Shutter Island (film)
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| Shutter Island | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Martin Scorsese |
| Produced by | Mike Medavoy Arnold W. Messer Bradley J. Fischer Martin Scorsese |
| Screenplay by | Laeta Kalogridis Steven Knight (uncredited) |
| Based on | Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane |
| Starring | Leonardo DiCaprio Mark Ruffalo Ben Kingsley Michelle Williams Patricia Clarkson Max von Sydow |
| Cinematography | Robert Richardson |
| Edited by | Thelma Schoonmaker |
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Production
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| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
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Release dates
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Running time
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138 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $80 million[1] |
| Box office | $294.8 million[2] |
In August 2014, Paramount Television and HBO were reported to be brainstorming a TV series called Ashecliffe, which will serve as an origin story for the film.[4]
Contents
Plot
In 1954, two U.S. Marshals — Edward "Teddy" Daniels and his new partner, Chuck Aule — travel to the Ashecliffe Hospital for the criminally insane on Shutter Island located in Boston Harbor. They are investigating the disappearance of patient Rachel Solando who was incarcerated for drowning her three children. Their only clue is a note left by Solando: "The law of 4; who is 67?" They arrive just before a storm arrives, preventing their return to the mainland for a few days.Daniels and Aule find the staff confrontational; Dr. John Cawley, the lead psychiatrist, refuses to turn over records, and they learn that Solando's doctor, Dr. Lester Sheehan, had left on vacation after her disappearance. Though they are given access to the hospital, they are told Ward C is off limits, while the lighthouse has already been searched. One patient, during interrogation, secretly writes "RUN" in Daniels' notepad. Daniels starts to have migraine headaches from the hospital's atmosphere, and experiences waking visions of his involvement in the Dachau liberation reprisals and disturbing dreams of his wife, Dolores Chanal, who was killed in a fire set by Andrew Laeddis, a local arsonist. In one dream, Chanal tells Daniels that Solando is still on the island, as well as Laeddis, who also went missing months ago. Daniels later explains to Aule that locating Laeddis was an ulterior motive for taking the case.
During their investigation, Daniels and Aule find that Solando has been discovered by the staff with no explanation, prompting Daniels to break into the forbidden Ward C. There, he meets George Noyce, a patient in solitary confinement. Noyce warns Daniels that the doctors are performing questionable experiments on the patients, and some are taken to the lighthouse to be lobotomized. Noyce warns Daniels that everyone else on the island, including Aule, is playing a game designed for Daniels. Daniels regroups with Aule and head off to the lighthouse. While climbing the cliffs to it, they become separated, and Daniels later sees a body on the rocks below. By the time he climbs down, the body is gone, but finds a cave where a woman is hiding claiming to be the real Solando. She says she was a former psychiatrist at the hospital until she discovered the experiments with psychotropic medication and orbital lobotomy in an attempt to develop mind control techniques. Before she could report it to authorities, she was committed as a patient. Without any sign of Aule, Daniels returns to the hospital, but Cawley now claims that Daniels arrived alone there.
Daniels is convinced Aule has been taken to the lighthouse and breaks into it. There, he finds Cawley waiting for him. Cawley explains that Laeddis is actually Daniels himself, "[their] most dangerous patient", incarcerated in Ward C for murdering his manic depressive wife after she drowned their children, thus revealing that "Solando" is actually his deceased wife. "Edward Daniels" and "Rachel Solando" are anagrams of "Andrew Laeddis" and "Dolores Chanal" ("the law of 4"), and Laeddis is the 67th patient at Ashecliffe ("who is 67?"); furthermore, the little girl from Laeddis' recurring dreams is his daughter, Rachel. The events of the last few days have been designed by the hospital to break Laeddis' conspiracy-laden insanity by allowing him to play out the role of Daniels; Sheehan posed as Aule and a nurse posed as Solando. The migraines Laeddis suffered were a result of being off his medication. Laeddis is overwhelmed with memories and faints from the realization.
