"Men like you are my specialty, you know?"

Rating: 10/10 (30 August 2010)

There are a number of films I've seen more than once, and if they're good (the only reason really, to watch them again), they become a richer experience and one gains a greater appreciation of them. "Shutter Island" might be the only picture that on subsequent viewings, becomes a DIFFERENT film from the one originally seen. I say this because the first time around, there's no way to take the character of Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) other than at face value. He's a detective investigating a missing person case on an island. Not your normal island, but one that's home to an institution for the criminally insane. Every interaction he has with a character in the picture is one between himself, Detective Daniels, and that character. As we come to learn, all that changes when Dr. Cawley (Ben Kingsley) reveals the twist near the end of the story, at which point, one is left either totally disillusioned or utterly blown away.
What's unique and brilliant about the writing here is evident upon a second viewing. What we now know to be true about Teddy Daniels becomes even more evident. We're able to understand that in Teddy's first meeting with Naehring (Max von Sydow), Naehring is actually speaking to Laeddis. Yet those references to Laeddis/Daniels' 'defense mechanisms' could have been offered and taken either way. George Noyce (Jackie Earle Haley) was speaking to Laeddis as he had no reason not to. The vision of Rachel Solando in the cave was warning Teddy that he had no friends, and that there was no way off the island. This was a way for the viewer to understand that in some small way, Teddy/Laeddis was conversing with himself, sometimes with clarity and other times delusionally. The Warden (Ted Levine) is clearly speaking directly to Laeddis when he picks up Teddy after his night in the cave. This is all so masterfully done that even watching the picture multiple times, it's amazing to pick up on the nuance that went into developing the story.
Now I have to admit, the first time I saw the picture and it became apparent that Teddy Daniels was Laeddis, I wanted to blow it off as one of those cheap constructs that film makers are prone to indulge in just to play with the viewer's head. But somehow, this was different. This was a study, a grand two day experiment if you will, designed to force Laeddis to come to terms with himself and what he had done to become confined to an institution. The way the whole story evolves is fascinating to watch, almost like watching the making of the movie instead of the movie itself. I've seen "Shutter Island" three times now in the space of about a month, and I know with certainty that I'll be watching it again. There's not many films I can say that about, but this one just begs it, almost like a patient requiring your uninterrupted attention.