Shutter Island (A or 4/4 stars)
I haven't felt so engrossed & consistently uneased by a "mystery" film in a very, very long time. That's probably the biggest compliment I can give 'Shutter Island', directed by Martin Scorsese. The movie begins in 1954, just 9 yrs. after the end of WWII. Memories of the Holocaust & Nazi war crimes are still fresh in everyone's minds. And Cold War paranoia is ever-present. The setting for this film is Shutter Island, a foreboding fogbound fortress isle off New England's coast. This island houses Ashecliffe Hospital, an asylum for the criminally insane. More escape-proof than Alcatraz, Shutter Island guarantees that if ever anyone were to try to escape, they'd likely meet their death by way of the frigid sea surrounding it, or the razor-sharp rocks which sprout above the whitecaps.
Federal marshal Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) wanted the assignment on S.I. for personal reasons, but he has a job to do. He & his new partner, Chuck Aule (a stellar Mark Ruffalo), arrive via ferry to investigate the disappearance of murderous prisoner, Rachel Solando (Emily Mortimer); who's vanished from Ashecliffe without a trace. Doctors Cawley & Naehring (Sir Ben Kingsley, Max von Sydow) 'seem' concerned, but are fairly secretive with Teddy & Chuck about what's really afoot; their hesitance to help makes Teddy suspicious that everything may not quite be as it seems. Visions appear. A hurricane strikes. More prisoners escape during the mayhem. And when Ashecliffe refuses him access to certain records, Teddy begins to wonder if Rachel's disappearance isn't the only thing worth investigating. Perhaps it's all part of an elaborate plot by the doctors who are using a radical brain experimentation (shipped over from sinister Germany, of all places) that is being implemented on the hospital's most helpless patients. Puzzling clues are being dropped, oddities are occurring one after another, & Teddy starts to doubt everything - his investigative abilities, his memory, even his partner, Chuck. What's really going on here? Can Teddy piece it all together?
Because critics have used this term, it bears repeating ... this movie is one big mindf*ck; the kind that toys with us as we're watching. I loved the smattering of what the fu*k's being heard throughout the theater. For better or worse, this movie gripped people. We're slowwwly roped in, almost lulled by the 45-60 min. mark; making us ponder 'well, gee, it's eerie, but there isn't much going on. When is this gonna pick up?' It's the type of film where paying attention to the small details in that 1st hour should help later on in the narrative. 'Shutter Island' (based on a best-selling book) gets under our skin. The line btwn. reality & fantasy blurs. Nothing ever seems quite right. Teddy doesn't seem quite right. So, how can we rely on him?
I like how Teddy (as written in the script, & portrayed by DiCaprio) is neither someone to particularly root for, nor against. He's a tortured man. Having served in Dachau, killed citizens, & lost his wife in a fire, we can somewhat excuse his edgy, bothered personality when trying to investigate this mysterious island. I wasn't emotionally invested in Teddy, but there is dimension & complexity to him in spades - so I was always intrigued. We see many flashbacks to him in the concentration camp, as well as a warped view of his wife's death (Michelle Williams). Dreams are surreal; and Scorsese films Teddy's dreams quite hauntingly.
When he wasn't trying to emulate a cocky, Boston-accented U.S. marshal of the 1950's, I found DiCaprio's raw, conflicted portrayal (particularly in the last half of the film) to be exceptionally terrifying. It is he who guides us through Scorsese's psychological labyrinth. Max von Sydow (God, he's ancient) has a presence; & when I see this film again, I'll pay particular attention to him the next time 'round. Michelle Williams, as Teddy's dead wife, visits him in his migraine-induced nightmares. She plays the role with a beautifully tragic, almost mercurial sadness. Emily Mortimer has a stand-out scene as the 'missing' Rachel. And Patricia Clarkson, as an isolated patient, has one magnetic scene with Teddy in a seaside cave late in the proceedings. All of the performances are wonderfully strange.
Due to some interesting editing choices (by Scorsese's stalwart Thelma Schoonmaker), 'SI' builds suspense, dread, & even disorients us as the web-like narrative approaches its climax. I remember one brief, hallucinatory-like sequence in which Teddy drinks from a cup that isn't there, only to place down a real cup onto the table after swigging. It sounds minor, but it's just wonderfully unsettling. Robert Richardson's cinematography is a character in & of itself. The weird shots of the island, the fog, the storm, bursts of blinding light (during Teddy's migraine fits), lamp lit interiors, shadowy figures, & film noir-styled imagery ... all scintillating filmmaking. I felt like "I" was drugged (in a good way) throughout the film. And Dante Ferretti's set pieces on S.I., as well as Dachau, & a pivotal lake house, are all beautifully-detailed. Dense imagery, stylistic flourishes, & an unsettling tone greatly aid this film.
'SI' is not your conventional thriller with genuine scares or a maniacal killer on the loose. But it sucks you in, creeps you out, and the directing, acting, & production team lends to an already fascinating storyline. Sure, the middle portions of the film are a bit uneven & protracted. But I repeat from earlier, it's just been SO long since a movie like this sank into me & kept me guessing through the very end. Every time I thought I had it figured out, something occurred 3 minutes later to eradicate my previous thought, & retrace my steps. And though the film ends with a numbing bleakness, it's a satisfying conclusion from a narrative standpoint. The craziness does give way to a semblance of sense & closure.
