Shutter Island (2010)
Studio: Paramount
Release Date: February 19, 2010
Directed by: Martin Scorsese
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Max Von Sydow, Michelle Williams, Ted Levine, Patricia Clarkson, Emily Mortimer, Jackie Earle Haley
Reviewed by: Britt Hayes

When I was younger, I didn’t care much for Scorsese films. Truth is, I didn’t understand them because there was some level of maturity there that was beyond my comprehension. As an adult, I’ve come to know and love each of his films (some more than others – Casino is my favorite), and I find that with each passing year, I love and respect Martin Scorsese even more. Shutter Island is no exception. How is it that this legendary master of cinema has crafted yet another fantastic film? After (finally) winning his Oscar for The Departed, my first thought was that he should go out and make whatever the hell he wanted, gold statues be damned. And he has. Paramount pushing back the release of Shutter Island to next February, while a little frustrating, only confirmed what I had hoped: Shutter Island isn’t Oscar bait. This is a brilliant director who isn’t concerned with winning awards, although he would definitely get a few with this film.

Shutter Island is Scorsese’s horror film, and it plays just like I hoped it would. Tense, psychological, eerie, and nothing short of beautiful. Teddy Daniels (DiCaprio), along with his new partner Chuck Aule (Ruffalo), are US Marshalls brought to Shutter Island to find missing patient Rachel Solando. There are three units on Shutter Island, one for women, one for men, and Ashcliffe – a Civil War-era structure built to house the most violent and criminally insane patients. The facilities are so well-constructed and the security so well-fashioned, that there is no way Solando could have escaped, especially with a hurricane on the horizon and the rocky, impossible terrain surrounding the facilities. This place was built so no one could escape.

It doesn’t take long to figure out that there is a big secret on Shutter Island, with the doctors unwilling to hand over patient or employee files, a psychiatrist who conveniently went on vacation as the Marshalls arrived, and a note found in Ms. Solando’s room that reads “Who is 67?”, implying that she isn’t the only missing patient. Adding to the severity of the situation is Teddy’s increasingly painful migraines, his memories of time spent as a soldier and the day he helped liberate the Dachau concentration camp, and the sudden onslaught of hallucinations regarding his wife Dolores (Williams), who died in a fire set by an arsonist. Teddy is definitely having some issues.

The ending to the film was predictable early on, but I don’t think Scorsese intended for there to be some major twist ending. No, the focus here is on character and atmosphere, and as a brilliant director, Scorsese accomplishes exactly what he intends. There are strong themes of guilt, acceptance, letting go, and sanity vs. insanity. Who is sane on Shutter Island? The doctors or the patients? Although the ending was obvious from the outset, Scorsese does an excellent job of raising questions, and while Teddy is questioning his mind, Scorsese has the audience questioning theirs. In the end, the initial assumption is the ultimate conclusion, but you’ll have a hell of a time inbetween.

Atmospherically, Shutter Island is near-terrifying. Between the violent ocean slamming against the rocky cliffs threatening to almost break the island apart, and the haunting and labyrinthine halls of Ashcliffe, Scorsese has created a pretty damn scary arena for this story to unfold. Visually, the film is nothing short of stunning and gorgeous. The scenes outside the facility are filled with sharp grays, blues, and blacks, while the scenes inside Ashville are dirty and dripping, filled with stairs and barred cells, rusty browns and reds. Ashville is absolutely terrifying, no doubt about it.

The most visually enchanting shots are during the dream-like sequences with Michelle Williams as Teddy’s wife, Dolores. Williams’ voice is creamy and soft while delivering sharp cuts to DiCaprio’s Teddy and what he perceives as truth. During one scene that is used in the trailers, Teddy is holding Dolores as little embers float around, and then Dolores slowly turns to ash. The rich colors in the scene set up a brilliant contrast to the ash and ember. Needless to say, my jaw was on the floor.

