FOLIO
by Rick Grant
Thematically, Laeta Kalogridis’ screenplay adaptation of Dennis Lehane’s novel, “Shutter Island,” asks the rhetorical question: What is reality? More specifically, what is protagonist, Teddy Daniels’ (Leonardo DiCaprio) reality?
Set in 1954, U.S. Marshal, Teddy and his partner Chuck (Mark Ruffalo) are tasked with finding an escaped female inmate from a remote facility for the criminally insane, located on Shutter Island in Boston Harbor.
Director Martin Scorsese brilliantly created a homage to the moody film-noir films of the 1950s in this complex drama, set inside a dank, dismal prison compound, that was once used as a Civil War fort.
Teddy and Chuck arrive at the prison and find out right away that this facility is a depressing place run by Dr. Cawley (Ben Kingsley) and Dr. Naehring (Max von Sydow). It’s a location that inspires nightmares and dread.
The 1950s was an unenlightened age of psychiatry. Dr. Cawley and Dr. Naehring were two progressive psychiatrists who believed in treating the mentally ill with respect and trying to help them face consensus reality, using the newly developed anti-psychotic drug, thorazine. If that failed, they used electrical shock. As a final solution, they lobotomized the patients, which turned them into zombies.
After hearing the institution’s strange rules and surrendering their firearms, Teddy and Chuck get to work investigating the mysterious disappearance of the female patient. She was locked inside her room from the outside. It appears that she just vanished. Teddy suspects she had help from the staff to get away. So Teddy begins interrogating the staff.
As the story unfolds, Teddy’s investigation of the missing inmate magnifies flashback hallucinations of his troubling past.
During his time at Shutter Island, Teddy has migraines and is deeply disturbed by what he sees inside this hell-hole. As Teddy investigates the perimeter of the prison, he travels deeper into his heart of darkness.
Finally, Teddy reaches a point in which nothing is what it seems. Just off shore, the infamous lighthouse, where the lobotomies take place, looms as the crashing waves hit the cliffs.
Scorsese skillfully builds multi-layers of suspense and tension, taking the viewer on Teddy’s voyage into hell. DiCaprio is mesmerizing in this virtuoso performance as Teddy. Ruffalo skillfully created Teddy’s partner Chuck. There are sinister references to Dr. Naehring’s Nazi past, conjuring up darker moments of evil. Max von Sydow plays Naehring with nuanced layers of character As the tension builds to an unbearable level, Scorsese sinks the hook of the story into the mind blowing final segment. Undeniably, this is a master filmmaker at work. Like Picasso, Scorsese paints all dimensions of his subject, as all the orbiting elements get closer to the central theme. In this film, the “ah-ha” moment is sweet and satisfying as the built-up tension is released by an explosive climax.
Seeing this film reminds me why I like masterfully crafted movies. The story is character and dialogue driven with a deftly written script, using the finely tuned techniques of Scorsese’s filmmaking genius to tell the story. The film has it all: It’s wildly entertaining, thought provoking, with a stellar cast and an icon at the helm.
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