Shutter Island

Martin Scorsese is one of the greatest directors in history. I know what you’re thinking: That’s a bold claim. The man has won the Academy Award for Best Director only once. Still, that’s one more than Quentin Tarantino, Alfred Hitchcock, and Gus Van Sant combined. He was edged out in 1990, when Kevin Costner took away the award for Dances with Wolves. When he finally won in 2006 for The Departed, it almost seemed like a compensatory award for the previous five nominations. Still, since The Departed came out, Scorsese fans have been waiting for another project. As soon as Shutter Island was announced, our anticipation reached a peak.

Everything Scorsese touches turns to gold. He creates art on the silver screen. Shutter Island is no different. Shutter Island, originally a novel written by Dennis Lehane, takes place in 1954, during which time two U.S. Marshals are sent to an island to investigate a missing patient. The island houses those who have been deemed criminally insane. The two marshals, Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo), look for a missing patient by the name of Rachel Solando (Emily Mortimer). They are aided by Dr. John Cawley (Ben Kingsley), the island’s chief doctor and administrator. One thing leads to another, and the marshals find themselves stuck on the island in the middle of a storm. Shutter Island is full of mystery and drama, making it one of the greatest psycho-dramatic stories ever.

The screenwriter, Laeta Kalogridis, captures Lehane’s work perfectly. Originally, I was skeptical about this choice because she was the writer of the 2004 flop Alexander. When it came to Shutter Island, however, she captured the perfection of Lehane’s mysterious psychodrama technique. Having read the book, I was a little anxious to get to the ending, surely one of the best I have ever witnessed, so I won’t spoil it for you. This might have made me enjoy the film a little bit less, but I still enjoyed it thoroughly. Kalogridis appeared to have read the book quite a few times before sitting to write the screenplay because she did not leave anything out. Often, the film loses something in the translation from novel to screen, but not in this case. Kalogridis earned some brownie points with this one.

DiCaprio delivers a solid performance as Teddy Daniels, the main character. Daniels is meant to be paranoid, brilliant, and perceptive, all three areas that DiCaprio perfected. I was never a fan of DiCaprio while growing up, probably because all the girls in elementary school were ogling him every moment of the fourth grade (I hated Titanic). All the recent films DiCaprio has been in, however, have allowed him to excel as an actor and to earn his place on the elite A-list of celebrities. He has truly done some great work.

Supporting actors, Ben Kingsley, Michelle Williams (who plays DiCaprio’s dead wife), and Mark Ruffalo also stand out in their own roles. The patients on Shutter Island add to the paranoia and mystery in an incredible way. Scorsese picked some gems to work with him on this project.

Overall, the film is not perfect, but it is still very good. There were some odd cuts between scenes that were not entirely clean. This is surprising because the original release date of this film was in October. The special effects, specifically during Teddy Daniels’ dreams, provide some oddity that may be new to Scorsese’s taste, but not far from his analysis into the psychology of the character. Shutter Island is a must-see this season, much like all of Scorsese’s films. With two new projects in mind, I get the sense that we are about to see some great work in the future.