Shutter Island

The opening 10 minutes always sets the pace for any film, it fills the audience in on tone and helps to establish the world that the viewer is entering. Martin Scorsese appears to be putting way too much thought into his opening sequence, complete with over-scoring and over-acting, but these are just a few threads to the entire tapestry. Once you pull back you are able to appreciate the entire work which sets a thrilling tone and a wonderful tribute to both Alfred Hitchcock and the fifties genre of film noir.

This is not to say that Shutter Island is a perfect film or even one of the famed director's best. This seems to just be a movie that Scorsese enjoyed doing. It is almost too difficult to describe any aspect of this movie at all, as talking about any of it feels like it may give away crucial plot points. Scorsese makes sure to value almost every frame as he explores the human psyche.

Scorsese once again uses Leonardo DiCaprio, this time as his lead detective Teddy Daniels who is investigating the disappearance of one of the patients off the facility. It may appear as DiCaprio is trying to bite off too much in the role but there is a reason Scorsese picks the accomplished actor to work with so often, DiCaprio also takes pride in his ability to provide a false sense of security.

*POSSIBLE SPOILER*

Similar to Cape Fear uses the feeling of isolation to keep the suspense building, there is no escape off the island as bad weather and an elusive ferry seems just out of reach. Scorsese once again uses water not as a symbol of cleansing as many do, but to enhance the inescapable atmosphere.

FIN

Ben Kingsley and Max von Sydow both do a chilling job as the doctor's of the asylum increasing the sense of apprehension along for the plot. There is also an amazing cast of character who increase the pulls and plot turns as we navigate the maze of the movie including Patricia Clarkson, Jack Haley, Ted Levine, and John Carrol Lynch.

Not only is the film based in the fifties but so is the cinematography, so many of the visuals used are nods to the classic genre so rarely used in Hollywood today. I won't mention all the ones i could recognize and instead just say that many are used. There is no way most movie fans would catch every reference just appreciate Scorsese's encyclopedic knowledge of the film industry.

POSSIBLE SPOILER

The film gets tangled up with a lot of dialogue as the movie progresses. So much is thrown at you as the movie progresses the audience may feel they have missed important details or more explanation was left off the screen as the movie already runs well over two hours. But in trying to explain so much (which is actually done fairly well) the most satisfying parts of the script is the ambiguity of it.

FIN

By the end of the film you are experiencing everything DiCaprio is. Scorsese has taken such care that not only does his lead character no longer know who he can trust but he has the audience doubting their senses as well. B