Shutter Island

The more I watch and review, the more my ignorance of all things cinematic becomes apparent. But I can't say I'm not enjoying learning that I know so little; I like the challenge of trying to learn more. 


So, how to review a film that was both a joy to watch and yet also depends entirely on mystery for audience engagement? How much can I say? Well, this: Teddy Daniels (DiCaprio), a US Marshall, together with his partner Chuck (Ruffalo), sets out to Shutter Island from Boston, to investigate the case of a missing girl. The island houses the criminally insane, three wards for cases declared ultimately incurable, where Dr. Cawley (Kingsley) uses radical methods to attempt to rehabilitate and 'cure' his patients. So Daniels and Chuck begin to investigate the island, and see if they can turn up any clues as to this girl's disappearance.


The pacing is beautiful from the offing: we know something's up and Teddy is clearly concerned, but the tension is left to simmer, as we, like Teddy, try to piece together the hints and signs. Point-of-view from Teddy as well gives us a sense of the place, and quickly even the most mundane of acts, like sweeping leaves, seems loaded; the guards and patients are intimidating just to look at.


The camera-work is nothing short of scintillating either; throughout the film there are sequences of 'mess', where flames or rain or hail or leaves or dust or ash fly across the shot, framing the action with their own activity. It's obvious enough to be arresting, but not to be invasive. I was fully aware of the intensity of such shots, but they did not seem too clichéd. They seemed to evoke me a rather knowing nod that I was watching something particularly masterful. 


And on mastery, the performances are also something to be marvelled at. I'm tempted to say this was Leo's greatest performance (though some might want to posit What's Eating Gilbert Grape? or The Departed or even Blood Diamond if you can ignore bad accents); Kingsley and Ruffalo are spot on throughout, and the shifts in Kingsley from benign to threatening are so subtly performed as to be thoroughly chilling. It's their performances that leave one feeling like this wasn't simply a DiCaprio showcase but something far more coherent and controlled; that Scorsese knows how to get sound and light and colour and action all pulling together to take the audience by the throat and drag them bodily into his story.


The conclusion of the film: phenomenal. A reveal that was both painfully obvious and yet adroitly handled. A truth that bordered on the pat but deftly swung away from it. A final denouement, as well, that left me and my fellow audience members divided as to its outcome. And my conclusion: I'd recommend this to anyone.


~~~
2010
Leonardo DiCaprio, Ben Kingsley, Mark Ruffalo
Written by Laeta Kalogridis
Dir. Martin Scorsese