SHUTTER ISLAND Movie Review
It's 1954, and up-and-coming U.S. marshal Teddy Daniels is assigned to investigate the disappearance of a patient from Boston's Shutter Island Ashecliffe Hospital. He's been pushing for an assignment on the island for personal reasons, but before long he wonders whether he hasn't been brought there as part of a twisted plot by hospital doctors whose radical treatments range from unethical to illegal to downright sinister. Teddy's shrewd investigating skills soon provide a promising lead, but the hospital refuses him access to records he suspects would break the case wide open. As a hurricane cuts off communication with the mainland, more dangerous criminals "escape" in the confusion, and the puzzling, improbable clues multiply, Teddy begins to doubt everything - his memory, his partner, even his own sanity.
There is one line of dialogue, right at the end of Shutter Island before the credits roll, that elevates the emotion of the film and makes it much more powerful. For those of you, like me, who read and enjoyed the novel before seeing the film and felt that the trailers and advertisements for this film were leading you to believe there wouldn't be any narrative surprises in store, think again! Scorsese's film features that one brief piece of dialogue at the films conclusion that results in an entirely different perception of the final act. The rest of the film, however, is very faithful to Dennis Lehane's already great story.
Shutter Island represents exactly what one should hope for when seeing a novel being interpreted to film. While it certainly does the source material justice, it also adds small changes that make for a distinctive experience. Even if you've read the novel multiple times, you'll feel like you're reading the book for the first time again while watching. Scorsese perfectly recreates the menacing atmosphere of the island on film. Every location is foreboding and drenched with hints of unseen danger in dark corners. The lighthouse, the caves, the civil war fort housing "the most dangerous patients," and the island itself--every locale seems large yet claustrophobic and isolated at the same time.
This is a film you must watch carefully. That is another thing that sets this apart, it is a horror film that makes you actually think. In this day and age, I'm not surprised some found it terrible esp. after their brains have been turned to mush by the "remakes and other drivel Hollywood shoves down our throats. You know the saying you have never seen a movie until you have watched it twice. In fact I enjoyed it even more the second time. All those little pieces of the puzzle you might miss. Trying to put yourself in Teddys shoes.
The score and Scorsese method of using it is nothing short of brilliant. i am so glad that Scorsese chose not to use elevated music in some of scenes. For example, someone jump out of a dark corner......in most cases, the music is raised and the audience jumps.......but in this movie, Scorsese doesn't add any music at all......he just uses the fear of an eerie set to make your skin crawl. Much like an old Hitchcock movie. However, there is music in this, and let me tell you, it is so very fitting. You can tell Scorsese has been down this path before, so he sort of used the same style that he did in "Cape Fear", with Benard Herman's deep, dark, and haunting tones that just pull you in more and more. Honestly, there is not one bad aspect of this movie. The acting, the directing, the score, the cinematography.....all pieced together with one hell of a script.
The tag line is someone is missing. Yes you are if you miss out on this thriller.
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