Shutter Island (2010)
“That’s the beauty of it. Crazy people are the perfect subjects. They talk but nobody listens.”– Teddy Daniels
Shutter Island (2010)
Directed by: Martin Scorsese
Written by: Laeta Kalogridis
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Michelle Williams, Emily Mortimer
Note: It’s worth pointing out that this movie has one of my top 10 favourite (?? maybe?) twists at the end, so it is extremely difficult to provide a high level overview without spoilers. Having said that, I’ll try my best.
The fourth collaboration between Scorsese and DiCaprio, ‘Shutter Island’, is a mind-bending psychological thriller adapted from Dennis Lehane’s novel of the same name.
The movie begins with U.S Marshall Edward “Teddy” Daniels (DiCaprio) and his partner Chuck Aule (Ruffalo) arriving at an isolated psychiatric facility (think Alcatraz, but with more Boston accents) in 1954 after a murderous patient escapes. As they investigate the island and question patients, orderlies, and the head of the facility Dr Cawley (Kingsley), Teddy’s past comes back to haunt him, and Daniels and Aule soon realise that the island isn’t what it seems.
After rewatching this, there was one major takeaway: the cast is absolutely flawless. The four top-billed actors in this movie have a combined 18 Oscar nominations, so not only are they incredible in their own right, but it’s also worth watching just to see Ruffalo and Leo bouncing lines off one another, buddy-cop style. Being able to bring prominent actors John Carroll Lynch, Patricia Clarkson and Max von Sydow off the bench for minor roles is an amazing flex by Scorsese, and the great casting is a highlight of the movie.
The subject matter in the film is confronting, uncomfortable, and honestly downright ‘scary’ at points, with no respite for the viewer at all. Scorsese leverages the three greatest thriller/horror aspects of the movie – the setting (creepy island), the music (discordant classical score), and the weather (bipolar shifts from storms to sunshine) – to reflect Teddy’s mood and project his anxiety onto the viewer. The movie does a great job of putting you in Teddy’s shoes while he interacts with the criminally insane in a similar vein to One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Therefore while there is no supernatural subject matter, or extreme gore, the movie leaves you feeling a bit drained after 138 minutes of feeling uneasy.
Which brings me to my biggest criticism of this (and all) Scorsese films – bloody hell it’s long. 138 minutes isn’t super long by modern movie standards, but unfortunately the middle third of the movie just drags. After the initial set-up, but before the complication in the story, Scorsese insists on using drawn-out flashback/day-dream sequences to introduce Teddy’s background as an infantryman in World War Two and memories of his late wife. While these are important pieces of the plot, and help convey Teddy losing touch with reality, they take too long and aren't executed in the seamless way Scorsese introduces characters in Goodfellas, or the way Tarantino navigates his characters through a timeline. It’s not until maybe 90 minutes in that the movie picks up momentum again.
Having said this, the last thirty minutes of the movie are great. The plot moves the goal posts so many times throughout the movie that the plot-twist will catch you off guard, and even on a rewatch you will pick up on little breadcrumbs you missed the first time.
Not a popcorn flick or a super ‘rewatchable’ film, and not even close to being Leo or Scorsese’s best films, but great on a first watch and very entertaining if you’re into thrillers.
Rating: 7/10