Shutter Island

KHAYALETHU MPOFU | Friday April 23, 2010 00:00

Shutter Island is a tale of many stories.  Martin Scorsese, the award winning director of films such as The Departed  - a movie about the Irish mob and its infamous boss who was a double agent - reminded me of this movie to some extent, in particular the crazy twists and turns, the plot of the movie delivered as in most of his movies.  Nothing is what it seems.

Shutter Island takes the viewer on a psychological trip where from the onset the very atmosphere of the movie mirrors the main character Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) a United States (US) marshal who is called by Staff of the Ashecliffe, a mental institution known for its new cutting-edge techniques in rehabilitating mentally ill patients.  Teddy Daniels and his partner Chuck go to the island to investigate the disappearance of a female patient and at every lead of the investigation the staff of the island seem to hide the truth as if they are covering up some sinister agenda that is taking place right at the institution.  However, Daniels proves that he, too, has an ulterior motive and starts to investigate the institution not to find the missing patient, but to look for the person who is responsible for the murder of his wife. Throughout the movie Daniel and Chuck move around the island that looks creepy to the core, the fog and the patients moving around it paint a picture of a vivid night terror that would leave anyone gasping for air.

But as Daniels starts to get to the bottom of the investigation, insanity starts to creep into his mind and torturous images of his wife and children burning in the fire start to drive him mad. The film leaves the viewer wondering whether Daniels is being set up by the staff of Ashecliffe like the head of the institution Dr Cawley, played by Ben Kingsley, or that surely but slowly, he is going insane - the destiny of anyone staying at the institution.

Scorsese uses the atmosphere of the movie to create the mystery and the obvious contradictions that can be found in each of its characters on the island to mirror the vague and unknowable nature of the island.

Throughout the movie various manifestations of the weather, for instance, the fog, points toward the unknown and obscures just like the fate of the main character is obscured by the mind boggling events that take place on the island.

And this is only amplified by the various actors of which DiCaprio in particular carries the movie moving in between his flashbacks of himself in Nazi Germany, to his horrific dreams of his long lost wife and lastly to his desperate attempt to flee the island.  Another character is the head of the institution that from the onset seems to be the total opposite of the island yet is like it in that he hides the truth of why the detectives are really there.

The movie is a must-see because the first time it is watched presents a wonderful twist at the end of the movie that leaves a person in distress yet to some extent pleased, it sounds like a contradiction, but believe me it is worth watching. Scorsese unleashed himself in the movie and uses every single opportunity to mess with the viewer's head, not in a confusing way, but in a masterfully intense way.

The movie manages to infuse the elements of a thought-provoking thriller with the elements of an action movie of which all takes place against the backdrop of an eerie remote island.

Length: 138 minRated: RDistributor: Paramount Pictures Release Date: 2010-02-19

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Max Von Sydow

Directed by Michael ScorseseProduced by Bradley J Fischer, Mike Medavoy, Arnold W Messer and Martin ScorseseWritten by Laeta Kalogridis and Dennis Lehane.