LIHU‘E — Martin Scorsese’s new movie, “Shutter Island,” reveals the acclaimed director’s darkest side, including his 1991 remake of “Cape Fear.” The New York native’s first fiction movie since winning an Oscar with the brilliant 2006 “The Departed” brings a
LIHU‘E — Martin Scorsese’s new movie, “Shutter Island,” reveals the acclaimed director’s darkest side, including his 1991 remake of “Cape Fear.” The New York native’s first fiction movie since winning an Oscar with the brilliant 2006 “The Departed” brings a fourth straight partnership with Leonardo DiCaprio.
DiCaprio plays Federal Marshal Teddy Daniels, who is dispatched to a remote island off the coast of Boston, in 1954. The small, inhospitable island is home to a mental hospital for the criminally insane. Mark Ruffalo, playing Federal Marshal Chuck Aule, joins DiCaprio in solving a patient’s mysterious disappearance.
The movie begins as a thriller, but Scorsese’s mind brilliantly gives it a much somber tone. Even banal scenes, laden with loud, low-pitched sounds create some petrifying moments. The movie’s gloomy photography and the heavy skies, with clouds almost touching a sinister Civil War-era fort converted into prison, suffocate the audience.
Why is the tone of a psychiatric-thriller so dark and spine-chilling? We’ll find out as the story keeps evolving.
With every step DiCaprio takes, tension builds up. Everyone in Shutter Island seems to know something he doesn’t. As we beg for DiCaprio to leave the island, he digs deeper into the truth, a truth he might not want to know at all.
Slowly but surely, Scorsese masterfully deconstructs reality. The distinction between truth and lies becomes blurred, and gradually fiction becomes reality. At such point we are left to ponder what is actually happening. To whom the truth belongs?
Every scene in “Shutter Island” foreshadows a piece of the immense puzzle ready to be laid out. Even the slightest details, such as when Federal Marshal Chuck looks clumsy while surrendering his weapon, will resurface later. Is the character played by Mark Ruffalo really a Marshal?
Multi-faceted Ben Kingsley plays an enigmatic Dr. Cawley. The mysterious doctor never loses his superior flair, lending another dubious piece to the puzzle. Kingsley masterfully adds depth to the villain, who may or may not be the bad guy as the plot unfolds.
Who are the good guys in this movie after all?
Teddy turns out to be a blemished hero. Like many film noir stars, the antihero is always fighting evil so he can fight his own faulty past. Teddy’s past, however, may turn out to be tarnished beyond repair. Or maybe not.
“Shutter Island” is an adaptation of Dennis Lehane’s homonymous novel. The bestselling novelist is the same who wrote the masterpiece “Mystic River,” which was transposed to the silver screen and snatched two Oscars in 2004.
Lehane, a co-producer in the movie, wrote a fictitious novel based on medical practices common in the 20th Century, such as lobotomy. This horrific surgical procedure removed part of the frontal lobe of highly-aggressive patients, rendering them teddy bears, or zombies.
Selma Fehely, Suzanne Hoffman, Barbara Hoffman and Tina McGovern watched “Shutter Island” and liked it a lot. They all said the movie is definitely Academy Award material.
Interesting enough, the four ladies were visiting from San Francisco, home to the infamous and now deactivated island-prison Alcatraz.
Selma said the music set the movie’s tone, the plot twisting was really interesting, and that she was surprised with the ending.
Suzanne said the secret scheming in the movie was exciting, yet she also didn’t expect the ending at all.
Barbara was kept in the edge of her seat the whole movie. She has watched many of Scorsese’s movies, but did not expect this one to be like this. “It was totally surprising.”
Tina said the movie was “directly opposite” of what she expected. “The ending absolutely blew me away.”
Scorsese’s movie has received contrasting reviews by the critics, especially because of the final scenes. Lehane’s book reviews had similar outcome. One book critic said the book “entertains just fine, but its impact evaporates the minute you turn the last page.” You’ll be the judge.
Regardless of how you may like “Shutter Island,” it will probably have you looking over your shoulder in your next visit to the psychiatrist. You might even consider dropping him, but you’ll probably be afraid to let him know it.
“Shutter Island” raked in $41 million in its opening weekend. It was Scorsese and DiCaprio’s best opening numbers, something to contemplate when considering Scorsese’s portfolio, which includes “The Raging Bull” and “Taxi Driver,” and DiCaprio’s resume, which includes “Titanic.”
If one last thing can be said about “Shutter Island,” it’s one of those movies you simply cannot miss.
