A Mesmerizing Dive into Madness: Shutter Island
Shutter Island – the drama of the year 2010 – is a psychological thriller where a chief Federal Marshal Teddy Daniels, acted by Leonardo DiCaprio, and his partner, Chuck Aule, marked by Mark Ruffalo, are to investigate the escape of a patient. Throughout the film, a complex pattern of lies, enigma and shocking twists and turns are revealed and from behind the literal and metaphorical walls of the ominous Archer, Daniels has to learn who he is.
For the film, self-illusion, memory, and reality have been worked out and enshrouded by the neo-noir vision of mystery and introspection. The roof of the film is shot in a stimulating manner and accompanied by a stormy foreground that complements the plot of the movie and the focus on the human psyche and the blurred line that separates it from insanity.
Leonardo DiCaprio plays the role of Teddy Daniels in the movie really well and outlines the character’s composite state of mind. Mark Ruffalo shows the emotions of Chuck Aule steadily but they also hit big throughout the motion picture, and one does not even question Ben Kingsley’s mysterious approach to the character of Dr.Cawley again. Michelle Williams contributes a deranged and disturbing performance as Teddy’s wife, which enriches the movie with more hidden emotions.
Martin Scorsese is once more at the top of his game, leading the viewer through a complex web of tension and mystery. Scorsese knows the rules of the psychological thriller perfectly and when telling a story pays careful attention to how he presents the narrative, as well as insisting on the viewer combine the pieces themselves.
Robbie Robertson’s score works in harmony with the film and adds tension, as well as emotional undertones. Both Gira and the use of classical and modern instruments in the background further amplify the eerie mood of Shutter Island as representative of Teddy’s path to madness.
Visually, coping the oppressive mood of Shutter Island, the brilliant cinematographer Robert Richardson enhances the movie adding the air of mystery and distinct despair to it. The lighting contrast used in shooting corresponds with the main character’s duality and the audience is placed in a path of switching between the two realities of the film.
Dante Ferretti who was responsible for the production did a good job in portraying the eerie environ of Shutter Island. Emphasis is made not only on innovative grotesque, thus the elaborate gothic architecture and deserted territories enrich the film’s context of perplexity and sorrow with tangible gloom.
The extraordinary features lie in distinctive touches of special effects – contributing to the psychological plane of the film without overloading it with extra importance and visual excitements. The effects are employed discreetly yet they enhance the reality?!TEDD? which Teddy Daniels struggles with.
Another element that also ties with the film’s disorientated presentation is the film’s editing style by Thelma Schoonmaker that mirrors Teddy’s deteriorating state of mind. Flashbacks and miraculous cuts between past and present contribute to the film’s shot disorientation and suspense.
The film is not clearly action-packed, but this slows down was gives the tension necessary time to evolve while keeping the audience hooked. The deliberately chosen Pavement-paced pacing is suited to the gradual unspooling not only of the narrative but of the protagonist and the nerve-shredding ending.
The dialogue, like so much of what happens in Shutter Island, is both abrasive and invitation to probe the psychology at the heart of the picture. The script persistently poses uncomfortable questions to both the characters and the spectators.
All in all, it could be concluded that Shutter Island is an exceptional film; however, due to its focus on psychological twists, the viewers may come out of the theater feeling disturbed or lost. Due to such a focus upon mood and ambience, the ending could be somewhat unsatisfying to those who do not get a clear story. It comes as no surprise, with this effectively eerie concoction of mystery and suspense backed by rich in psychoanalysis, that it is unforgettable, a proof of the classic art of cinema in provoking people’s thoughts on the darker side of truth. The cinematographic experience is oppressive and leaves an echo, so the film is memorable.