Laeddis awakes back in the hospital, and is asked questions regarding his personality by Cawley and Sheehan, which he answers as Laeddis. Cawley notes they had achieved this state nine months prior to Laeddis' regression only for him to relapse, and this is to be his last chance at rehabilitation. As Laeddis relaxes on the hospital grounds with Sheehan, he refers to Sheehan as Aule and tells him they need to leave the island. Seeing the signs of regression, Sheehan has Laeddis taken by the orderlies to the lighthouse. Laeddis lets himself be taken, but asks Sheehan "Which would be worse – to live as a monster, or to die as a good man?", potentially signifying that his regression is only an act.[5]
Cast
- Leonardo DiCaprio as Edward "Teddy" Daniels
- Mark Ruffalo as Chuck Aule
- Ben Kingsley as Dr. John Cawley
- Max von Sydow as Dr. Jeremiah Naehring
- Michelle Williams as Dolores Chanal
- Emily Mortimer as Rachel Solando
- Patricia Clarkson as Dr. Rachel Solando
- Jackie Earle Haley as George Noyce
- Ted Levine as Warden
- John Carroll Lynch as Deputy Warden McPherson
- Elias Koteas as Andrew Laeddis
- Jill Larson as Old Manacled Woman
- Ken Cheeseman as Doctor 1
- Ruby Jerins as Little Girl
- Robin Bartlett as Bridget Kearns
- Christopher Denham as Peter Breene
- Matthew Cowles as Ferry Boat Captain
- Fred Dryer as US marshal
Production
The rights to Dennis Lehane's novel Shutter Island were first optioned to Columbia Pictures in 2003. Columbia did not act on the option and it lapsed back to Lehane who sold it to Phoenix Pictures. Phoenix hired Laeta Kalogridis and together they developed the film for a year. Director Martin Scorsese and actor Leonardo DiCaprio were both attracted to the project.[6] Production began on March 6, 2008.[7]Lehane's inspiration for the hospital and island setting was Long Island in Boston Harbor, which he had visited during the Blizzard of 1978 as a child with his uncle and family.[8]
Shutter Island was mainly filmed in Massachusetts, with Taunton being the location for the World War II flashback scenes.[9] Old industrial buildings in Taunton's Whittenton Mills Complex replicated the Dachau concentration camp.[10] The old Medfield State Hospital in Medfield, Massachusetts was another key location. Cawley's office scenes were the second floor of the chapel during the late evening. Lights were shone through the windows to make it look like it was daytime. The crew painted the hospital's brick walls to look like plywood. This served the dual purpose of acting as scenery and blocking the set from view of a local road. The crew wanted to film at the old Worcester State Hospital, but demolition of surrounding buildings made it impossible. Borderland State Park in Easton, Massachusetts was used for the cabin scene. The film used Peddocks Island as a setting for the story's island. East Point, in Nahant, Massachusetts was the location for the lighthouse scenes.[11] Filming ended on July 2, 2008.[12]
Music
| Shutter Island: Music from the Motion Picture | |
|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by Various Artists | |
| Released | February 2, 2010 |
| Genre | Film soundtrack |
| Length | 116:41 |
| Label | Rhino Records |
| Producer | Robbie Robertson John Powell |
According to a statement on Paramount's website: "The collection of modern classical music [on the soundtrack album] was hand-selected by Robertson, who is proud of its scope and sound. 'This may be the most outrageous and beautiful soundtrack I've ever heard.' [Robertson stated]."[13]
A full track-listing of the album can be seen below. All the musical works are featured in the final film.
