Panama Canal had not been built.Which makes the lighthouse at Cape Horn an international concern which was something that is ever present in Jules Verne's writings.
But then as now there are malevolent forces in the world and they are in this story Yul Brynner and his pirate crew.On one desultory like any other down there, Yul Brynner's ship docks at the island and kills lighthouse keeper Fernando Rey and his young assistant Massimo Ranieri.
By sheer dumb luck Douglas is not at the lighthouse when this happens, but he becomes a hunted man by Brynner and his pirate crew who want to set up headquarters there and use the light to pile up as many wrecks as they can plunder.
Kirk Douglas is a good guy and Yul Brynner a bad one, no one is going to walk away thinking anything else.
In fact Yul Brynner's pirate captain Jonathan Kongre is the most unredeemable villain we've seen on screen since Lee Marvin as Liberty Valance.Definitely fans of Kirk Douglas, Yul Brynner and Jules Verne should earmark this film for their collection..
Jules Verne wrote about 80 novels as well as plays and short stories in his career.
Kongre, in THE LIGHTHOUSE AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD, is another.Verne was so prolific that when he died in 1905 he left a dozen unpublished novels and stories that were not fully published until 1910.
THE LIGHTHOUSE AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD was the last novel that was published in Verne's lifetime.
Kongre and his men decide that they should prepare to leave the island shortly, before the Chilean Naval relief boat returns in three months to pick up the lighthouse crew.
He wrecks a boat, and massacres the crew (a scene that is done in the film).
The sole survivor is an American, John Davis (the name became Denton in the film, except that it was given to the character of Vasquez).
Now with an ally (and not a drunken one, as in the film), Vasquez starts sabotaging Kongre's activities on the island.
Kongre commits suicide to avoid capture.Much of the mayhem of the movie (with Denton picking off crew members one at a time) is not in the book.
The egotism of "Jonathan" Kongre is well shown by Yul Brynner's performance, but the subtlety of that trait is lost.
Kirk Douglas does well enough as Denton, but his singlehanded success (Vasquez and Davis work together well to the end of the story, unlike Denton's ally who is killed by the pirates) seems unlikely.
it is a quite slow pace face-to-face Brynner/Douglas...i found there was some pretty heavy violence/gore but you know, seventies giallo style : (maybe some spoiler ahead) a little bit phony and fake but the image is there : the monkey torn apart, the flesh torn from the mechanic, etc...i don't remember if it is alike the novel...but overall i think it is a OK action flick, hero flick : he stands all alone at the end, all the bad guys are out..........and nice images too : a small rocky island, the sun over the seabut not a typical Verne's story-on-cinema : subs, sci-fi; but the adventure seen in a lot of Verne's novels tough.
Even so, reviewing the film now with an adult perspective clearly exposes its essentially flawed nature.This was a typical (and typically misguided) international venture of the time, adapted from an obscure Jules Verne tale and roping in Hollywood veterans  Kirk Douglas (who even produced!) and Yul Brynner  in an effort to drum up sufficient box-office receipts (this was yet another effort by the Salkinds, who were responsible for SANTA CLAUS[1985], another very recent re-acquaintance: by the way, I've just recorded off Italian TV, dubbed and regrettably panned-and-scanned, their star-studded version of Mark Twain's THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER [1977]).
Anyway, the film's thin plot of a lighthouse keeper (Douglas, still athletic at 55) combating a band of pirates led by a bored-looking Brynner is stretched for a hefty and slow-moving 129 minutes (which is 9 longer than the official duration given on most sources!).
Even if I hadn't checked this out in 20 years or so, I still recalled some of the imagery involved  such as Douglas hanging upside down from the lighthouse tower, or his showdown with Brynner (which ends in a fire)to say nothing of those indelible (and unmistakably European) faces, some of whom I've come to know by name in the interim, of Brynner's sinister cutthroat cohorts.The rest of the cast includes Samantha Eggar (ill-at-ease as a shipwreck victim who unwittingly becomes an object of contention between the two male stars: a sure indication of how perfunctory the role was to begin with is that she's ultimately raped and murdered, with not even the hero bothering to do anything about it!), Renato Salvatori (as another survivor who befriends Douglas but, when finally caught by Brynner and his men, is painfully skinned alive!), as well as Fernando Rey and popular Italian crooner Massimo Ranieri  both of whose contribution is brief, being literally done away with as soon as the villains make their first appearance!