Movie Review: Scorseses' "Shutter Island" shocks audience into confusion
Eliot Hubbell, Transcript Reporter
Issue date: 3/4/10 Section: Entertainment
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"Shutter Island" takes place in 1954 on a remote location on the Boston Harbor, home to Ashecliffe Hospital for the criminally insane. Only approved visitors are welcome.
The weather of Shutter Island is gloomy and dark, which increases the horror content of the film.
The island's treacherous cliff edges, along with the frequent hurricane storms, introduce the uncomfortable, edgy feeling of the film.
Film makers let the audience believe that this island would be the most legitimate location for a hospital for the criminally insane.
The film starts out with U.S Marshall Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio), and his new partner Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo.), on a prison-type ferry boat headed towards Shutter Island. They are sent there to investigate the disappearance of a patient from Ashecliffe Hospital.
The missing patient, Rachel Emily Mortimer; Patricia Clarkson) is well known in the facility for drowning her three children.
The deeper mystery is how she escaped her room, which is monitored 24 hours a day, with a heavy bolt keeping the door securely locked.
Another mystery is how she made it past security.
Due to the severe weather conditions, Teddy and Chuck assume that she must have died shortly after her escape, but there are no traces of her body.
The film makers create deeper mysteries aside from the missing inmate.
The film takes place during the Cold War, which is an essential detail for Teddy's descriptive memories of his time spent in battle during World War II.
The film frequently has flashbacks from Teddy's mind, where horrific images of Nazi camps and images of dead bodies haunt viewers.
Minor details on the island, like an old record player, trigger Teddy's flashbacks, which fill him with anxiety.
The audience is left to wonder how the visuals and the island are connected and why these images evoke memories of Teddy's past.
Scorsese makes it difficult to decipher who to believe on Shutter Island.
The head doctor on the island, Dr. Cawley (Ben Kinsley) has questionable relationships with some of his patients, which leads the viewer to wonder if Rachel's disappearance could have been premeditated.
Each character evolves differently throughout the film, some with more complexity than others.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Makaveli, Lives
posted 7/06/10 @ 2:55 AM EST
Reading all the plot analysis, I can't help but laugh at all the amateurs. I don't claim to have it all figured out just yet, but more or less I should be spot on. (Continued…)
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