Shutter Island

Alfred Hitchcock is often quoted as saying that he delighted in playing his audience like a piano. He did, and few other directors did it with such delicious sadism. Many who followed (none the least of which, in several overt homages, was Brian DePalma) tried to imitate/emulate that style. One foolish attempt was an actual scene-for-scene remake of PSYCHO (shame on you, Msr. Van Sant!), one of the most numbing non-experiences I've ever had watching a film. But now another master, auteur, undebateably great genius has seemed to follow suit. Martin Scorsese, simply one of the best directors of the last 40 plus years, presents SHUTTER ISLAND, a maddening labyrinth of a movie that will alienate some and cause others to trip over complementary adjectives.

Why has Marty fashioned such an obviously Hitchcockian film? Honestly, I really believe that this film is exactly that, an opportunity to pay tribute in a grand, sometimes excessive big budget 21st century entertainment. I can mention the POV shot of the shower head that looks exactly like the one Janet Leigh stood under 50 years before. Look at that winding staircase in the lighthouse! The jagged cliffs, the dizzy heights. A protagonist who suffers from vertigo! Amnesia! Psychosis!

Psychosis is front and center in this film, an adaptation of Dennis Lehane's bestseller. The twisty tale focuses on a Federal marshal named Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DeCaprio) who, with a newly appointed partner (Mark Ruffalo), in the early 1950s investigates the disappearance of a prison/insane asylum escapee from a rather mysterious island off the Boston coast. This island is an elaborate complex of three separate holding areas for a variety of dangerous criminals. "Ward C" is where the truly dangerous ones are housed. We will spend a fair amount of time in this dank, wonderfully designed hellhole of shadow and filth, visiting inmates who may not be who they seem. We will also traverse an opulent mansion that serves as residence and office for chief island shrink Dr. Cawley (Ben KInsley, in a precise performance).

As I watched SHUTTER ISLAND, I thought of Hitchock's curious 1964 film, MARNIE. For some reason, that one has always stuck with me. It was a frustrating melodrama about a larcenous, very mixed up woman who tries to unravel her past. Daniels constantly speaks of his own tragic past, but we have no idea how tragic it really is until SHUTTER ISLAND's corker of a denouement.

That late hour twist has had folks buzzing since this film's first showing at the "Butt Numb-athon" in Austin last December. Resist the notion of looking up spoilers (and I will reveal nothing here) if you plan on taking this trip. The twists don't end with the big revelation at the climax. Right up to the final seconds, we are teased with interpretations of minute details like body tics, the name someone is called. This is a Chinese box of a movie. I am purposely not disclosing too much of the plot.

Another film of which I was reminded was Scorsese's own CAPE FEAR, his 1991 remake of the tart little noir. I was disheartened by the remake, feeling that Scorsese was slumming, squandering his considerable skill on a modern day potboiler. SHUTTER ISLAND is another such potboiler. It is a gimmick filled thriller designed to lead the audience down the dark garden path, without a map as to how to return. Once we're deep in this stew, we cannot be certain what reality is. Good popcorn, in other words. But is the director again wasting his (and possibly our) time?

Yes and no. Watching a maestro conduct is pure cinematic pleasure, no matter what the piece. I've said many times that if Marty directed a doc on the mating habits of mollusks, I'd be there. His gift for this medium is apparent from the first image of any of his films. Of course, his team of DPs, editors, costume designers are to be given much credit, and many of his past co-conspirators (including editor Thelma Schoonmaker) lend their talents yet again. SHUTTER ISLAND is filled with fine direction of choice actors (among them Jackie Earle Haley, Max Von Sydow, and Patricia Clarkson). DiCaprio, in his fourth collaboration with Scorsese, just gets better and better, IMO. A late scene in this movie, where a terrible discovery is made, showcases some of his best work. Von Sydow's presence as a suspicious German (and who Ebert described as looking as if he is about the play chess with Death) made me laugh out loud, but he's quite fine, too.

So is this movie best described as an excuse to show off directorial flash? Partially true, and in the flashback scenes, Marty orchestrates some unforgettable imagery, particularly during WW II sequences. Very haunting stuff. In fact, those scenes are so strong you almost forget how hokey the latter day storyline is. Also, the many dollies through the dark corridors of the prison wards, the horrific storms outside, the nightmares that Teddy has, all virtuoso. Often, it seems Scorsese is also paying tribute to another master, Stanley Kubrick. Ward C is like a stand-in for the Overlook hotel. Some of the dream sequences also seemed directly inspired by THE SHINING. Kubrick woud've likely approved. Hitchcock, too.

In its opening weekends, SHUTTER ISLAND almost instantly became the largest box-office hit of any of Marty's prior films. Like CAPE FEAR, it is a big budget juggernaut, often sacrificing nuance for patent dread and even easy jump-out-of-the-dark scares. But it is still worth the ride, as it is wildly entertaining and again, a chance to watch one of our greatest living directors in action. Just forget about how good TAXI DRIVER, RAGING BULL, MEAN STREETS, and GOODFELLAS are. Ah, they're different animals. But with all of the interesting but misfired forays into various territories on the Scorsese resume, I wonder if Marty shouldn't just go back to the goombahs and make another true masterwork.