Day 105 - Shutter Island



Day 105          Shutter Island [2010]
                          
Screenplay                    Laeta Kalogridis
Based on                       ‘Shutter Island’ by Dennis Lehane
Director                         Martin Scorsese
Cinematography            Robert Richardson
Music                            Robbie Robertson
Leads                            Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Michelle Williams, Emily Mortimer, Patricia Clarkson, Max von Sydow
Production                     Phoenix Pictures, Appian Way Productions

IMDb                                 8.1/10
Rotten Tomatoes                68%

I saw this film in the cinema when it first came out and it’s safe to say that it confused the hell out of me then. I should mention for once that there are big spoilers ahead as it’s pretty hard to talk about this film without talking about the plot. Knowing what happens the second time around does mean you watch it with fresh perspective, but I couldn’t tell you which viewing I enjoyed more. The first time round you’d have to be incredibly perceptive to work out what’s going on. Yes, he is hallucinating, but these could equally be thought of as day dreams and would not have been unusual for the troubled Teddy Daniels (DiCaprio). When you watch it the second time you can pick up hints that he is not Teddy Daniels, which are of course much more obvious than they first appeared. The way he is treated by the warden and all the guards for example. Even the very first scene on the boat – you would think he would have met his partner before getting on. The way that other patients act around him did arouse suspicions at the first viewing, but then again, they are all insane, and we think perhaps they are warning him of something else dodgy going on on the island. Critics didn’t like it and I’m not sure why? They are a funny bunch, often far too pretentious for their own good. (I would admit that I am myself sometimes). Because it’s Scorsese directing a ‘Hitchcockian’ neo-noir film, they expect the best of him, and, for them at least, this didn’t quite cut it. Scorsese is quoting as saying that the film would make a ton of money because everyone would have to go and see it twice! He’s not wrong. Although it was cheeky of him to hit us with a film that was almost unpredictable and makes you have to revisit certain elements of the story to have an ‘aaaah I see what’s happened there’ moment. I actually wasn’t too bad on the spoilers there – in fact my review makes no real sense unless you’ve seen the movie and I've forgotten to do the other three components (I've kind of covered the writing haven't I?). The acting is good, especially from DiCaprio in a dark role and Kingsley as a villain/hero, the music is eerie, but beautiful and Robert Richardson needs no praise as I'm not sure he's ever shot a film badly. Go confuse yourselves, or if you’re seeing it for the second time, reveal the truth.

Acting                           3.5 / 4
Writing                             3 / 4
Cinematography            3.5 / 4
Music                               3 / 4
HWF rating                  3 / 4

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