"Which would be worse, to live as a monster or to die as a good man? "

Rating: 8/10 (14 June 2010)

Shutter Island........"Which would be worse, to live as a monster or to die as a good man? "
This movie has to be appreciated for its unusual way of unfolding. So well is the mix of story-screenplay and direction that halfway into the movie and you feel like on "Shutter Island". Scorsese's brilliance is what makes the movie fantastic and add to it a stellar performance by Leonardo Dicaprio.
Shutter Island is a complicated story (I won't write much about that) based on one person's imagination to let himself off being the person he really is....As in the words of the Dr. Cawley(Ben Kingsley), he constructed the most radical, cutting-edge, role-play ever attempted in Psychiatry, to successfully bring back the patient to his normal terms of life. In the end what happens is the most interesting part and I was floored after seeing the same.
I love these kind of movies where in the viewer needs to put actual effort to understand the story, plot, characters and even be able to relate to them for better understanding. Shutter Island is successful upto certain level in all of these fronts.
The credits say that Shutter Island is actually made from a novel (I've not read it). The screenplay and editing is good, cinematography should be appreciated as well as the production design and the art direction.
In a Nutshell: a) Highlights: Great effort for the detailing, Very good performances by the cast namely Leonardo, Mark Ruffalo(Chuck), Ben Kingsley(Dr. Cawley) and others, Background score adds to the feel of being in a state of confusion
b) USP : The intrigue story and the director's fine job.
My rating 7/10