Hey everyone! How are you? All back on track after summer,
I suppose. No more lazy afternoons and long hours of sleeping! Anyway, over the
summer I caught this wonderful psychological-thriller called ‘The Shutter
Island’ (2010) on Star Movies and so here goes:
It's 1954, and up-and-coming U.S. marshal Teddy Daniels is assigned to investigate the disappearance of a patient-cum-murderess from Boston's Shutter Island Ashecliffe Hospital. Before long he wonders whether he hasn't been brought there as part of a twisted plot by hospital doctors whose radical treatments range from unethical to illegal to downright sinister. Teddy's shrewd investigating skills soon provide a promising lead, but the hospital refuses him access to records and places he suspects would break the case wide open. As a hurricane cuts off communication with the mainland, more dangerous criminals "escape" in the confusion, and the puzzling, improbable clues multiply, Teddy begins to doubt everything - his memory, his partner, even his own sanity.
Martin Scorsese, as always, has done a remarkable job in the making of the movie, especially the plot. Shutter Island was completely unexpected, and a great start to 2010. The script is fantastic; it has one of the most intriguing plots I have seen in a while. It is exciting, suspicious and can even alter your sanity as you put yourself in Teddy’s shoes. Minute after minute, you are driven insane as each scene delivers a new twist, a new lead to an almost-unsolvable case capable of turning you into a maniac. It had all the components of a great film. Everything, down to the set's lighting, was perfectly executed.
The acting is spot on from every character; none of it seems forged or out of place. Perhaps the most incredibly played character was of Teddy by Leonardo Di Caprio who conveys every single expression as if he were Teddy himself. Also, the name Teddy itself seems ironic -- such an innocuous name in such a gothic setting.
One of the few areas the movie lacked at was continuity: When Teddy is interviewing a patient at Ashecliff, she goes to pick up a glass of water. When she puts the glass to her mouth she isn't holding a cup at all. The next shot shows her putting it back on the table. And in another one, when Teddy is interviewing another patient, he scrawls in his notebook to the point of tearing the paper in one shot but the paper is intact in a later shot. Secondly, some parts were hard to understand as it requires a great deal of psychological knowledge and this made me presume a lot of scenes. By my reckoning, not everyone will like this; Shutter Island isn't your typical movie.
To put it all in one tight bag, the film is a smashing hit and both asks and answers the question, “Which would be worse? To live as a monster, or die as a good man?” Really, which one is?
Martin Scorsese, as always, has done a remarkable job in the making of the movie, especially the plot. Shutter Island was completely unexpected, and a great start to 2010. The script is fantastic; it has one of the most intriguing plots I have seen in a while. It is exciting, suspicious and can even alter your sanity as you put yourself in Teddy’s shoes. Minute after minute, you are driven insane as each scene delivers a new twist, a new lead to an almost-unsolvable case capable of turning you into a maniac. It had all the components of a great film. Everything, down to the set's lighting, was perfectly executed.
The acting is spot on from every character; none of it seems forged or out of place. Perhaps the most incredibly played character was of Teddy by Leonardo Di Caprio who conveys every single expression as if he were Teddy himself. Also, the name Teddy itself seems ironic -- such an innocuous name in such a gothic setting.
One of the few areas the movie lacked at was continuity: When Teddy is interviewing a patient at Ashecliff, she goes to pick up a glass of water. When she puts the glass to her mouth she isn't holding a cup at all. The next shot shows her putting it back on the table. And in another one, when Teddy is interviewing another patient, he scrawls in his notebook to the point of tearing the paper in one shot but the paper is intact in a later shot. Secondly, some parts were hard to understand as it requires a great deal of psychological knowledge and this made me presume a lot of scenes. By my reckoning, not everyone will like this; Shutter Island isn't your typical movie.
To put it all in one tight bag, the film is a smashing hit and both asks and answers the question, “Which would be worse? To live as a monster, or die as a good man?” Really, which one is?
-N.Nivetha
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