SHUTTER ISLAND
5 out of 5 stars

now, how should one describe martin scorsese's latest crime thriller? mind-blowing? psychotically awesome? edge-of-your-seat anxiety that causes you to bite your nails like a nervous little girl? how about all of the above!



this one is definitely one of those movies you have got to see twice...because it will just make you. (hell, i would even see it a third time!) there’s the creepiness and the mystery that will CONSUME you upon entering this 1950s setting. leonardo dicaprio delivers an electrifying performance as u.s. marshal teddy daniels, who is tasked with finding missing prisoner err...i mean patient, rachel solando, on this remote island...shutter island, that is. upon arriving on a dark and stormy night, teddy asks if she's considered dangerous, and the delightful yet creepy ben kingsley (whom i just adore!) replies "you could say that" in such a matter-of-fact tone, that you don’t even realize that this is afterall a prison facility for the criminally insane. we see that teddy is a complicated fellow, as he deals with the recent loss of his wife, the horrors he witnessed at dachau (the other auschwitz) and his determination to find the pyromaniac who killed his wife AND who may still be on the island... however, as teddy begins to ask questions around ashcliffe (that’s the name of the place), he begins to unfold something bigger... something he may not be able to face, as a very nasty hurricane approaches the island. perhaps WWII post-traumatic stress disorder? perhaps a conspiracy that may have to do with brainwashing the prisoners? or…perhaps it’s all in his head? i’ll let you see this one, and you tell me…


is it just me, or does the plot essentially remind you of that movie identity? (some of you may know it-- john cusack, amanda peet, and ray liotta were in it. came out around the early 2000’s, i believe…) i actually think this one is better though, and let me tell you why. the story is a bit more cohesive, and cinematographically, martin scorsese is behind the camera. enough said. the creepiest scene is when teddy is talking to his friend george about the island’s “secret” in ward C, trying to get a glimpse of him one lighted match at a time… (EVEN CREEPIER were teddy’s dreams!) ultimately, this movie shows us that psychiatry and the way the human mind deals with traumatic experiences can be quite unsettling... what lengths human beings will go to unravel the mysteries of the mind?


there’s some truth to the fact that the island is a place that won’t let you go EVER, even as rachel solando says:


“you’ll never leave this island.”


after 2 and a half hours on it, i shudder even at the thought… ;)