28 x 28: February Twenty-Five

Review: Shutter Island

Shutter Island is a movie that, for the most part, will likely subvert expectations. Thanks in large part to tonally misleading trailers, the preconceived notions about the film undoubtedly lead to confusion. Shutter Island is the story of Agent Teddy Daniels and his partner Chuck Aule as they take on a case concerning a patient who has gone missing on a maximum security penitentiary for the criminally insane. Apparently, the woman in question vanished from her highly guarded cell leaving not even a trace of the particulars of her escape. Soon, Teddy finds himself losing his own grip on sanity as the island slowly begins to peal away and a saturating air of paranoia settles upon everything.

From the trailers, one would be inclined to think that Shutter Island is somewhere in the horror/suspense category of film. The truth of the matter is that the film is more an exploration of the human psyche under insurmountable stresses and how one reacts in such situations. Right from the opening scenes, it is clear that all is not as it seems and the proceedings lend themselves to this theory very well. Obviously there is a greater underlying mystery at play here, and the biggest grievance I have heard spoken about this particular film is that it is too easy to figure it out early in the proceedings. I believe that director Martin Scorsese never intends for the truth of things to obfuscated, and in fact discovering the cards being dealt only adds to the cinematic effect he is aiming to achieve. The real focus of this film is not the inevitable twist ending as it is in many other films of this nature. Instead, the film is better viewed from a more personal angle. Without saying too much more, the movie is easier to appreciate as a window into perceptions and realities when the mind is introduced to severe stresses.

From a filmmaking point of view, this is clearly not Scorsese's most masterful work, but to think that it was intended to be would be wrong. On a purely technical angle, Shutter Island is a sharp film. From set design to cinematography, the film oozes the proper trappings for the overall tone of the film. Things are chaotic and claustrophobic, shaky and dark when they are needed to be. It would seem that instead of reaching for thrilling cinematic heights, Shutter Island is content to be an adventurous experiment in interesting story-telling. The performances of the actors in this film are all fairly solid. Clearly though this is a one man show. Leonardo DiCaprio is almost the sole focus of the entire film and the director wisely chooses to never take the camera of his main character. DiCaprio's Boston accented character is getting a little old by this point, but that is due more to overexposure in many recent films than any mistake on the actor's part. By telling the story from a very close and personal examination of one man though, the overall plot of the film is only enhanced in ways that won't fully make sense until the movie is over.

In the end, Shutter Island is a decent film. Many film goers, myself included, may have to take a moment to readjust their expectations early into the movie, but this can be chalked up to ineffective trailers. Shutter Island is a story distinctly about the human mind versus the human mind. It asks the questions of what precisely constitutes absolute reality, and who can you trust when you feel like you can't trust yourself? If you're worried about a strong horror element or moments of extreme suspense, Shutter Island will ease those fears. Instead, the movie is content to toil in the fog of mistrust and deceptions. This is a film good for superb aesthetic immersion as well as a decently entertaining plotline that may be more cerebral than audiences were lead to believe.