Perhaps most chilling are the supporting actors. Ben Kingsley is eerily calm as Dr. John Cawley, one half of the team that runs Shutter Island. His eyes have this certain gleam, and his laugh is one of those chuckles to himself, as if he knows something and he’s all but telling you exactly what it is. Max Von Sydow as Dr. Jeremiah Naehring is Cawley’s other half, and the more sinister of the two. Strangely, Naehring isn’t outright evil, but there’s something about his demeanor that gives me chills.

In smaller parts are Jackie Earle Haley, Emily Mortimer, Patricia Clarkson, and Ted Levine. Haley’s character feels tortured and feral, and even though his scene is probably the most brief in the film, it’s the most frightening and unpredictable. Mortimer seems like she was born to play a woman this delusional and psychotic. One minute she’s a calm babbling brook (pun intended), and the next she’s a lit firecracker of psychoses. And Ted Levine scares the shit out of me in every movie he’s in because I’m still expecting him to make a skin dress out of somebody, but his role here has this intriguingly quiet forcefulness when he has one of the best exchanges with Teddy in the film, telling him that he is a violent man, something they have in common.

DiCaprio’s Teddy is what we’ve come to know and love from DiCaprio’s later years working with Scorsese. His Departed accent is back, which lends him more of a tough as nails credibility, much needed for that baby face of his. Scorsese has used DiCaprio as his leading man in four films now, and typically I’d complain about this, but the director has an ability to bring some grit out of DiCaprio and it’s always a joy to see the two collaborating. As Teddy, DiCaprio is a man on the verge of losing it or perhaps uncovering some great secret, and even with the predictable ending, he plays Teddy like a great violinist, always with the right amount of restraint.

Mark Ruffalo’s Chuck Aule is the great letdown of Shutter Island. Ruffalo’s acting is exceptional, but his part is short. What’s so disappointing is seeing Ruffalo in completely useless films like Blindness, and then seeing him soar in Shutter Island. I suppose I’d rather get 15 minutes of good Ruffalo than 2 hours of visual water boarding.

The screenplay is written by Laeta Kalogridis, whose past writing credits include Alexander and Pathfinder, and based on the novel by Dennis Lehane (Mystic River, Gone Baby Gone, The Wire). The script itself doesn’t feel tight enough, and at times detracts from the beautiful imagery. Even though the script felt a little weak, Scorsese still managed to make a wonderful psychological film that doesn’t so much try to trick you as it does cajole you.

Before the screening of Shutter Island, we were informed this was slightly unfinished. The only thing that felt unfinished to me were certain elements of dialogue, that, if taken out, would help trim some unneeded fat. Also, there was some voice-over work that was rather obvious, particularly with John Carroll Lynch, where his intonation was radically different from the rest of the scene.

While some have disagreed with the ending, I thought it was pitch-perfect. It’s impossible to describe the final moments without outright ruining the film for you, but the end of Shutter Island hinges on one word – one word that changes just how predictable the ending is. While the climax seems preposterous and the exposition less than shocking because of the groundwork that came before it, the denouement rests on a final word that nearly destroys all notions gathered during the climax.

Overall, Shutter Island is another success for Scorsese, and proof that he doesn’t need to try to get Oscars to make impressive films.

I should note that before viewing Shutter Island, we were shown Powell & Pressburger’s The Red Shoes, based on the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale. Scorsese credits this as one of his favorite films and biggest inspirations. For the last seven years, Scorsese and his longtime editor, Thelma Schoonmaker (and also widow of Michael Powell) have worked on a full restoration of The Red Shoes. What we witnessed before Shutter Island was a gorgeous, haunting film that has stuck with me for almost a week now. It’s easy to see how Scorsese became so obsessed with The Red Shoes, and even easier to understand who he is as a director. The influence of The Red Shoes can be seen throughout Shutter Island, and the two films are heaven to watch side by side. I suggest that if you are in Chicago, The Red Shoes is currently playing at the Music Box Theatre, so go see it while you still can. You can purchase the Criterion DVD on Amazon, but there is no American Blu-ray release as of yet. If you’re in the UK, you can purchase the Region B-locked HMV Exclusive Blu-ray restoration version.