Shutter Island (2010) - 4/4

Shutter Island takes the notion of a psychological thriller to a whole new level: it's downright clinical. It's so easy to see psychiatrists as villains in movies, as though they're all Nurse Ratchett--which is, frankly, bullchett. Most psychiatrists are sincerely desirous of helping their patients. In Shutter Island, Scorsese plays with cinematic preconceptions such as these to pull us into an immersive and highly emotional web of paranoia.

Scorsese works hard to ensure from the beginning of the film til near the very end that we never know more than protagonist Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio). He's a US Marshall, circa 1954, come to Shutter Island with his new partner Chuck (Mark Ruffalo) to investigate the escape of a criminally insane woman from a facility for the criminally insane. As Daniels investigates, there seems to be something very wrong with the facility, especially once we meet the evasive Dr. Cawley (Ben Kingsley) and his Teutonic colleague, Dr. Naehring (Max von Sydow); Daniels begins to suspect a conspiracy involving sinister experiments. There also seems to be something wrong about Daniels himself, as he begins having visions of his dead wife, flashbacks to concentration camp atrocities, and reveals he has ulterior motives for coming to Shutter Island. However, there seems to be something wrong with the whole setup from the beginning. Why would a marshall be required for a single escaped woman on an inescapable island when there are so many armed guards around?

It gets you thinking. And if you think hard enough or perhaps read the wrong review, you might even figure out the gist of what's wrong with this island; but it's unlikely you'll figure the whole thing out. Tracing back over all that happens, I see plenty of clues and that it's consistent all the way through. But figuring out the mystery really isn't the point of the movie.

The point is trauma and healing. Shutter Island is about the psychology, the emotions, the performances. I read that DiCaprio had a mild breakdown making the movie and I would believe him. It's a very demanding role he's playing; it demands he go to emotional extremities not many roles call upon. This is filmmaking in the vein of Ingmar Bergman. You rarely have seen an actor other than Max von Sydow as you see DiCaprio here. The film is engrossing initially, what with its mystery plot; but as the plot comes to a close and is summed up in a heart-rending moment, it's ultimately incredibly moving. It nearly made this grown man cry.

Scorsese's style manages to be both visible and unobstrusive throughout, as though it were resonating with the emotional tones of the scene. An arresting tracking shot of a concentration camp massacre horrifies more than any gore scene I've ever seen. And the most heartbreaking scene in the picture is shot from eagle eye in brief glimpses that somehow intensify the emotion while simultaneously conveying a character's ambivalent attitude toward the event. This meticulous style, which one tends to expect from Scorsese, invites deeper scrutiny.