Alternatives is the tagline feature for other forms of entertainment outside of literature. These posts may encompass television, movies, games, and music — or just anything really.

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Alternatives
Movies Trailers –
The Light Between Oceans (2016)

Genre: War, Historical Fiction, Cultural (Australia)
Duration: 100 Minutes
Directed/Screenplay By: Derek Cianfrance
(of Blue Valentine, The Place Beyond The Pines fame)
Starring: Alicia Vikander (Isabel), Michael Fassbender (Tom), Rachel Weisz (Hannah)
Release Date: September 2, 2016

An Australian World War I veteran (Michael Fassbender) and his wife (Alicia Vikander) move to a lighthouse, where they raise a child they find on a lifeboat.

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Casting

Holy shit. How did I not know about the release of this trailer AND the casting of Fassbender and Vikander?! AND?!

I really enjoyed Vikander’s work in Ex-Machina. Extremely compelling, and it was to my surprise that she wasn’t nominated for an Oscar for that role instead of Danish Girl — BUT I DIGRESS.

Fassbender is…Fassbender (?)…so how can you go wrong? (Not sure about the on-and-off ‘stache though.)

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Reaction

Personally, this is one of those stories I’d much rather see on screen than read about. I’m just terrible with most historical fiction; especially if it’s a war-centric story with a cultural influences. That being said, the trailer itself has this ethereal surrealness in lightning and music that sets the tone just right.

Join The Read-a-long!

If you’re someone who wanted to read this book but never got around to it — you should definitely consider joining the read-a-long on Goodreads hosted by Simon and Schuster Canada! For further convincing arguments: it’s the Goodreads 2012 winner for Best Historical Fiction.

Synopsis — After four harrowing years on the Western Front, Tom Sherbourne returns to Australia and takes a job as the lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock, nearly half a day’s journey from the coast. To this isolated island, where the supply boat comes once a season and shore leaves are granted every other year at best, Tom brings a young, bold, and loving wife, Isabel. Years later, after two miscarriages and one stillbirth, the grieving Isabel hears a baby’s cries on the wind. A boat has washed up onshore carrying a dead man and a living baby.

Tom, whose records as a lighthouse keeper are meticulous and whose moral principles have withstood a horrific war, wants to report the man and infant immediately. But Isabel has taken the tiny baby to her breast. Against Tom’s judgment, they claim her as their own and name her Lucy. When she is two, Tom and Isabel return to the mainland and are reminded that there are other people in the world. Their choice has devastated one of them.

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Cheers,
Joey

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