‘Shutter Island’ is not a vacation, but it is a trip
It is often said that “they just don’t make them like they used to.” Despite this rule of thumb, many directors fashion their entire careers out of making throwback films that pay homage to classics of the past. In this spirit, the latest film from accomplished filmmaker Martin Scorsese proves that he knows the difference between fear and surprise or senseless gore and wisely crafts a more old-fashioned thriller that reads like a personal love letter to the supernatural noir classics of decades past.
While it is more akin to his own truly intense 1991 remake of “Cape Fear” than his biopics and crime films of late, “Shutter Island” is a wholly different animal from Scorsese. Unlike “Cape Fear,” “Shutter Island” is not a remake, although it could have been. It successfully merges the best elements of recent paranoia thrillers such as “Secret Window” and “Identity” with the haunted house claustrophobia and unnerving imagery of “The Shining” united under Scorsese’s consistent and dependably experienced and assured direction. As a result, “Shutter Island” is no vacation but is an excellent way to spend some of your free time at your local cineplex.
The opening shot begins innocently enough by demonstrating a spook story archetype as we see a rickety ship penetrating a dense and ominous fog. While the scene is brief, the general sense of dread that it engenders perfectly establishes the tone and permeates the entire film, which relies more on atmospheric terror than cheap scares. Based on a novel by Dennis Lehane, whose books that have gone on to become very successful film adaptations include “Mystic River” and “Gone Baby Gone” and continuing a highly successful partnership with Scorsese, Leonardo DiCaprio plays Teddy Daniels, a U.S. Marshal assigned to a case at an hospital for the criminally insane on Shutter Island with his new partner Chuck (Mark Ruffalo).
The doom and gloom piles on as the purposefully overdramatic but incredibly appropriate Herrmann-esque music accompanies their arrival at Ashecliff Hospital, a place where Nurse Ratched would have been right at home. Patient Rachel Solando has disappeared from her room without a trace, leaving only a few enigmatic clues to her whereabouts while a hurricane prevents access to or from the island. As Daniels encounters visions of his recently deceased wife and flashbacks of a tragic war-torn past, it becomes apparent that nothing is as it seems and that he may never leave the island alive.
DiCaprio’s desperation-induced weathered appearance and period clothing help him to transcend his perennial youthful looks to resemble a middle-aged Orson Welles. Filling out the cast as the suspiciously skeptical and sometimes abrasive hospital staff are seasoned actors Ben Kingsley as Dr. Cawley and Max von Sydow as the possibly sinister Dr. Naehring. Several other surprise appearances by some excellent cast members await the viewer, but as with many things related to this film, the less you know beforehand the better.
Anyone who is paying close attention or watches a lot of these “nothing is as it seems” movies can probably figure out how it ends. But the road to “Shutter Island” is all about the journey and not the destination, and the conclusion is quite satisfying without being a hinge or a crutch that the entire film’s quality depends upon. While it will likely not be recognized amongst Scorsese’s signature crime films such as “Goodfellas” or “The Departed,” “Shutter Island” is undeniably the work of a master.
