Shutter Island (film)

Shutter Island

Theatrical release poster
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
Production
company
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release dates
  • February 19, 2010 (2010-02-19)
Running time
 138 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $80 million[1]
Box office $294.8 million[2]

Shutter Island is a 2010 American neo-noir psychological thriller film directed by Martin Scorsese. The film is based on Dennis Lehane's 2003 novel of the same name. Production started in March 2008. Leonardo DiCaprio stars as U.S. Marshal Edward "Teddy" Daniels, who is investigating a psychiatric facility on Shutter Island. Positively reviewed by critics, the film grossed over $128 million in its initial domestic theater release,[2] as well as an additional $166 million internationally. Shutter Island was originally slated to be released on October 2, 2009, but Paramount Pictures delayed it until February 19, 2010.[3]

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]

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 cryptic note found hidden in Solando's room: "The law of 4; who is 67?" They arrive just before a storm hits, 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, left the island on vacation immediately 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. Whilst being interviewed, one patient secretly writes the word "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. He has disturbing dreams of his wife, Dolores Chanal, who was killed in a fire set by Andrew Laeddis, a local arsonist. In one instance Chanal tells Daniels that Solando is still on the island somewhere. The same applies to Andrew Laeddis who everyone claims was never there to begin with. Daniels later explains to Aule that locating the arsonist Laeddis was an ulterior personal motive for taking the case.

During their investigation Daniels and Aule find that Solando has abruptly resurfaced with no explanation as to her former whereabouts or how she escaped. This prompts Daniels to break into the restricted Ward C. There he encounters George Noyce who is a patient in solitary confinement. Noyce warns Daniels that the doctors are performing questionable experiments on the patients, some of whom are taken to the lighthouse to be lobotomized. Noyce warns Daniels that everyone else on the island, including Aule, is playing an elaborate game specifically designed for Daniels. Daniels regroups with Aule and is determined to investigate the lighthouse. While climbing the cliffs toward it they become separated, and Daniels later sees what he believes to be Aule's body on the rocks below. By the time he climbs down the body has disappeared, but he finds a cave where he discovers a woman in hiding who claims to be the real Rachel Solando. She states that she is a former psychiatrist at the hospital who discovered the experiments with psychotropic medication and trans-orbital lobotomy in an attempt to develop mind control techniques. Before she could report her findings to the authorities, however, she was forcibly committed to Ashecliffe as a patient. Daniels eventually hitches a ride back to the hospital without his missing partner.

Daniels is convinced that his partner Chuck Aule has been taken to the lighthouse where he discovers Dr. Cawley quietly waiting there for him. Cawley explains that Daniels arrived on the island alone and that Laeddis is actually Daniels himself. Daniels was incarcerated in Ward C for murdering his manic depressive wife after she drowned their three children. So the child-murdering "Solando" is actually his deceased wife. "Edward Daniels" and "Rachel Solando", as Dr. Cawley points out, are anagrams of "Andrew Laeddis" and "Dolores Chanal". Two real names produce two fictitious ones. This is the meaning behind the mysterious "Law of 4". Laeddis himself, as it turns out, is the actual 67th patient at Ashecliffe. Thus the question, "Who is 67?" is actually a reference to himself. Furthermore, the little girl from Andrew's recurring dreams is his own daughter, Rachel. The events of the last few days have all been designed by Dr. Cawley as a radical form of intervention therapy to break Andrew's conspiracy-laden insanity by allowing him to play out the role of Edward Daniels. Investigating the disappearance of a patient (Solando) was the "storyline". The guards, the staff and even the patients at Ashecliffe all played their various roles. Andrew's primary psychologist, Dr. Lester Sheehan, posed as Aule, primarily to shepherd Laeddis around, while a nurse posed as Solando. The migraine headaches Laeddis suffered resulted from being deprived of his prescribed medication. Daniels/Laeddis falls unconscious from the trauma of these revelations.