And I'll tell you, while I enjoyed The Departed; and while it was the fun, popcorn munching, well cast, indulgent, by-the-numbers crime melodrama that won Scorsese his Oscar ... despite some minor flaws in 'Shutter Island', I found this atmospheric, suspenseful, thematic film noir to be more impressive as a whole. I just think that as part thriller, part police procedural, & part sociological drama ... 'SI' achieves more from what it aimed to do than 'The Departed' was able to accomplish in its own well-chronicled genre. And though 'SI' is an exhausting exercise to view, I'd love to see the movie again to watch it unfold from a different perspective. Who knew that Scorsese's most divisive film yet would be one I found to be pretty damn special?
Federal marshal Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) wanted the assignment on S.I. for personal reasons, but he has a job to do. He & his new partner, Chuck Aule (a stellar Mark Ruffalo), arrive via ferry to investigate the disappearance of murderous prisoner, Rachel Solando (Emily Mortimer); who's vanished from Ashecliffe without a trace. Doctors Cawley & Naehring (Sir Ben Kingsley, Max von Sydow) 'seem' concerned, but are fairly secretive with Teddy & Chuck about what's really afoot; their hesitance to help makes Teddy suspicious that everything may not quite be as it seems. Visions appear. A hurricane strikes. More prisoners escape during the mayhem. And when Ashecliffe refuses him access to certain records, Teddy begins to wonder if Rachel's disappearance isn't the only thing worth investigating. Perhaps it's all part of an elaborate plot by the doctors who are using a radical brain experimentation (shipped over from sinister Germany, of all places) that is being implemented on the hospital's most helpless patients. Puzzling clues are being dropped, oddities are occurring one after another, & Teddy starts to doubt everything - his investigative abilities, his memory, even his partner, Chuck. What's really going on here? Can Teddy piece it all together?
Because critics have used this term, it bears repeating ... this movie is one big mindf*ck; the kind that toys with us as we're watching. I loved the smattering of what the fu*k's being heard throughout the theater. For better or worse, this movie gripped people. We're slowwwly roped in, almost lulled by the 45-60 min. mark; making us ponder 'well, gee, it's eerie, but there isn't much going on. When is this gonna pick up?' It's the type of film where paying attention to the small details in that 1st hour should help later on in the narrative. 'Shutter Island' (based on a best-selling book) gets under our skin. The line btwn. reality & fantasy blurs. Nothing ever seems quite right. Teddy doesn't seem quite right. So, how can we rely on him?
I like how Teddy (as written in the script, & portrayed by DiCaprio) is neither someone to particularly root for, nor against. He's a tortured man. Having served in Dachau, killed citizens, & lost his wife in a fire, we can somewhat excuse his edgy, bothered personality when trying to investigate this mysterious island. I wasn't emotionally invested in Teddy, but there is dimension & complexity to him in spades - so I was always intrigued. We see many flashbacks to him in the concentration camp, as well as a warped view of his wife's death (Michelle Williams). Dreams are surreal; and Scorsese films Teddy's dreams quite hauntingly.
When he wasn't trying to emulate a cocky, Boston-accented U.S. marshal of the 1950's, I found DiCaprio's raw, conflicted portrayal (particularly in the last half of the film) to be exceptionally terrifying. It is he who guides us through Scorsese's psychological labyrinth. Max von Sydow (God, he's ancient) has a presence; & when I see this film again, I'll pay particular attention to him the next time 'round. Michelle Williams, as Teddy's dead wife, visits him in his migraine-induced nightmares. She plays the role with a beautifully tragic, almost mercurial sadness. Emily Mortimer has a stand-out scene as the 'missing' Rachel. And Patricia Clarkson, as an isolated patient, has one magnetic scene with Teddy in a seaside cave late in the proceedings. All of the performances are wonderfully strange.
Due to some interesting editing choices (by Scorsese's stalwart Thelma Schoonmaker), 'SI' builds suspense, dread, & even disorients us as the web-like narrative approaches its climax. I remember one brief, hallucinatory-like sequence in which Teddy drinks from a cup that isn't there, only to place down a real cup onto the table after swigging. It sounds minor, but it's just wonderfully unsettling. Robert Richardson's cinematography is a character in & of itself. The weird shots of the island, the fog, the storm, bursts of blinding light (during Teddy's migraine fits), lamp lit interiors, shadowy figures, & film noir-styled imagery ... all scintillating filmmaking. I felt like "I" was drugged (in a good way) throughout the film. And Dante Ferretti's set pieces on S.I., as well as Dachau, & a pivotal lake house, are all beautifully-detailed. Dense imagery, stylistic flourishes, & an unsettling tone greatly aid this film.
'SI' is not your conventional thriller with genuine scares or a maniacal killer on the loose. But it sucks you in, creeps you out, and the directing, acting, & production team lends to an already fascinating storyline. Sure, the middle portions of the film are a bit uneven & protracted. But I repeat from earlier, it's just been SO long since a movie like this sank into me & kept me guessing through the very end. Every time I thought I had it figured out, something occurred 3 minutes later to eradicate my previous thought, & retrace my steps. And though the film ends with a numbing bleakness, it's a satisfying conclusion from a narrative standpoint. The craziness does give way to a semblance of sense & closure.
And I'll tell you, while I enjoyed The Departed; and while it was the fun, popcorn munching, well cast, indulgent, by-the-numbers crime melodrama that won Scorsese his Oscar ... despite some minor flaws in 'Shutter Island', I found this atmospheric, suspenseful, thematic film noir to be more impressive as a whole. I just think that as part thriller, part police procedural, & part sociological drama ... 'SI' achieves more from what it aimed to do than 'The Departed' was able to accomplish in its own well-chronicled genre. And though 'SI' is an exhausting exercise to view, I'd love to see the movie again to watch it unfold from a different perspective. Who knew that Scorsese's most divisive film yet would be one I found to be pretty damn special?