Review: Shutter Island

The thing about directors like Scorsese is that they don't have to stoop to plot-gymnastics to deliver. Not that flipping the plot is a worthless move, or that it doesn't take some degree of skill and may not deliver some profound rewards, but it didn't for this movie. The problem, I think, is that Marty did too good a job on the bait for us to be bothered with the switch.

You surely know there's a switch, by now, right? Well, if you didn't then I'm sorry, but you should know that you've had pretty bad luck not having heard it elsewhere; I've heard it several times over by now, and, actually, before I went in I had it sorted out. It seemed less probable once the movie began, granted what I'd been given, which, I guess, is precisely the idea. It's kind of a cheap idea though, even when it's delivered as well as this. A movie can do anything it wants - it can resort to any possible circumstance in the plot flip, and even when it carefully weaves that thing into it's plot, the conceiving of the thing is nothing very special.

I've included no detailed spoilers, but the following may make the twist easier to spot ahead of time:

I don't like the drawn out plot-flip, the extended exposition of mis-conceptions: the best friend who's actually...your psychiatrist! The police sgt. who's actually...your dog! I'm over it the moment the first thing 180's. Ahhh yes, OK, ha, very good, Movie...now, what does it mean for the movie I thought I was watching? In Shutter Island's case, it means some things, but nothing as good as where we were going. 

Sir, I'll ask you take your noir-ing outdoors.

Our lead character, Teddy, is haunted by his experiences in WW2, the loss of his wife after coming home - the man responsible for her death may be on the island, and the island may want him as a perminent guest due to his dangerous curiousity of its finer points while back inland. Great. Great, great, great. It's just tricky enough, and yet the obvious elements are so vivid and sincere and beautifully, beautifully done. Teddy's memories and nightmares are tremendous works of imagery the likes of which Scorsese has never before achieved. They depict a humanity we all understand, if in less extreme modes, and we (I at least) are interested enough in the man to keep on. The issues of the plot are secondary to our engagement with the main character.

Lets just brake down how awesome this shot is: it's symetrical, it traps our leads 2 and 3 dimensionally, and depicts how deep within the gates they are. And it doesn't mean anything.

And then we get a second character with the plot flip, and it doesn't work. It could work, as we're given some very intense exposition which is marvelously done, but...the death camp memories were enough. Now they're...beside the point - extraneous to the character. They have no real reconciliation and they needed some. The closing of the film asks the question, is it better to live a monster or die a good man? It is implied by this that Teddy has chosen the latter, but he hasn't. The WW2 memories won't let him. They could have, but they go ignored. Shutter Island tries to up its pedigree with a plot twist. In fact its self sabotage.

7/10

By Dave Beauchene