Shutter Island

Martin Scorsese’s latest production was the topic of intense speculation in the run up to its release. The fact that it was premiered at the Berlin Film Festival, outside of competition, in February set it aside from the prolific director’s previous efforts. The main difference being that Shutter Island’s release date fell outside the awards season calendar, whereas Gangs of New York, The Aviator and The Departed were all released towards the end of the year making them legible for awards contention. Initially the film was due to grace cinemas during the same timeframe as Scorsese’s prior features. Its delay was heralded as a sign of distribution difficulties. The consequent hype surrounding the production has inevitably worked in its favour. The film which marks Scorsese’s fourth collaboration with Leonardo Dicaprio has already crossed the $100 million mark in the US, making it Scorsese’s second highest grossing film after The Departed.

Set in 1954 the film follows U.S. marshal Teddy Daniels, Dicaprio, who is assigned the task of investigating the disappearance of a patient from Boston’s Shutter Island Ashecliffe Hospital. The negative response to his enquiries leads him to suspect the motives of the institution’s staff. Meanwhile a hurricane cuts off Teddy and his partner’s route back to the mainland. As Teddy probes the various facilities located around the grounds his paranoia increases. Haunted by the past and the increasingly eerie atmosphere of his present location, Teddy grows fearful of his surroundings and his own sanity.

Like Scorsese’s previous mainstream efforts, Shutter Island cannot maintain its grandiose ambition. The film, which could be considered the director’s first venture in to the horror genre, is an incoherent potboiler. Scorsese’s epic vision is betrayed by the opening widescreen shots of the island, accompanied by a pounding classical score which gives the impression that we are being thrust into the infamous Skull island from King Kong. The film touches upon themes of post war trauma, cold war paranoia and Nazi conspiracy theories. Scorsese’s attempts at grandeur sit uncomfortably alongside the film’s b-movie narrative. At first these clashing techniques create a delirious momentum, aided by Scorsese’s frenetic camerawork. Truth be told, the web of conspiracies concerning the House of Un-American Activities and Nazi brain experimentation initially seem like an entertaining prospect. The narrative twist in the third act introduces a manner of sensibility to the proceedings, but ultimately feels like an anti-climax.

The cast like the film itself provide a mixed bag of performances. Dicaprio retains the paranoid streak witnessed in his recent roles in The Departed and Body of Lies. The camp villains played by Ben Kingsley and Max Von Sydow are unintentionally comedic. The former seems to relish his turn as a sinister psychiatrist. The other supporting cast members such as Elias Koteas, Emily Mortimer and Michelle Williams are all unfortunately underused.

Shutter Island would have been an intriguing premise if it contained more of the stylistic flourishes associated with its director. Here, however, Scorsese uses every genre convention in the book and still cannot provide the edge of your seat thrills found in small scale horror films. In fact there are few truly startling moments in a film which borrows heavily from Hitchcock and also recalls The Shining in its depiction of ghosts and dead children. Although Dicaprio’s Teddy Daniels emphasises Scorsese’s ongoing fascination with mentally fragile characters he is not as enigmatic as his other anti-heroes such as Travis Bickle or Rupert Pupkin.

These days Scorsese seems content churning out conventional genre films, albeit with added commercial clout. Furthermore his venture into stylistic continuity with The Departed ended up resembling a pastiche of his former triumphs. The most astounding factor is that in America he is being celebrated for his efforts. Commercial viability aside, he was awarded his first Oscar for The Departed. Despite these shortcomings Scorsese remains an admirable film enthusiast. He is the ultimate fanboy who has transformed his love of film into a restless mission to celebrate world cinema and restore forgotten classics. Perhaps his barrage of side projects, including documentaries, has become more of a passion than narrative filmmaking. After viewing Shutter Island one wishes the passion that ignited his previous projects would return to his contemporary productions. A possible solution might be a complete A-list overhaul. Perhaps he needs to return to a smaller budget, cast a different leading man and work on a personal project. It would be great to see Scorsese once again venture out of his comfort zone.