The Case for Island Life

It’s a very strange name for a small land mass off the coast of Boston, but Shutter Island makes for a very good, if very disturbing movie. This is a Scorsese film, so one kind of expects excellence, and it is great to have that expectation met.

Okay, this movie is not going to be for everyone, and the premise did not really seem for me when I first saw the trailer. It’s a psychological thriller set in a mental institution, which for me is always a bit unnerving, with the problems differentiating between sane and insane and (in the movies anyway) the abuses and unhinged behaviour that will invariably need to be described – and shown.

Leonardo DiCaprio is enthralling as the Marshall at the heart of the film, once again fully flexing his well developed acting muscles. Following him around the asylum, Scorsese has assembled an impressive array of actors and movie-making professionals. A master craftsman, Scorsese frames the film with occasional jagged cuts between scenes and frames, with an overarching and initially overwhelming score adding to the unsettled, slightly unhinged feel of the film. Actually, especially when a major storm strikes the island, I thought the film felt quite Lynchian, the flashes of lightning illuminating everything but clarifying nothing. Luckily for the audience (I was looking at JudgeNot the NotKate from time to time), and unlike most Lynch films, Shutter Island actually does all make sense.

I am trying not to give away any of the plot or the story, as that would be mean. There are red, white and blue herrings galore, and lots of smoking. I will just say that it’s an uncomfortable story to watch, dealing as it does with several brutal acts, but so well put together that I barely noticed the 2+ hour running time. There is one scene that just baffled me after (though not in a “there is no real answer” Lynchian sense): why blow up the car?

Verdict: An incredibly atmospheric whodunit (and what did they do?) movie that had everyone in the audience enthralled for the entire running time. Intense but not too convoluted, its not for everyone, though for Scorsese fans, Shutter Island should definitely be a must-see. 60 patients out of 67.