'Shutter Island' ...a film to be appreciated.

Rating: 10/10 (31 March 2010)

Occasionally, we go to the theater and are pleasantly reminded that there is a difference between movies and films. Shutter Island is the latest from Martin Scorsese and apart from being a great psychological thriller, it also serves as an excellent example of what it takes for a movie to be a film.
From the very first opening credits, this film draws in the audience and firmly holds them in place. Set in post-WWII 1954, Scorsese uses foreboding and ominous tones for the opening credits, setting a mood of impending tragedy and uneasiness from the very beginning. After the title credit passes, we meet Teddy Daniels, played seamlessly by Leonardo DiCaprio, a U.S. Marshall aboard a ferry boat experiencing the joys of sea-sickness. After becoming ill and facing himself in the mirror, he pulls it together and returns to the deck of the boat where he and his new partner smoke the first of many cigarettes. Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo) is introduced to both Teddy and the audience at the same time and together we accept his character...but with some hesitation, of course. Both U.S. Marshals have been summoned to a remote island off the coast of Boston to investigate the disappearance of a child murderer / patient from the Ashecliffe Hospital for the criminally insane. The ferry creeps closer to the island and as the fog dissipates, we get our first glance at Shutter Island. The physical geography of the island perfectly matches the tone and feeling of the film so far. Sharp, jagged rocks surround the perimeter of the island, barbed-wire fencing separates the perilous outer edges from the inner grounds, and a lighthouse can be seen in the distance on the far side. Before becoming a prison / hospital, Shutter Island was the home to a Civil War-era fort. Now what once housed soldiers and generals has become the living quarters for the patients. Three main buildings stand out in the main interior of the island; Building A for the female patients, Building B for the male patients, and Building C for those deemed to be the most dangerous and disturbed. Building C is off-limits except under extreme circumstances and always with approval and presence of Dr. Cawley and the Head Warden. The entire island seems cut-off from reality, as if to suggest that you may even wish to question the air you breathe. It seems only natural to feel a sort of gloominess and despair when first seeing Ashecliffe. Upon entering the main building, Teddy and Chuck are introduced to Dr. Cawley, the leading psychiatric at the island played flawlessly by Ben Kingsley. At the same time, Cawley is both specific and vague regarding the details of the missing patient, like he's dancing to a tune that only but he can hear. To add to the confusion, the entire staff seems to be dancing to the very same tune and none of them are sharing more than what they had been told. Even the island itself has a history and reputation that suggests there is more going on than meets the eye. Cryptic messages and inexplicable warnings only fuel the fire lit underneath Teddy and he pushes further and further until something finally pushes back. Then we see what happens when too many unanswered questions pile up and the cold, clammy walls of the hospital begin to close in on Teddy and his partner. Scorsese masterfully tears away at reality, piece by piece, utilizing flashbacks to suggest that Teddy may be harboring some trauma of his own. Leonardo DiCaprio is almost too good at being full of hopeless curiosity. He fights for answers and endures riddle after riddle until, at the climax of the film, his reality (as well as the audience's) is turned upside-down and twisted so greatly that up becomes down, black turns to white, and what has seemed to be fact is now nothing more than Teddy's own unraveling certainty. Scorsese does a great job keeping the audience in sync with Teddy the whole time. As the mystery unfolds and the truth is finally revealed, the shocked look on Teddy's face is identical to those of the faces in the audience.
Shutter Island is a fight with reality and perception from start to finish. Rarely has a film played with the minds of its audience so deeply and so cleverly. This film is beautifully directed, artfully edited, and very well acted. DiCaprio, Kingsley, Ruffalo and even Ted Levine (as the Head Warden) all give outstanding performances in their respective roles. Martin Scorsese has shown us all, once again, why his name continues to be at the forefront of film-making. After some of the bombs that Hollywood has recently produced, its refreshing to see that some movies really do live up to all the hype. But when it all comes down to it, sometimes its just nice to be reminded what watching a film feels like.