Shutter Island (Dir. Martin Scorsese)

If you intend to go and see this film and don't want to know anything about it then don't read on! Spoiler alert, as they say..



Shutter Island was a complex plot of double meanings. We follow a pair of US Marshals supposedly investigating the disappearance of the patient "Rachel Saldano". As the plot thickens, Dicaprio's character reveals ulterior motives for his being on Shutter Island. Throughout the film DiCaprio is haunted by images of his traumatic Nazi killing past, and the death of his wife. Through strange occurrences and meetings, we are unknowingly fed clues towards the climax near the end of the film.

During the first scene it seemed this wouldn't be a great film. The dialogue was poor and basic, there was very inappropriate and edgy music, and Leonardo DiCaprio's tie was being wind swept in the opposite direction of the expected wind from a moving boat. The strange and annoying music continued for about 10 minutes until they stepped through the gates of the mental asylum on Shutter Island, accompanied by very wary and heavily armed guards. It's hard to believe Scorsese would have made the opening sequence that bad and the twist revealed at the end sheds light onto the reason behind it.

Most of the characters were very interesting and well perceived. There was a strange encounter between DiCaprio and a German psychiatrist which was a bit confusing, it felt like they were sharing an inside joke which we weren't filled in on. DiCaprio portrayed his character very well and very believably. Every one of the actors apart from DiCaprio were hiding something from us and the protagonist which came across very well. We are successfully lead into DiCaprio's world and his perception of all the deceptive people around him even though everything that is real to him, is complete fantasy. This false narration is much like in Memento and creates a very interesting twist at the end. The film was particularly like Memento in the fact that the whole film was a fantasy created by the protagonist to deal with an issue or trauma.

Jackie Earle Haley played his character George Noyce fantastically, I am a huge fan of his acting though and think he is brilliant.

The camera work was interesting but seemingly showed poor continuity, however I think that watching it back would reveal that the continuity issues were purposeful. There was one shot where the camera craned from a mid shot of an orderly along the floor to DiCaprio, which was very strange and disorientating. I am not sure that it was either good nor bad.. just strange.

It's hard to comment on the film after seeing the end because the twist changes every perception of what you have already seen. For instance the first sequence, the dialogue was so strained and unnatural, but when it is put into the context of the protagonist's fantasy it seems right. Also the heavily armed guards and awkward, lying patients and doctors in the asylum all make sense. I am sure that upon watching it again many clues would reveal themselves and many things will make much more sense. I look forward to watching it again and picking it apart!