Shutter Island

[-Arya-]

I think this film had the WTF mixture of Hitchcock and Kubrick. It had the plot suspense of Hitchcock with the visual WTF of Kubrick. It was like their love child, and as fans of both...LOVE IT!!!

Yes Sir!

 

[Doctor Jones]

Put that stuff in spoiler tags dude! edit: At Dark Victory.

But anyway I was thinking that too. The twist was apart of Teddy's journey and what he had to go through. People criticized it for pulling the rug out form our feat. Well no ****, all twists do that. They also said it's cheap. But it's not. How else could the film have ended? I mean the whole thing was shocking but if you think about it, I don't think it's suppose to be in the likes of The Sixth Sense or The Usual Suspects kind of twist. The twist served as the main theme of the whole film. Some critic pointed out that if Hitchcock did it, he would recognized the twist would not work and change it. He's way off the mark.

I got to thinking it was alot like Kubrick too. The Shining comes to mind. Some of the long shots like in the beginning as they were closing in on the island. That one shot of POV aof the boat earing the docks and that overhead shot of the jeep coming into the island.

 

[Spider-Fan]

Yes Sir!

Glad I'm not the only one who thinks this

I got to thinking it was alot like Kubrick too. The Shining comes to mind. Some of the long shots like in the beginning as they were closing in on the island. That one shot of POV aof the boat earing the docks and that overhead shot of the jeep coming into the island.

That, and it also had stark transitions and really odd visual moments like you would see in films like A Clockwork Orange and 2001: A Space Odyssey. It was very Kubrickian in many ways. Which is good, cause he is my favorite director, lol.

 

[nightwing06]

SHUTTER ISLAND

Director Martin Scorsese,and Leonardo DiCaprio team up for the fourth time in the well crafted,partially predictable,Shutter Island.
A boat emerges from a thick fog as we are introduced to Federal marshals Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his new partner, Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo) on their way to Shutter Island a facility for the criminally insane.The case: a woman Rachel Solando (Emily Mortimer) has seemingly vanished from her locked room,as if she slipped through the facilities sturdy walls. Psychiatrists Dr. Cawley(Ben Kingsley), and Dr. Naehring(Max von Sydow)
seem accomodating at first,but there is a sinister superiority to them,that angers Teddy.An approaching storm cuts off all contact stranding the marshals on the island,couple that with Daniels dreams,of his late wife (Michelle Williams) and more frustration and were off to the races.
Scorsese displays nods to some of his favorite films(to numerous to list here)
the standout would be the films of Alfred Hitchcock,he captures Hitch*****,feverish,dizzy look. Scenes so vivid if the film was in 3D i think i would have been nauseous.There are great turns by the leads and the rest of the cast including Jackie Earle Haley, Ted Levine, John Carroll Lynch, Elias Koteas.
Some images are very disturbing,and haunting it made me want to smack the Parents of 3 very young children sitting in the theatre,if i was shaken by the aforementioned scenes,what effect did it have on their small children?
But back to my review when i watched the trailers for SI months ago,i knew there were two ways the film could play out.Which makes the film a bit predictable,and SI definitely could have been tightened up a bit.
There is a final twist in the ending,that i liked,but from the sounds of about 30% of the audience in the theatre,i could tell they wanted more, a more solid punch to their guts.
Walking down the cold streets after watching the movie i shuddered a bit at the outcome that still stayed with me.Signs that i had just watched a very good film.
Scale of 1-10 an 8

 

[Dark Victory]

Put that stuff in spoiler tags dude! edit: At Dark Victory.

nice save

But anyway I was thinking that too. The twist was apart of Teddy's journey and what he had to go through. People criticized it for pulling the rug out form our feat. Well no ****, all twists do that. They also said it's cheap. But it's not. How else could the film have ended? I mean the whole thing was shocking but if you think about it, I don't think it's suppose to be in the likes of The Sixth Sense or The Usual Suspects kind of twist. The twist served as the main theme of the whole film. Some critic pointed out that if Hitchcock did it, he would recognized the twist would not work and change it. He's way off the mark.

Agreed, I'm beginning to think that it's obvious from the start what the twist is. The institution obviously serves as a realization of one's self and that was the whole point of the twist. And, in my opinion, the conspiracy theory, even if taken place in the Cold War Era would have been an inferior ending on every level.