- Disc 1
- "Fog Tropes" (Ingram Marshall) – (Orchestra of St. Lukes & John Adams)
- "Symphony No. 3: Passacaglia – Allegro Moderato" (Krzysztof Penderecki) – (National Polish Radio Symphony & Antoni Wit)
- "Music for Marcel Duchamp" (John Cage) – (Philipp Vandré)
- "Hommage à John Cage" – (Nam June Paik)
- "Lontano" (György Ligeti) – (Wiener Philharmoniker & Claudio Abbado)
- "Rothko Chapel 2" (Morton Feldman) – (UC Berkeley Chamber Chorus)
- "Cry" – (Johnnie Ray)
- "On the Nature of Daylight" – (Max Richter)
- "Uaxuctum: The Legend of the Mayan City Which They Themselves Destroyed for Religious Reasons – 3rd Movement" (Giacinto Scelsi) – (Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra)
- "Quartet for Strings and Piano in A Minor" (Gustav Mahler) – (Prazak Quartet)
- Disc 2
- "Christian Zeal and Activity" (John Adams) – (The San Francisco Symphony & Edo de Waart)
- "Suite for Symphonic Strings: Nocturne" (Lou Harrison) – (The New Professionals Orchestra & Rebecca Miller)
- "Lizard Point" – (Brian Eno)
- "Four Hymns: II for Cello and Double Bass" (Alfred Schnittke) – (Torleif Thedéen & Entcho Radoukanov)
- "Root of an Unfocus" (John Cage) – (Boris Berman)
- "Prelude – The Bay" – (Ingram Marshall)
- "Wheel of Fortune" – (Kay Starr)
- "Tomorrow Night" – (Lonnie Johnson)
- "This Bitter Earth"/"On the Nature of Daylight" – (Dinah Washington & Max Richter; Arrangement by Robbie Robertson)
Genre
As a period piece, Shutter Island is laced with nods to different films in the film noir and horror genre, and could generally be viewed as paying homage to Alfred Hitchcock's works.[14] Scorsese stated in an interview that while the main reference to Teddy Daniels was Dana Andrews' character in Laura, he was also influenced by several very low-budget 1940s zombie movies made by Val Lewton.[15] The main frame of the plot resembles that of William Peter Blatty's The Ninth Configuration,[16][17][18] as well as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.[18][19][20] La Croix noted that Shutter Island was a "complex and puzzling" work which borrowed from genres as diverse as detective and fantasy, and notably the psychological thriller.[21]There have been differing opinions over the ending of the film in which Laeddis asks Dr. Sheehan, "[W]hich would be worse – to live as a monster, or to die as a good man?", a line that does not appear in the book. According to Scorsese's psychiatric adviser, Professor James Gilligan of New York University, Laeddis' last words mean: "I feel too guilty to go on living. I'm not going to actually commit suicide, but I'm going to vicariously commit suicide by handing myself over to these people who're going to lobotomize me."[5] Dennis Lehane however said, "Personally, I think he has a momentary flash.... It's just one moment of sanity mixed in the midst of all the other delusions."[5]
Release
Martin Scorsese at the premiere of Shutter Island at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival
The film premiered at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival as part of the competition screening on February 13, 2010.[25][26] Spanish distributor Manga Films distributed the film in Spain after winning a bidding war that reportedly reached the $6 million to $8 million range.[27]
Critical reception
The film received generally positive reviews from critics.[28] Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 68% based on reviews from 241 critics, and reports a rating average of 6.6 out of 10. The site's consensus reads: "It may not rank with Scorsese's best work, but Shutter Island's gleefully unapologetic genre thrills represent the director at his most unrestrained."[29] The film received a weighted average score of 63/100 from Metacritic based on 37 reviews from mainstream critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews."[28]Lawrence Toppman of The Charlotte Observer gave the film 4/4 stars claiming "After four decades, Martin Scorsese has earned the right to deliver a simple treatment of a simple theme with flair."[30] Writing for The Wall Street Journal, John Anderson highly praised the film, suggesting it "requires multiple viewings to be fully realized as a work of art. Its process is more important than its story, its structure more important than the almost perfunctory plot twists it perpetrates. It's a thriller, a crime story and a tortured psychological parable about collective guilt."[31] Awarding the film 3½ stars out of 4, Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote "the movie is about: atmosphere, ominous portents, the erosion of Teddy's confidence and even his identity. It's all done with flawless directorial command. Scorsese has fear to evoke, and he does it with many notes."[32]
The Orlando Sentinel's Roger Moore, who gave the film 2½ stars out of 4, wrote, "It's not bad, but as Scorsese, America's greatest living filmmaker and film history buff should know, even Hitchcock came up short on occasion. See for yourself."[33] Dana Stevens of Slate described the film "an aesthetically and at times intellectually exciting puzzle, but it's never emotionally involving."[34] The Washington Post film critic Ann Hornaday negatively described the film as being "weird".[35] A. O. Scott of The New York Times wrote in his review that "Something TERRIBLE is afoot. Sadly, that something turns out to be the movie itself."[36]
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