Martin Scorsese has directed more than 20 feature films in a career spanning 50 years. He has been the most influential English language filmmaker after the great Stanley Kubrick, whith his movies not only setting benchmarks in distinctive aspects but also leading Hollywood it never dread To Trade on, by movies Like Shutter Island He proved it. I love To watch mystries so I decided To watch Shutter Island. After watching, The movie reserved a tranquil space in my mind.
Shutter Island frankly Was The first movie That made Me question my thinking and judgment, and consider the medium of films seriously. It Was released the same year as ’inception’, with Nolan’s mindbender receiving a mile wider acclaim despite its narrative and structural flaws that irked me a lot on the second watch. Shutter Island is conventional with its linear narrative. Despite other movies Shutter Island is so understandable.
It is set in the 50s that stays true To the Film noir style of building a mystery; with a curious lead detective shrouded in his own mystery unveiling simultaneously with the plot, frequent flashbacks that disrupt narrative flow, lingering presence of a femme fatale, supporting characters that are embedded with curiosity rather than solutions, tragic Universal event preceding the plot that lends a dark or glum ambience( the WW2 in this case) and the use of minimal lighting to create a sort of chiaroscuro ( highly contrasting shades with the background sealed in dark that shifts a lot of focus towards the central character) . This is mostly because of scorsese’s confessed love for traditional noir, and he gives a fitting tribute to a genre that is parodied more than its idolized.
- SPOILER ALERT* Pardon me, because the whole movie is filled with symbolism and it is just human to miss out on some of them. To tell You the truth, the visual imagery’s an achievement here and its meaning would differ with change in perspective.The whole character of Leonardo DiCaprio ( lead actor of this movie) is praised for his impressive defense mechanism by the great Max Von Sydow, and throughout the movie his mind keeps defending him from Water, doveloping an unlikeness towards it, keeping him at bay from the truth he doesn’t want to confront. Cawley intentionally praises Rachel’s intelligence earlier in the movie, and this is why his subconscious despite his delusional goes to such remarkable lenghts to create an alternative reality.
Overall Shutter Island is a terrific film and one of the most intelligent films of this decade overloaded with symbolism that justifies Scorsese’s immortal stature. The narrative according to many critics is weak but it is an adaptation and has a moral responsibility to stick to its source material but Roger Ebert rightfully said you may read reviews of Shutter Island complaining that the ending blindsides you. The uncertainty it causes prevents the film from feeling perfect on first viewing. I have a feeling it might improve on second. Some may believe it doesn’t make any sense. Or that, if it does, then the movie leading up to it doesn’t. This movie is all of a peice, and Shutter Island is totally a Psychological thriller.