Shutter Island finds Martin Scorsese at his most delightfully unhinged. Having chased the Oscar for the last decade, it is exciting to see him let loose a little bit. With Shutter Island, he marries his visual and thematic styles with a pure horror/thriller picture. Much like he did with Cape Fear twenty years ago, Scorsese is able to mine a great deal of psychological thrills and depth out of what could have been a simple genre picture. While some might be put off by how the film's plot progresses, there is no denying that Scorsese tells this story with appropriate flair and wit.Two federal marshals - Teddy (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Chuck (Mark Ruffalo) - are sent to an island housing a mental institution to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a patient. From this simple premise, Scorsese weaves an intricate and confounding story of mental illness, memory, and justice. To say that the premise is a bit misleading would be true. The film quickly goes far beyond what the trailer implies, and we realize that film is less about the investigation and more about Teddy. That is a smart choice, as a film of this kind would not work without a great central character to examine in contrast to what is happening around him. Teddy may not be the best character Scorsese has put to screen, but he's certainly one of the more heartbreaking and unsettling.
The fourth collaboration between Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio, Shutter Island continues the escalation of DiCaprio's talent as an actor. While many decried the decision for Scorsese to "adopt" DiCaprio all those years ago, it is clear that under Scorsese's tutelage DiCaprio has become one of the most exciting, refined actors working today. Shutter Island represents perhaps his best work to date. The reason it is such a good performance might not be immediately apparent as you are watching, but by film's end you will realize that DiCaprio has had to work on many different levels through the whole film, some too subtle to notice until after the fact. The premise of the film doesn't initially seem to lend itself to a lot of depth for its characters, but DiCaprio is able to mine some great material out of Teddy. We learn that his wife died years ago, and the man responsible may also be on the island. DiCaprio plays Teddy as a man just this side of unhinged, so we aren't sure what will happen when he finds who he looking for. Add to this the fact that he has nightmares of his time in World War II and the death of his wife, and Teddy seems to be just as damaged as some of the patients on the island.
Scorsese has crafted a film that is in full service of his central character, not the mystery at hand. What we get is a waking nightmare of a film. The editing is often off by a few beats to throw us off, the music is ludicrously overbearing, the art direction is engrossing and haunting. Teddy is a troubled guy, and Scorsese doesn't shy away from that. Perhaps most interesting is the way he will blend the past and present for Teddy, like creating nightmares of Dachau that are filled with modern details and characters. Much like Teddy, we are always on edge, our nerves a bit frayed. We are just as afraid of what's around the next corner as the characters are.
If the film can be faulted, and I suspect it will be by many, it is in the end. I would agree that the end is problematic, but not for the reason many would claim. I had no problem with the direction the plot went in as the film wrapped up, but with how it was told. When a character had to break out a white board with information on it pertaining to what was happening, it was clear that Scorsese was concerned that his audience might not buy what he was selling. On top of that, we get an extended flashback that is used to seal the deal. While this scene features perhaps the best moments of acting on two actors' parts, it still felt extraneous. The film should be quickly rapping up with its final revelation, not reveling in it. But then, it's clear that a major influence here is Hitchcock, and Hitch ended his most famous movie with a similarly long denouement explaining a character's mental history, so perhaps it is intended as homage. Still, the ending is a small misstep in an otherwise utterly engrossing, haunting, and thrilling movie. Maybe not up the usual classy standards of his more revered films, it fits better with his more bizarre - and I would argue, more rewarding - films like Bringing Out the Dead, Cape Fear, and The King of Comedy. If you like your Scorsese a little rough around edges, this can't be missed.
