shutter island
“Which would be worse? To live as a monster, or to die as a good man?”
Never before has there been a film I've talked about on this website that I've jumped to the keyboard so quickly after, eager to discuss. I have seen this once before, in about 2021, but for some reason, even knowing the ending, this rewatch hit just as hard. My brain is swimming, and I simply have to talk about this.
Disturbing. Disturbing and intense are two words to classify this electrifying and haunting thriller. Concentration camps, the clinically insane, illegal experiments, government conspiracies, even on-screen deaths of young children fill this heavy film with emptiness and dread. Like the inhabitants of an island in a raging storm, there is no hope, and the viewer feels truly lost, just as Teddy Daniels does. Instead of being disturbing simply for the sake of it, however, the intensity of Shutter Island feels deeply rooted in its DNA. At the end of the film, the audience either feels an intense sympathy and sadness for the mentally troubled or a boiling hatred for the government and its inescapable traps, and showcasing the unimaginable horrors of both sides pushes them down that path even further.
I generally tend to avoid using the term “plot twist" when discussing films. I certainly don't hate it, but to me, the word “twist” implies that the film’s identity and purpose are becoming mangled, and that the “twist” is something separate that just happens to the movie rather than is a part of it. Like The Sixth Sense before it, this is a “revelation”. An inevitable moment that makes the entire film come together. Every one of Shutter Island’s aspects is expertly woven into a labyrinth of ideas, a web of deception so brilliant and so in-depth that it's impossible to escape from its grasp. The conversation with George Noice, the anagrams, the storm, the dreams, the spiked cigarettes, Rachel Solando and the cave- they’re all essential elements to this narrative that presents the audience with a choice. Either Ashcliffe patient Andrew Laeddis is crafting the most in-depth and airtight delusion of all time to cope with the fact that he killed his wife, or the government is spending considerable resources to convince decorated US Marshal Edward Daniels that he has been insane the whole time in order to maintain their illegal human experimentation camp.
The lighthouse is the bow on top, however- the symbol to tie this entire experience together. If not for the haunting final shot of the lighthouse (with multiple possible meanings, each more bone-chilling than the last), the film’s conclusion would fall flat and fail to offer a final thinking point to the audience. Shutter Island’s most iconic line, seen at the beginning of the review, has had its meaning analyzed countless times. But what I think it means is that Daniels, Laeddis, whomever is admitting defeat and would rather be lobotomized than live out a life of lies and deception.
Despite Inception being my favorite film of all time, I think this is my favorite performance from Leonardo DiCaprio. It’s absolutely incredible, and helped solidify him as one of the all time greats. Thanks to his emotion and passion, the audience is catapulted into the upside down world of the character and the terror he must be feeling. However, Mark Ruffalo’s performance is notable as well, not for being extreme, but for its subtlety. Ruffalo is forced to juggle his two different characters’ identities so that one of them has an unclear, hidden agenda, which I love. On the surface he feels emotionless and flat, but there’s a lot to this kind of role.
Shutter Island’s other claim to fame is its score, or lack thereof. The film does not have original composed music, instead being a collection of classical music assembled by frequent Scorsese collaborator Robbie Robertson (isn’t that the name of the guy from Spider-Man 2? Huh). The eerie, blaring horns during the storm sections are chilling, and "On the Nature of Daylight" is mesmerizing and beautiful, being one of my favorite pieces of “film” music, despite the fact that it wasn’t made for a film.
The only criticisms I had were personal preferences. I didn’t love the sheer amount of abstract dream sequences (beside the one where Michelle Williams turns to ash and the iconic shot of Leo hugging her from behind, which I adore), but they served the story well. I also wish there was a little more open-endedness to the desired audience conclusions, but the two they went with were executed flawlessly. I really am struggling to find constructive criticisms with the phenomenal experience I just had.
Shutter Island is a movie that must be seen multiple times to fully digest, but not to fully enjoy. This haunting experience has dozens of well-crafted elements woven into an unforgettable and satisfying story, almost making you forget about the intensity and dread washed in by the storm and isolated setting. An edge-of-your-seat thrill ride, this is quickly becoming one of my favorite films of all time, and is a crown jewel of storytelling in cinema.
Also, his name is Edward Daniels. And he’s not crazy.
