Atmospheric and clever- really makes you think deep

Rating: 9/10 (6 August 2010)

I like Martin Scorsesse a lot, and I was interested in seeing Shutter Island. It had a truly intriguing concept and my 17-year old sister was raving about how brilliant the film was. Shutter Island is not Scorsesse's best, but it was atmospheric, clever, incredibly thought-provoking and somewhat disturbing too.
I do agree it is too long and that it drags in places, that Shutter Island is still very impressive and gripping. The cinematography is great, dark, expressionistic and Gothic. Same with the scenery which is both picturesque and bleak, while the direction is superb, almost operatic and imaginative. The screenplay is intelligent and the plot gripping and clever, however Shutter Island is one of those films that if you miss a line of dialogue or a plot point you are in danger of missing something important. I also liked the music- admittedly the repeated bass motif which has a knock-on-the-door effect makes us think immediately that something out of the ordinary is going to happen but I have to admit it was haunting, while the Mahler chamber music piece along with the more gut-wrenching images at Dacchau was put to effective use, though coming from a classical music enthusiast I never knew Mahler wrote chamber music.
The acting is very good, Leonardo DiCaprio and Ben Kingsley are both excellent, and Mark Ruffalo was surprisingly good too. Max Von Sydow is also good, and although I wasn't sure about Michelle Williams at first she was suitably eerie and haunting. Finally the ending, some have said it was clever, others were underwhelmed by it. For me, I found it very clever and it was actually the part of the film that made me think about most. Of course it leaves questions rather than answers, but I think that was the point, it is ambiguous and open to interpretation and I certainly would have never thought of that. There could also be the possibility that there is no right or wrong answer, we are left to wonder for ourselves whether he was sane or not, and I think that was a reason for why the film ended inconclusively- I for one asked myself what did happen to Ted?
Overall, very gripping and clever, with an ending that really makes you think. It is not what I consider a perfect film, but the direction and acting makes up for any misgivings. Plus it is probably a film you need to see more than once to completely understand or appreciate it. 9/10 Bethany Cox