111) Shutter IslandDirector: Martin ScorseseYear: 2010Plot Summary: In 1954, Federal Marshal Teddy Daniels and his new partner, Chuck Aule, travel to Shutter Island to investigate the disappearance of a patient Rachel Solando.
Shutter Island isn't a masterpiece. It'll never be remembered in the way that Scorsese's earlier work like Raging Bull, Mean Streets and Taxi Driver will be. But, nevertheless, it's an engrossing, well-constructed and very entertaining mystery story.
Right from the very first moment, you will be trying to solve the enigmas of Shutter Island for yourself. It cleverly drops hints and clues to what may have actually happened to patient 67 throughout and what this institution for the criminally insane is really up to. This allows you to immediately be drawn in to the film and you will find yourself glued to the screen for the entire 140 minutes of it's running length. Sure, it is a long film, but there's not a second where you will lose interest or it's grip will loosen.
Aside from it's clever writing and construction, it's also extremely well shot by Scorsese giving the movie the feel of a 1950s film noir mixed with a horror movie such as The Shining. The dream sequences in particular are full of surreal beauty that provide an insight into the tortured mind of the main character.
This main character, Teddy Daniels, portrayed in another spellbinding performance by Leonardo DiCaprio, also adds another layer of depth to Shutter Island. Like his character in Inception, part of the entertainment in watching this mystery is finding out who Daniels really is. How his character's tortured past and the enigmas of the story come together is fantastic to watch unfold before your eyes.
Shutter Island also has a great knowledge of the society, politics and lifestyle of the era it is set in, cleverly introducing such things as the fear of communism, the birth of technology, post-WW2 values and, most importantly, the changes in the psychiatry field in regards to how patients should be treated into the screenplay.
It's not exactly a must-see, but Shutter Island is as entertaining a mystery story that you could find and one that I'm sure will continue to impress on repeated viewings.
4/5
1 comments:
It's good. It weakens upon reflection, since it's essentially an "and then I woke up" film. It could've done a lot more, but there's plenty in there to entertain on rewatch. Just a neat little flick really.
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