Shutter Island

Director: Martin Scorsese
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Emily Mortimer and Max Von Sydow
Releasing in cinemas: 18 February 2010
Rated: MA 15+

Through a glass darkly

That popular team of Scorsese and DiCaprio are back in town with the release of the awaited film Shutter Island, a psychological horror thriller notably outside that director's usual domain. A new movie from Martin Scorsese is always something to applaud, no more so than when his popular star Leonardo DiCaprio (The Departed, The Aviator) is again in the lead - perhaps Robert De Niro is getting too old. So we have a gothic tale of madness and nightmare in a frightening asylum located on a distant island. It’s the stuff of 40s horror flicks and might be likened to one of similar theme with Boris Karloff as the evil overseer of Bedlam, although here the plot’s given the cloak of modest credibility. Distressing scenes of Dachau provide a real note of horror.

In 1954 during the Cold War and aftermath of World War II, conspiracy theories are rife. U.S Marshall Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his new partner Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo) are called to Shutter Island Asylum to investigate the inexplicable disappearance of triple murderess Rachel Solando (Emily Mortimer/Patricia Clarkson) from a secured room in the highly guarded Ashecliffe Hospital for the criminally insane. After an eerie walk through the grounds of the hospital (which reminded me of the haunted quality of Port Arthur), Daniels meets autocratic Dr.Cawley (Ben Kingsley) and his sinister offsider ex-Nazi Dr. Naehring (Max Von Sydow).

Daniels’ investigation hints at grim conspiracies, inhuman experiments and treatment of the insane, with very unpleasant things happening at the lighthouse. Layers of sinister intrigue leave Daniels wondering if he’s the victim in this psychological nightmare, concerned he may be trapped forever on the terrible island.

Marty Scorsese gives spit and polish to the story by Dennis Lehane (writer of the novel Mystic River) leaving the audience to flounder in a sea of what is real and what is nightmare. A dash of hocus pocus provides a drastic twist to the plot in the last act. Intriguing and suspenseful with nail biting moments, the film is driven by DiCaprio’s convincing performance which the plumbs the depths of sanity. He’s aided by Ben Kinglsey (Elegy) doing the Boris Karloff thing, albeit in sophisticated mode. Both Emily Mortimer (Lars and the Real Girl) and Patricia Clarkson (Elegy) are required to round out the elusive character of Rachel, with Clarkson especially effective in her cave sequence. Mark Ruffalo (The Brothers Bloom) is a bonus as Daniels’ partner who becomes rather shadowy as the film progresses, and John Carroll Lynch (Love Happens) plays the omnipresent warden.

Scorsese (The Departed, The Aviator, Goodfellas) popular from his many TV interviews and appearances remains one of the foremost directors from the USA. Clearly a film buff from references in his movies, he knows the business and directs assuredly. The fact Scorsese can capture an audience with a convoluted and sometimes creaky multi-layered plot is worth full marks. The movie holds you in its spell for most of the lengthy 138 minutes; although the first act remains the most intriguing. Smart footwork keeps the pot bubbling.

Robert Richarson’s unnerving cinematography, drawing on early films by Roman Polanski like Repulsion, provides an intensely gothic atmosphere from the opening shot of the launch coming out of fog - an apt simile for what’s to follow. Equally vital to suspense is the carefully selected music; foreboding pedal tones accompany our first view of the dismal island. The softly-softly approach to building the suspense works well, having something in common to The Shining with sudden visions of horrific images, Daniels’ dead wife Dolores (Michelle Williams), victims of Dachau, even a swarm of rats right out of Nosferatu. During a violent storm, the warning 'run' written in ink on paper ominously smears in the rain.

Touches like this make Shutter Island, whilst not Scorsese' greatest work, certainly a disturbingly dark vision. Truly an adult horror film.

John Bale