I got to thinking it was alot like Kubrick too. The Shining comes to mind. Some of the long shots like in the beginning as they were closing in on the island. That one shot of POV aof the boat earing the docks and that overhead shot of the jeep coming into the island.

Also, Scorsese must have made his cast and crew watch Vertigo before shooting. A lot of camera angles, especially during the lighthouse sequence, were reminiscent of the classic thriller. As for Kubrick, the POV shot of the jeep entering the asylum through gates felt just like Danny on his toy wheeler.

 

[AndThePickles]

Loooooved this film! Best movie I've seen so far this year

 

[Marvolo]

Loved it! Definitely got a Shining vibe from the walking nightmare sequences.

 

[Mrs. Sawyer]

The Academy has always despised Scorsese. Unfortunately, with The Departed it reached the point where they could no longer deprive him his Oscar. So, instead they have started to take it out on his latest protege, Leo. Leo will not win a best actor award until late in his career. Some may argue that it is because Leo is an Italian and to an extent they may be right. At any rate, there have been at least two times in his career that Leo has been robbed...he deserved best actor for The Aviator over Jamie Foxx. Foxx was a guy playing Ray Charles. DiCaprio became Hughes in every sense of the world. He also deserved it for Billy Costigan in The Departed, however the Academy intentionally nominated his weaker performance so he would not win. Its arguable that he deserved it a third time for either Gangs of New York or Catch Me If You Can. Both were Oscar worthy. Leo will be in his 50s at least before he gets his "make-up," Oscar.

I like Leo but I will disagree with you there. Foxx definitely deserved the oscar over Dicaprio. I still believe he got robbed of a nomination for the Departed (Nicholson too).

 

[Spider-Fan]

The Shining and Vertigo are definitely films that inspired Scorsese in making Shutter Island.

 

[-Arya-]

The Shining and Vertigo are definitely films that inspired Scorsese in making Shutter Island.

I made those comparisons throughout the movie. Along with Memento thrown into the mix.

 

[Doctor Jones]

nice save





Agreed, I'm beginning to think that it's obvious from the start what the twist is. The institution obviously serves as a realization of one's self and that was the whole point of the twist. And, in my opinion, the conspiracy theory, even if taken place in the Cold War Era would have been an inferior ending on every level.



Also, Scorsese must have made his cast and crew watch Vertigo before shooting. A lot of camera angles, especially during the lighthouse sequence, were reminiscent of the classic thriller. As for Kubrick, the POV shot of the jeep entering the asylum through gates felt just like Danny on his toy wheeler.

Agreed. But I never saw the twist coming. I think it's just the effect of seeing it for the first time. Now thinking about it, it really isn't a twist. It's a logical part of the narrative. Although I went in just thinking

Spoiler

Teddy was patient 67 the whole time and stayed on the island. That was it. So I kept thinking of that until it all threw me off. I thought the marketing gave a way the film.

Yeah, the steadycam shots of Tommy were the ones that reminded me when I was watching Shutter Island.

The score was very memorable too. That low sounding music. And the violin during the block C scene with Teddy and George. It was very emotional to me.

 

[Mr.Webs]

What a movie! I've never seen a film actually make YOU think you are going crazy. Thematic, emotional, and above all, beautiful. A definite 9/10.

Also love the ending.

Spoiler

"Is it better to live as a monster, or die a good man?" He hadn't reverted back to his psychotic state, but had realized he would rather end his suffering forever while he could.

 

[Doctor Jones]

Ah, I found some of the music to the film. Here are two of my favorite peices:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rluU6BGpKw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0r2Ht7LvTnc

 

[Catman]

[YT]0r2Ht7LvTnc[/YT]

 

[Nightmare]

The Shining and Vertigo are definitely films that inspired Scorsese in making Shutter Island.

I thought Shining when they were headed to shutter island and the creepy music was playing. I loved that scene, I loved the music.

 

[Mr.Webs]

Agreed. The music was just so booming, and disorienting. Really sets up the picture well.

 

[Bunker]

The blaring music at the beginning reminded me of Psycho.

 

[Matt Mortem]

Weird ****ing movie. Wow

 

[Dark Victory]

Saw the film again earlier today and everything pretty much clicked to perfection. Wonderful, haunting film.

