A must see!

Rating: 9/10 (21 January 2011)

Master filmmaker Martin Scorsese has returned to the big screen with his first full-length feature film in four years (2006's The Departed-winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture). Shutter Island tells the story of U.S. Marshall Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his partner Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo). The two Marshalls are called upon to investigate the mysterious escape and disappearance of a dangerous patient (Emily Mortimer) at Ashecliffe Hospital, an isolated and stark facility saturated with dark secrets, and run by the ominous Dr. Cawley (played magnificently by Ben Kingsley), and his associate, Dr Nehring (Max von Sydow). Everyone on the island seems to be hiding something, including the patients, who are mostly there for horrific and violent crimes.
Daniels and his partner begin to suspect that Cawley and his institution have hidden agendas, and as they dig deeper and deeper into the island's secrets, their investigation takes strange and startling turns, which lead them to wonder if they will ever be able to leave. The story is set in 1954, which allows Scorsese to skillfully play around with genre, and to tie in post WWII themes and looming Cold War fears and conspiracies. Daniels' traumatic experiences at concentration camps weave in and out of his dreams, as do visions of his deceased wife, Delores (Michelle Williams).
A great admirer of Scorsese's films, it's no surprise to me that his newest work has managed to seep deep into my thoughts, and to lurk there long after I've exited the theatre. Notice the words "seep" and "lurk". The diction I've decided on here is no accident, but rather a fluid way of describing the means by which the film works on our senses. It slowly and meticulously grinds its rusty gears toward the fascinating climax, and the foreboding hurricane approaching the island heightens the stakes and greatly enhances the atmosphere that Scorsese and veteran cinematographer, Robert Richardson, immerse us in. This will inevitable be compared to Scorsese's remake of Cape Fear in 1991, as well it should be. They are both exercises in pure style, and I myself went into this with Cape Fear in mind. It's better to examine this as a separate entity, and to appreciate the stylish elements by which the characters come to realizations and revelations.
Dennis Lehane, whose previous novels Mystic River and Gone Baby Gone were also made into excellent films, wrote the source novel. His material seems to translate very well from page to screen, and I look forward to reading the novel in the future. This may not be the best adaptation of his work, but it is certainly the most prominent of the three films, and that has everything to do with Scorsese's ferocity and craftsmanship. He doesn't make wimpy movies, and this is no exception. It's a B Movie, but its one made by a director who knows exactly what he's doing every step of the way. It's fragmented, sure, but maybe it needs to be that way.
Leonardo DiCaprio manages to deliver one of his finest performances as the tortured and hard-edged Teddy Daniels, and Mark Ruffalo does some excellent work here as his timid partner. Scorsese plays off of Hitchcock a lot in this film, and like in any Hitchcock movie, everyone is suspicious, and the truth is buried beneath layers of deceit. As more and more layers are peeled away from their surroundings, they become part of something much grander and enigmatic that they were sent for. The facility is a fortress, surrounded by electric fences and treacherous cliffs, which stormy waves slosh and grind against, corroding away the rocks below. It's a long way down.