DiCaprio shines in a perfect adaptation

Rating: 9/10 (19 February 2010)

Shutter Island: 9.1/10 - As should be obvious by now, Martin Scorsese is all about creativity; painting a picture through film and completely absorbing the viewer in the world of the movie. His undeniable ingenuity of the process of film-making and truly creating a work of art makes Shutter Island that much more impressive. Scorsese does what he does best, creating a vivid and surreal world and sets one underlying mood that is present constantly throughout the movie; however, he didn't stray far from the story that Dennis Lehane created. In fact, he captured every element piece by piece, presented the atmosphere with delicacy so as to bring the island, the characters and the story to life.
The narrative time-line of Shutter Island isn't that of your normal film. Some scene cuts seem awkward and make the viewer feel as though they may have missed something. However, Scorsese does a beautiful job of displaying this type of feeling. While reading Lehane's book, one cannot help but feel like they are missing something as they go page to page; that is not by accident. Lehane structured his book to give off a level of uncertainty, to give off a feeling of something missing just like how Teddy Daniels seems to always be missing something. Through Lehane's writing and Scorsese's directing the audience is brought into Daniels' world; full of fill-in-the-blanks and confusion.
However, Scorsese didn't stop at simply confusing the audience and pulling them into the mystery; we also brought Daniels' innermost struggles and tortures to life. The nightmare sequences are by far the highlight of Shutter Island, at least from a filmmaker's perspective. In these shots the viewer is introduced to haunting images such as Daniels' memories from war and mesmerizing sequences between Daniels and his dead wife. The connection between all of it, much like the film, is a bit hazy, but for specific reasons: just as Daniels struggles to put everything together, so does the audience. Likewise, Scorsese uses a great deal of foreshadowing, especially earlier on in the film that might not be so easy to pick up on, thus adding to the puzzle.
Outside of the techniques and elements used to successfully capture the atmosphere, tone, and mood of the setting, the cast does some of the best work thus far in 2010. Lead by an almost superhuman performance by Leonardo DiCaprio, which may very be his best work to date; each actor portrays their character exactly as described and made out to be in the novel. Aside from DiCaprio, Ben Kingsley (Dr. Cawley), Michelle Williams (Dolores) and Jackie Earle Haley (George Noyce) are especially effective in their roles as is Mark Ruffalo (Chuck Aule) to a lesser extent.
Though it may not seem so, Shutter Island is the best movie to have been released in 2010 so far. Because although its structure and design may seem nothing more than a nightmare to some viewers, even nightmares contain a touch of beauty and a great deal of art if you can dig deep enough.