Island of high expectations but slightly lobotomized results

Rating: 7/10 (6 March 2010)

Perhaps I should better begin this user comment by underlining that I'm primarily a horror fanatic and, moreover, that I have a specific exaltation for genre movies taking place on (A) remote inescapable islands and largely set in (B) mental asylums. I've seen numerous cheap horror movies, ranging from astounding to abominable, featuring one or both of these keywords and I personally think they are fundamental components to help determine the creepiness impact of a certain horror movie. "Shutter Island" features both these key ingredients as well, so normally this should have been one of my most anticipated movies ever, but instead I was quite skeptical ever since I first saw the trailer. First and foremost I'm annoyed again that everybody seems to avoid labeling this as a horror movie. Like it's still common to think horror is in an inferior genre that acclaimed directors and actors don't even lay their hands on. If you look on the main page on this website, "Shutter Island" is categorized as drama, mystery and thriller. I assure you, given the subject matter and the scenery featuring here, this is a horror film. It has everything to do with atmosphere and nothing with bloodshed or ax-wielding maniacs. Secondly, I tend to be very tolerant and easygoing on those aforementioned cheap horror movies because they're often low-budgeted and struggling movies from aspiring and hard- working directors. However, in the case of "Shutter Island", where the budget is practically unlimited and all the involved people are highly respected and critically acclaimed names, I feel I'm entitled to be extra demanding. I expect everything to be impeccably perfect, including the plot, the atmosphere, the set pieces, the acting performances, the directing, the continuity and the tension level.
The greatest news to announce is that "Shutter Island" lives up to most of these expectations, especially when it comes to atmosphere and choice of locations. Right from the opening seconds already, you can tell this will become a thoroughly ominous and gripping film with a professional eye for detail. A ferryboat appears from a thick cloud of fog, there are clear signs of an approaching hurricane, there is recitation about an "asylum for the criminally insane" and the first long images of the titular island are brought under the guidance of excruciatingly sinister musical tones. The intensity of the opening sequence promptly grabs you by the throat and you want the two main characters – Federal U.S. Marshals Teddy Daniels and Chuck Aule – to get away from the island as far as possible before they even set foot on it. "Shutter Island" first unfolds as a compelling mystery set in the paranoid and depressing post- WWII era of the early 1950's. The island is a controversial governmental place where the Doctors Crawley (Ben Kingsley) and Naehring (Max Von Sydow) are running a mental institute facility for "normal" male and female cases as well as incurably dangerous patients. The Marshals are called to the island to investigate the inexplicable disappearance of a female patient, but there's obviously a lot more brooding underneath the surface. The doctors and wardens deliberately boycott the Marshals' investigation and Teddy Daniels has a personal and much more critical agenda to fulfill. He's looking for the pyromaniac patient responsible for the death of his wife and he intends to expose the island as a place where the American government uses mental convalescents as subjects to experiment upon. Teddy also suffers from painful War traumas, like the sights of frozen cadavers in a German concentration camp, and he still has conversations with his deceased wife Dolores. When the hurricane vanquishes the island, Teddy and Chuck see an opportunity to sneak into the infamous C-Block, where they lock away the worst cases and presumably the experiments, but the revelations where Teddy stumbles upon as from that moment are certainly not what he expected or hoped to find out.
"Shutter Island" is the type of film that overwhelms and deeply impresses you with plot twists, subliminal themes, red herrings, convoluted conspiracy theories, character drawings growing increasingly complex and intriguing but ultimately irrelevant sub plots. The script feels like a solidly structured and tightly woven wholesome for as long as you're watching the film, but it's definitely worthwhile to analyze the movie afterwards. Unfortunately I can't elaborate too much without revealing some essential plot elements, but I urge you do it yourself. Once you leave the cinema or take the disc out of the DVD player, starting thinking back about the little things that were done or said throughout the entire film. Movies like this deserve to be discussed and analyzed rather than to just walk away with a feeling of overall astonishment. You'll notice that some minor details fit in perfectly with the denouements revealed at the end, whereas other story aspects will suddenly become illogical, senseless and implausible. And also, if you've seen a lot of grim, obscure and long-forgotten horror movies (the kind I talked about in the first paragraph), well than you honestly won't be surprised at what you see that often. You won't hear me claim that "Shutter Island" is unoriginal or predictable, but like so frequently the case, it does incorporate many little facets (whether just a certain noise, bizarre characteristic or tiny plot detail) that I spotted already in other movies. That really isn't a complaint; merely a footnote. I don't intend to say that "Shutter Island" ripped any other films, simply that horror fanatics are likely to be slightly less impressed than the more mainstream audience. My only main complaint is that I personally found "Shutter Island too long. Admittedly I have a bit of an aversion towards long films, but I really felt that some of the sub plots and repetitive hallucination sequences could have been cut shorter. The filming locations, set- pieces and scenery are tremendous and particularly the re-creation of the 50's atmosphere is admirably accurate.