A flawed masterpiece.

Rating: 7/10 (21 February 2010)

Most people go into "Shutter Island" expecting that director Martin Scorsese will pull off another "Taxi Driver", or "Raging Bull". Though this is not the case, Scorsese succeeds in constructing one of the best psychological thrillers in years due to his prodigious directing, brilliant cinematography and excellent performances from each member of the cast.
Shutter Island takes place off the coast of Boston in 1954. The film follows U.S marshal Teddy Danial's(DiCapro) as he investigates the disappearance of mental patient Rachel Solondro, who has escaped from her room in the mental institution located on the island. As a violent storm hits the island, Teddy discovers that there is more to this case then he first believed. As the plot unfolds, and Teddy begins to hallucinate about his dead wife, and images of past experiences of concentration camps while he was a soldier in WW2, he begins to question why he is on the island. Is he there to kill the man who murdered his wife? Is this all a set-up for some sort of dark conspiracy? Or is it something of much greater importance?
Though many aspects of this film are similar to "The Shining" (haunting music while we reach the mental institution, quick cuts to dead children, etc) this is NOT a horror film. Like "Taxi Driver", each scene (with the exception of the beginning of one), has the protagonist in it as if we are viewing the world through his point of view. Scorsese makes us feel what Teddy feels and due to Scorsese's brilliant direction, we as an audience are unsure what is real and what is fake by the middle of the film.
When you have made more then three masterpieces and have perfected your craft so efficiently , you are able to break some of the rules to make the audience feel a specific way. Scorsese tends to break multiple rule such as noticeable continuity errors, abrupt camera movement when there shouldn't be, and edits that seem to be just one beat off. But Scorsese does this on purpose to make the audience feel both out of place and uncomfortable, and he does it very well.
The juxtaposition of the beautiful sets while Teddy dreams of his wife, and the bleak, film-noir set of the mental institution are also quiet compelling. This just goes to show you the range of the directors capability and how he is able to combine two very different setting to create an intriguing story.
Unfortunately, after the first two acts (which were near flawless), the script seems to fall apart. The twist is not only predictable to many viewers, but has also been done multiple times. There are many things in the first two acts that make it seem like the twist could not be possible and you walk out of the theatre thinking to yourself, "wait but if that was so, then why did this happen?" Though unintentional, some of the dialogue throughout the film also seemed quiet comedic as if it came out of one of a scene in the "Scary Movie" trilogy. Lines like, "I'm dead", come out as comical instead of the tone that the director intended.
Though flawed, Scorsese has created one of the most compelling psychological thrillers in years and has redefined the thriller genre. "Shutter Island" is a better film then Scorsese's "Gangs of New York", but comes no where close to that of "Taxi Driver", or "Raging Bull". But when you've created films like those two, it's not understandable that this one is not as brilliant. This film is one that you need to see at least twice but when you see it for the first time, expect a slow paced psychological thriller, because it is NOT a horror film.
8/10
HINT: Though I will not ruin the ending for you, pay very close attention to the last scene. Though the narrative suggests one thing, something Teddy Daniels says and how he acts during this scene suggests that it is not what it seems.