Plot
Drama set in 1954, U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels is investigating the disappearance of a murderess who escaped from a hospital for the criminally insane and is presumed to be hiding nearby.
Release Year: 2010
Rating: 8.0/10 (245,716 voted)
Critic's Score: 63/100
Director:
Martin Scorsese
Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Emily Mortimer, Mark Ruffalo
Storyline It's 1954, and up-and-coming U.S. marshal Teddy Daniels is assigned to investigate the disappearance of a patient from Boston's Shutter Island Ashecliffe Hospital. He's been pushing for an assignment on the island for personal reasons, but before long he wonders whether he hasn't been brought there as part of a twisted plot by hospital doctors whose radical treatments range from unethical to illegal to downright sinister. Teddy's shrewd investigating skills soon provide a promising lead, but the hospital refuses him access to records he suspects would break the case wide open. As a hurricane cuts off communication with the mainland, more dangerous criminals "escape" in the confusion, and the puzzling, improbable clues multiply, Teddy begins to doubt everything - his memory, his partner, even his own sanity.
Writers: Laeta Kalogridis, Dennis Lehane
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio
-
Teddy Daniels
Mark Ruffalo
-
Chuck Aule
Ben Kingsley
-
Dr. Cawley
Max von Sydow
-
Dr. Naehring
(as Max Von Sydow)
Michelle Williams
-
Dolores
Emily Mortimer
-
Rachel 1
Patricia Clarkson
-
Rachel 2
Jackie Earle Haley
-
George Noyce
Ted Levine
-
Warden
John Carroll Lynch
-
Deputy Warden McPherson
Elias Koteas
-
Laeddis
Robin Bartlett
-
Bridget Kearns
Christopher Denham
-
Peter Breene
Nellie Sciutto
-
Nurse Marino
Joseph Sikora
-
Glen Miga
(as Joe Sikora)
Filming Locations: Acadia National Park, Bar Harbor, Maine, USA
Box Office Details
Budget: $80,000,000
(estimated)
Opening Weekend: $41,062,440
(USA)
(21 February 2010)
(2991 Screens)
Gross: $294,804,195
(Worldwide)
(10 June 2010)
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Did You Know?
Trivia:
The whispered line in Complex C ("Stop me before I kill more") is likely a reference to William Heirens, a serial killer in Chicago in the 1940s.
Goofs:
Revealing mistakes:
When the US soldiers kill the Nazi guards, one Nazi, when falling after being shot, props himself up on another dead man by placing his elbow on him and putting his head on his hand.
Shutter Island. A film that will divide the film community. A film that
will leave many upset, and hating it. A film that has already
completely split the critics. A movie that messes with you. And no one
likes to be messed with. And that is exactly where it exceeds. Think
I'm contradicting myself?
Shutter Island is one of the most well crafted psychological thrillers
to come by since Silence Of The Lambs. And it is no coincidence both
were brilliantly written novels. Shutter Island is adapted by a book
written by Dennis Lehane (wrote gone baby, gone and mystic river). It
is a book filled with twists and turns, that will leave the reader
dizzy. And, that is what it's film counterpart does to the fullest.
Martin Scorsese helms the director chair, in a movie where he is more
free than any before. This is Scorsese at his most unrestrained.
Marty takes what he has learned from the great films of the past and
puts it into his. The master of suspense Alfred Hitchcock's influence
is everywhere you look in this film. And it is no wonder, considering
Scorsese even showed one of his greatest works to the crew: Vertigo.
And many of those ideas are present in Shutter Island; the cliff scenes
scream Hitchcock. This is a film that creeps and crawls, and is filled
with dark corners. And it is all heightened by the coming storm that
looms over the island. This is classic film noir.
The story follows Teddy, a federal Marshall, and his partner Chuck
(Played by DiCaprio and Ruffulo). They go to this mysterious island
enveloped in fog to investigate an escape. From these opening scenes,
Marty has set up a dark and creepy premise.
Almost the whole movie incorporates this story as Teddy desperately
tries to find the truths he seeks. Teddy is shown as a scared man; a
man of war and violence as portrayed in various flashbacks. These will
go on to be increasingly important as the story progresses. We follow
Teddy on his quest, through every dark corridor and perilous
confrontations. Slowly, we are given pieces to the puzzle, but the
audience does not even realize it. For we, like Teddy, are blind. For
the moment at least. It is because of this that the thrilling
conclusion will leave many blindsided. But, you see, that is where this
thriller becomes something more. We as the audience are put in Teddy's
shoes, and we feel all the things he feels. It is a complete assault on
the senses, and it works beautifully.
This is a film you must watch carefully. That is another thing that
sets this apart, it is a horror film that makes you actually think. In
this day and age, I'm not surprised some found it terrible esp. after
their brains have been turned to mush by these new gore filled horror
films. Scorsese's ultimate goal here is to wake you up. And trust me,
you probably wont like it.
This is also a film I would recommend seeing a second time. In fact, it
is even better the second time. All those pieces of that puzzle you
didn't catch the first time, you will the second. You see, we as the
audience are first put in the shoes of Teddy. The second? Well, without
giving too much away, lets just say you are put in someones else's
shoes entirely during the second viewing.
Shutter Island. A film that will make you question your own sanity. A
film that will leave you breathless. A film that has re-ignited the
thriller genre. A film that will leave you, and the main character,
searching for answers.
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