SHUTTER ISLAND (2010) a film not without its flaws

Posted by Michael Thielvoldt

Dir. Martin Scorsese
Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar, 2/19/2010, 10:10pm

Remember back to 1974. Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway stand toe to toe, stitched nose to button nose, in a sun drenched LA living room. Nicholson’s JJ Gittes has had enough, and he’s determined to slap the identity of a mysterious young blonde out of Ms. Dunaway’s Mrs. Mulwray. Mulwray belts out the confounding back and forth, “She’s my sister, my daughter, my sister, my daughter.” This pivotal scene from Roman Polanski’s film noir classic, Chinatown, has worked its way into the annals of film history. The revelation shocked viewers, cementing the eventual reveal, “she’s my sister AND my daughter,” as one of the most memorable lines ever to grace the silver speaker. While I’m not yet ready to slide Scorsese’s Shutter Island onto that lofty shelf alongside film classics like Chinatown, the confusing quote does provide me an easy way of painting the basic concept behind this complex layercake Shutter Island.

Jack and Faye bump gloves before the highly anticipated “Rumble Down in Chinatown”

So go ahead and put yourself right in ol’ Jack’s shoes at the very moment this verbal volleying hits its breaking point causing him to lash out with a series of wicked slaps across Dunaway’s angelic mug. Take that confused state, add Leo, a load of loonies, and one hideous tie, and you’ve got yourself a Scorsese picture.

Shutter Island marks Marty’s return to the thriller genre. When I first saw the film’s trailer so many months ago, I immediately thought of the director’s remake of Cape Fear (1991). And now, after having seen the film itself, this initial connection holds up. The premise of a federal marshal come to Shutter Island, an asylum for the criminally insane, to investigate the mysterious disappearance of one of its inmates is a far cry from the revenge film that brought us one of the greatest movie villains of all time in De Niro’s Max Cady. But the other elements fall strikingly in line. The intense, surging score, the psychological tone, even the setting-referencing title (Shutter Island : Shutter Island :: Cape Fear : Cape Fear). And, while I believe Shutter Island is successful in its attempts to be an entertainment piece (let’s face it, when Scorsese makes a picture like this it’s no Raging Bull art project, it’s an exercise in entertainment) it is no Cape Fear. With that said, I really like Cape Fear, so keep that in mind while reading the rest of this review.

Forget your lawyer, find the guy that did your tattoos and seek revenge on him

While Scorsese is undeniably a master of his craft, one thing Shutter Island makes apparent is that even a master like Marty can falter in his filmmaking from time to time. Here this takes the form of an ever-increasing reliance on CGI effects and one horribly clichéd camera setup.

The first I really shouldn’t be droning on about. By this point, the industry gorilla that is CGI should have crushed any expectation for old school special effects right out of me. Additionally, it should come as no surprise that a film scholar like Martin Scorsese should jump at the opportunity to expand his craft, embracing any and every cinematic technique available to him. But, still I found myself looking upon the crumbling ashen body of Michelle Williams with detachment, a detachment that ultimately took me out of the picture, making the reliance on CGI unsuccessful in my eyes.

Second—this one Scorsese absolutely deserves to be called out on—takes place during one of the emotional climaxes of the picture. Without giving too much away a figure has come across the dead body of a loved one. Said person is understandably distraught taking the fallen figure into their arms. They look up into the sky and howl in anguish. Now, let me ask you, if you were directing this scene how would you do it? Would you, like so many hackneyed directors put your camera directly above your subject, the overhead, God’s-eye view looking down on your victim. And, as they let forth their emotional payload, would you pull your camera back ever so slightly as if knocked back by the power of their voice? Surely if you were Martin Scorsese, such a clichéd approach would never be an option. Right? WRONG! He did just that. Oh how the mighty have fallen.

Now let me step away from this hyperbolic, nitpicky, film snob fit to say once again that this film was a success. Scorsese has talked about stepping out of his typical filmmaking to direct what he terms a “genre picture.” Seeing as every film he does is a genre picture, this term more appropriately translates to an entertainment piece. And, speaking directly from my gut, he is successful in this regard. Despite my aforementioned “issues,” in the end, I was thoroughly entertained.

I couldn’t find a suitable picture of Emily Mortimer covered in blood,
but damned if she still isn’t the sweetest peach to every grace the inside of a padded cell.

A thunderous Hitchcockian score engulfed me in a dark, wet world of plot twists, conspiracy, madness, and mystery. While Shutter Island does not deliver a jaw dropping revelation on par with say Fight Club (1999) or Sixth Sense (1999), the final twist is a satisfying one. And the winding buildup to it introduces you to plenty of interesting characters to keep your mind both spinning and fully engaged, from Max von Sydow’s condescending head shrinker Dr. Naehring, to the maximum security nut job George Noyce, played by the ever captivating, ever creepy Jackie Earle Haley, and the purtiest gal to every dawn a blood drenched gown, Emily Mortimer’s Rachel. Yes, if this film does one thing right, it’s its characters. And, while Marty’s film choices might wane in some areas, overall this is a picture well worth watching.