The Red Right Hand
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SHUTTER ISLAND
Some Places Never Let You Go

Director
Martin Scorsese

Starring
Leonardo DiCaprio
Mark Ruffalo
Ben Kingsley
Max Von Sydow

Housed on a remote island off Maine, Shutter Island acts as a heavily guarded asylum for the criminally insane. The film opens on a tugboat slowly emerging from the fog, the music comprising of thundering blasts from the fog horn. From this point we're introduced to US Marshal, Teddy Daniels [DiCaprio] and his new partner Chuck Aule [Ruffalo]; both of whom have been summoned to investigate the disappearance of one of the patients. After a considerable amount of time and sufficient inquiry, it becomes clear that Teddy is suffering from a severe amount of stress owing to the trauma he witnessed during the war and the domestic events that followed. Set in 1954, one cannot help but invoke nostalgic images and feelings for the works of Hitchcock and Jacques Tourneur: unsettling characters, continually building tense atmosphere, confrontations with the past, double-take editing, intense score, analysing and dealing with madness - all of which create a staggeringly impressive sensory experience.

**Spoilers are contained from here until the end of the review**
I didn't particularly want to discuss the plot twists and the film's finale but to analyse the positive and address the negative, we need to discuss the plot as a whole. So, if you have yet to see the film, skip this section and head on to the final paragraph. The actual twist is one that is relatively commonplace in a film of this sort. It's not as if it's breaking any boundaries or pushing the envelope but no matter how predictable the story may have been, I thoroughly enjoyed the imagery and how the plot unfolded. I am, of course, talking about the fact that Marshal Daniels is actually a patient at the facility on Shutter Island; this fact is going to piss a lot of people off. As stated, I saw it coming from the start but didn't particularly mind because the mystery elements to the story were compelling enough to keep me sustained.

As a narrative piece, on first viewing, the film can be a little disorientating and displaced on occasion. The eerie dream sequences, concentration camp flashbacks, purposely intended continuity errors and convenient plot developments all add to both sides of the argument, 'does this film work'? On one hand you could say that the insanity of the character is neatly mirrored in the movie's production and the hallucinations are all part-and-parcel of his withdrawal from medication as he steps closer to the truth. On the other hand, you could say the hallucinations are over-done, driving home the message that we are probably all aware of by now, all the while stapling the fact that the intended glitchiness is shoddy and irritating.

Then there's the finale; one that I imagine will either delight or irritate the hell out of audience members. Daniels (whose actual name is Andrew Laeddis) has an epiphany during his treatment, confessing his real name and the fate of his wife and children. However, one of the key factors to the film's close is the possibility of regression - the state in which the mind accepts something for a limited time before reverting back to a more comfortable reality. This notion is heavily played upon time and again throughout the story but no more so than at the films' close. It's true that patients can have significant breakthroughs in therapy but most of the time, the fear of or potential for regression is very real. If we take literature for example, both Lewis Carroll's Alice and L Frank Baum's Dorothy return to their respective fantasy worlds, despite resolving everything they needed to on their first visit - which was to simply return home (a possible allusion to this can be seen when Laeddis/Daniels wakes up in bed with concerned, familiar faces standing over him). The editing, though subject to debate, creates the feeling of obvious displacement and repetition. Another fantastic contributory element is the music, reminiscent of the older, thundering scores of the fifties, rather than settling on one composer, Scorsese has opted for multiple artists, producing varied sounds. More importantly are the pieces played over the opening and closing titles. The first hammers the droning horn over-and-over, blasting unsuspecting audiences, filling them with apprehensive feelings dread and doom, while the second starts in the same manner before progressing into a slowly building stringed theme, offering a layered and detailed conclusion -- this works well with the 'stuck on a loop' theme that is referenced throughout.

Lastly, I would like to address two final points. First of all, this film focuses heavily on perception and sanity and as such the nature of the elaborate role-play and the severity of delirium implies that not everything that transpires in the story necessarily took place in reality. Perhaps elements of conversations and interactions were accurate but only as perceived by the lead character (the severity of the storm being a prime example). Secondly, we have the ambiguous ending, questioning whether he has suffered a relapse or not. So, the audience has a choice, they can either choose to believe that the treatment failed and the protective layers of ego and self immediately put up defensive walls to hide the truth from Laeddis/Daniels or the character simply doesn't want to live in a world where the terrible things he has witnessed are real, to simply rid himself of the pain and burden of these memories through a lobotomy procedure. It is my belief that DiCaprio's character regressed back into a familiar state nine months prior and on learning this, resigns himself to the possibility that he may never be completely 'cured'; as such, he opts to fool the doctors and surreptitiously volunteers for the procedure. The deciding point for me followed the delivery of the final line: "Which would be worse, to live as a monster or to die as a good man?"

Essentially, Scorsese has taken Lehane's original novel and produced a classic haunted house tale, utilising both story and directorial techniques to cast a reflection of the imperfections of our species and the baggage that every well-written character carries -- and if you ask me, it's an extremely rewarding undertaking.

Release Date:
12th March 2010

The Scene To Look Out For:
Many scenes and moments stand out in my mind, exploring hallways without sound, the trail of cigarette smoke slowly flowing back into the cigarette, etc but few things struck me with such resonance than the opening shots of the emerging boat and the ominous island. Absolutely superb filmmaking.

Notable Characters:
Isolating an individual performance is quite the task -- in a similar way, you want to make note of each actor in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest for their astounding performances but at the end of the day it comes down to Ratchett and Murphy. Of the various patients and staff on Shutter Island, the two standout performances derive from DiCaprio as the tormented US Marshal and Mark Ruffalo as his loyal partner. DiCaprio has been performing brilliantly of late and bounds from strength-to-strength, proving himself to be one of our finest living actors. Ruffalo, on the other hand, is one of those faces that continually pops up and produces a supporting character of such wealth that you can't help but wonder why he hasn't received a higher billing.

Highlighted Quote:
"Forgive me, what does not provoke you? Remarks. Words. And of course memories, dreams. Did you know that the word 'trauma' comes from the Greek for 'wound'? And what is the German word for dream? Traum. Wounds can create monsters and you.. you are wounded, Marshal"

In A Few Words:
"Not nearly the most original of concepts but certainly a monumentally riveting achievement from all involved"

Total Score:
8/10


Matthew Stogdon