SHUTTER ISLAND

Now, here is another film that was much “hyped” about, especially where I live. Being the person I am, the fact that it was “hyped” gave me that “oh well, I’ll get round to it” kinda feeling. Doesn’t really make sense when you think about it: Martin Scorsese – a director I love ; Leonardo Di Caprio and Ben Kingsley – two actors I adore. (Incidentally, aren’t you getting the impression that the Martin Scorsese and Leonardo Di Caprio team is turning into something akin to “Tim Burton – Johnny Depp”? I sure hope so, they work so well together!) Anyway, I still resisted. Then a colleague – and a cinephile whose opinion I admire – insisted I watch it saying I was a fool to wait so long. I had a couple of hours spare (it was a slow day at work) and had the movie close to hand so I “conceded”. I honestly have no idea what was wrong with me – refusing to watch a Scorsese film indeed… Whatever next…

The year is 1954. And Shutter Island is, in fact, the name of an island in Boston. On it, there is an institution for the criminally the insane. From this institution, a dangerous criminal has escaped and U.S. Marshall Teddy Daniels has been sent to secure her. Major Daniels is an excellent Marshall, but like all of us, he has his dark spots. He is traumatized by his experiences of the liberation of the Dachau Concentration camps and the death of his beloved wife (another old favorite – Michelle Williams!) but keeps the two events apart as best he can. Along with his brand new partner Chuck (Mark Ruffalo – I like this guy, he keeps turning up as a familiar face in an array of different movies) he arrives at Shutter Island to recover the escapee. All seems to be going well, Dr. John Cawley, the head of the institute is friendly and helpful… However, it will soon become clear that Shutter Island is a lot more than it first pretends to be… Everyone seems to have some ulterior motive. Marshall Daniels is determined to get to the truth, and he will succeed. The truth he gets to, however, is something way beyond his wildest imaginings…

Now, I watched this film after I watched Inception. And in a funny kind of way I’m glad I did. Because the moment I finished watching Shutter Island, it became very clear to me that this was exactly the kind of film I expected Inception to be. (read my opinion on Inception here) There are many similarities between the two films. I will not go into detail incase you haven’t watched one or the other but if you have watched both just sit back and compare Dominic Cobb and Teddy Daniels. The similarities are so great that until the last half hour of Shutter Island I was actually disappointed, thinking Mr. Di Caprio was on the verge of being typecast. The topics are similar as well, I mean think about it, outsiders, breaking into a secure place connected with the human mind, searching for information…

Ok, I get it, if you’re exploring concepts such as “reality / dreams /subconscious /unconscious” it makes sense on a level to not arrive at a conclusion. However, with such fertile ground as the human mind as a stage, there is a lot of room for a big surprise, to turn the film, the story on its head… Mr. Scorsese has chosen this particular path – and boy will he turn you on your heads… Until the last half hour of the film, I expected pretty much what I got from Inception – an exciting Hollywood flick (minus the special effects). It is nothing like most things I have ever seen… A must…