 

[bullets]

Loved it! Definitely got a Shining vibe from the walking nightmare sequences.

I definately got that vibe. I just saw Leo being interviewed for a featurette and he mentioned how this film actually took him and Scorsese to darker places than they were expecting.
One nightmare that really distrubed me was:

Spoiler

When Leo is being asked to put the child in the water by a bleeding Rachel Solando

I'm going to have to see this again next weekend.

 

[Spider-Man Luvr28]

Ah, I found some of the music to the film. Here are two of my favorite peices:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0r2Ht7LvTnc

:heart: Love it.

Agreed. The music was just so booming, and disorienting. Really sets up the picture well.

Loooooved this film! Best movie I've seen so far this year

I agree with you both.

 

[DACrowe]

My take:

Man, as both a Lehane and Scorsese fan, I have been waiting for this movie forever. While Shutter Island was never one of my favorite Lehane novels, it seemed like a perfect marriage with Scorsese, a director always looking for a genre to unleash his pulpy sensibilities onto.

I was not disappointed.

This was an absolutely stunning movie. The visual composition of all the sequences, but particularly the disturbing ****e that happens in Teddy's head, was haunting, unforgettable and tragically gorgeous. While I loved the film adaptations of Mystic River and Gone Baby Gone, this one just gets the constant pessimmism(sp?) of his books and sense of societal decay.

I thought the cast was astonishing. DiCaprio constantly proves why he is one of the best actors of his generation when he works with Scorsese and it is a crime that he likely will not get a best actor nomination next year because Paramount threw this gem out in February (for The Lovely Bones of all things). And let's not forget Ben Kinglsey, Mark Ruffalo, Michelle Williams, Patricia Clarkson, etc.

Scorsese took a straight forward psychological thriller and used Hitchcock to realize it visually as I might expect, but the use of surrealist Kubrickian techniques made the film far more unnerving and suspenseful than I thought.

As for the ending

Spoiler

Having read the novel, I obviously knew it was coming. In the book it seemed fairly obvious about 1/3 through what it was going to be and that is also the case in the movie. Or so I thought. I'm pleased to see that Scorsese took all the red herrings and buried the audience under them, leaving many confused.

That is perfect for first viewing. But many I notice disliked or even hated the movie because of the ending. It does such a good job preparing you for believing the government conspiracy theory, because Teddy wants to believe it so. The story upon revisiting, and I felt this when watching the movie, is actually quite moving in how Cawley and Sheehan are trying to help Teddy. While I felt little suspense when the guards are looking for Rachel Solando, I feel the tragedy and weight of Teddy's suffering in every frame.

You get to live in Teddy's head and you want him to survive this funk and get out alive. He has almost no chance. But you're rooting for him to do so. And the real power of the ending is not the twist but the flashback of when Andrew found out what Dolores really did. It is utterly heartbreaking.

Oh and I liked the two big changes from the book. First all the Holocaust stuff was new and brilliant. But more importantly is the ending. In the book Teddy unequivocally regresses to being Teddy before he is lobotamized. In the film, it seems he knows he is Andrew but is choosing to let it happen so he doesn't have to live with the guilt and memories of what he did. That is utterly poetic. And even more heartbreaking.

I loved it.

This is not Scorsese's best movie. But it is one of the best psychological films in years because it isn't about the twist or the plot. It is really about a man's humanity and how it is affected by his past violence and his own mental stability.

Bravo.

9/10.

Must see it again.

 

[Dark Victory]

At the Movies' (Michael Phillips and A.O. Scott) video review of the film. I don't mind these guys at all, but fully disagree with them here.

http://bventertainment.go.com/tv/buenavista/atm/index.htmlhttp://www.atthemoviestv.com

 

[AlteredEgo]

just saw it tonight and thought it was fantastic film. i'd read the book before hand and knew most of the plot, but the movie really stands so well on it's own. and scorsese is a master, the film was hauntingly beautifully shot.

 

[hugekent]

Even before it was released I was eagerly awaiting this, but after reading all this praise I can barely contain myself. Pretty much everyone who's seen it has said how amazing it is and those critics that didn't like it seem to have weird reasons for feeling that way.