Shutter Island

MIND FIELD

Shutter Island - Leonardo Dicaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Michelle Williams, Max Von Sydow (138 min.)

As U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels and his new partner, Chuck Aule, split the foggy seas of Boston Harbor on their way to Shutter Island, director Martin Scorsese wastes no time setting mood with a foreboding, robust score and an almost unnatural seascape and ominous skies. Teddy and Chuck have been summoned to Shutter Island, to Ashecliffe Hospital for the criminally insane where they are to investigate the disappearance of an inmate who murdered her three children and has mysteriously vanished with no real clue as to the where or the how. And the pieces are in place for Shutter Island, Martin Scorsese’s mind-bending period noir that overcomes a few stumbles along the way to wind up as a satisfying genre piece for a living legend and his latest screen muse.

Teddy, played with a scowling, driven paranoia by Leonardo Dicaprio, and Chuck, a genuinely soothing Mark Ruffalo, arrive via ferry to the island and are hustled away to meet with Dr. Cawley, the head psychiatrist at Ashecliffe. Cawley is played by Sir Ben Kingsley, a chameleon able to portray comfort, menace, safety and danger all in the twist of a lip or the gleam of his eye. Cawley’s partner is Dr. Naehring, a decidedly spooky Max Von Sydow, and from the beginning it is clear that the good Doctors are keeping something from Teddy and Chuck.

Like any good protagonist of noir, Teddy brings with him a hefty bit of mental baggage that includes the scars of World War II and the death of his wife (a minimal, but haunting and powerful performance from Michelle Williams) in an apparent fire at his apartment building. These corners of Teddy’s mind are shown in vivid dreams, vivid nightmares that captivate the screen. Once the visions begin to invade Teddy’s reality, and the dreams intensify and melt into the real world, Teddy fears he may have been manipulated by the shady staff, and the doctors, guards and orderlies who all appear to be in on a sinister plot.

Playing from several 50s paranoia pictures, B-movie entries, and pictures like Hitchcock’s Vertigo (which he showed his cast beforehand), Scorsese tightens the screws while venturing into a new territory of nightmares, mental wards, and hallucinations. 1954, the time of communism, the time right after the Nazi atrocities of WWII, and in the midst of the A-bomb scares, is a perfect setting for a psychological thriller like Shutter Island, where the mind’s fears may begin to manipulate your reality. But the narrative, written for the screen by Laeta Kalogridis from the Dennis Lehane novel, stalls at times and grows heavy in the middle.

Early on, Scorsese employs his quick cuts and ever manic camera techniques to create dread, paranoia, and the idea that a surprise may be just around every corner. But when he goes away from this in order to focus on the words and reactions of his central characters, the story becomes heavy. Thankfully, however, the final act of the picture redeems the heavy midsection and the screws begin to tighten once again. Scorsese is flexing a bit of muscle here, showing he can dive into the supernatural, and his camera is so richly stained with colors and hues reminiscent of the time, images so pristine and realized, that I might dare say this is his most beautifully shot film since Raging Bull. But the beauty of the images can only carry the middle so far, where they really work are the beginning and the end.

The end is a twist for sure, and a satisfying one at that, anchored by Dicaprio’s ability to manipulate the audience while being manipulated from all around. Leo carries the picture and handles the material better than anyone else I could imagine taking the role. Kingsley is his usual excellent presence on the screen, and Ruffalo is quite effective in his curious role. You’re never quite sure where he fits in to the story.

While there may be a few bumps in the road, Shutter Island is elevated above any other genre piece of this type because of its director, a living legend, and his star, who has eschewed finally that boyish look to become a solid leading man. And the simplistic score is hearty and energetic. This is one that will need a second viewing for anyone who would want to take the twisting, turning horrors of Ashecliffe Hospital again.

B+