Andrew awakens in a hospital bed and is questioned by Cawley and Sheehan to determine whether or not he has lapsed back into his delusional state of mind. Laeddis passes their test with ease. Cawley notes, however, that they had previously achieved this state nine months prior to Andrew's regression, only for him to relapse, and this is to be his last chance at rehabilitation. Next morning, as Laeddis relaxes on the hospital steps with Doctor Sheehan, he again mentions looking for a way to escape from the island. Dr. Sheehan interprets this as a sign of a relapse and signals other staff members to approach. Andrew rises from the steps and calmly walks over to the awaiting orderlies and staff. His last comment to Dr. Sheehan, however, indicates that his 'relapse' may be merely an act. The comment is a speculation in the form of a rhetorical question: "Which would be worse – to live as a monster, or to die as a good man?"[5]

Cast

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

Shutter Island: Music from the Motion Picture was released on February 2, 2010, by Rhino Records. The film does not have an original score. Instead, Scorsese's longtime collaborator Robbie Robertson created an ensemble of previously recorded material to use in the film.

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
  1. "Fog Tropes" (Ingram Marshall) – (Orchestra of St. Lukes & John Adams)
  2. "Symphony No. 3: Passacaglia – Allegro Moderato" (Krzysztof Penderecki) – (National Polish Radio Symphony & Antoni Wit)
  3. "Music for Marcel Duchamp" (John Cage) – (Philipp Vandré)
  4. "Hommage à John Cage" – (Nam June Paik)
  5. "Lontano" (György Ligeti) – (Wiener Philharmoniker & Claudio Abbado)
  6. "Rothko Chapel 2" (Morton Feldman) – (UC Berkeley Chamber Chorus)
  7. "Cry" – (Johnnie Ray)
  8. "On the Nature of Daylight" – (Max Richter)
  9. "Uaxuctum: The Legend of the Mayan City Which They Themselves Destroyed for Religious Reasons – 3rd Movement" (Giacinto Scelsi) – (Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra)
  10. "Quartet for Strings and Piano in A Minor" (Gustav Mahler) – (Prazak Quartet)
Disc 2
  1. "Christian Zeal and Activity" (John Adams) – (The San Francisco Symphony & Edo de Waart)
  2. "Suite for Symphonic Strings: Nocturne" (Lou Harrison) – (The New Professionals Orchestra & Rebecca Miller)
  3. "Lizard Point" – (Brian Eno)
  4. "Four Hymns: II for Cello and Double Bass" (Alfred Schnittke) – (Torleif Thedéen & Entcho Radoukanov)
  5. "Root of an Unfocus" (John Cage) – (Boris Berman)
  6. "Prelude – The Bay" – (Ingram Marshall)
  7. "Wheel of Fortune" – (Kay Starr)
  8. "Tomorrow Night" – (Lonnie Johnson)
  9. "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 was scheduled to be released by Paramount Pictures in the United States and Canada on October 2, 2009.[22] Paramount later announced it was going to push back the release date to February 19, 2010.[23] Reports attribute the pushback to Paramount not having "the financing in 2009 to spend the $50 to $60 million necessary to market a big awards pic like this," to DiCaprio's unavailability to promote the film internationally, and to Paramount's hope that the economy might rebound enough by February 2010 that a film geared toward adult audiences would be more viable financially.[24]

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]

Box office

The film opened #1 at the US box office with $41 million, according to studio estimates. The movie gave Scorsese his best box office opening yet.[37] The film remained #1 in its second weekend with $22.2 million.[38] Eventually, the film grossed worldwide $294,803,014[2] and became Scorsese's second highest-grossing film worldwide.[39]

Home media

Shutter Island was released on DVD and Blu-ray on June 8, 2010, in the USA,[40] and on August 2, 2010 in the UK.[41] The UK release featured two editions—a standard edition and a limited steel-case edition.

References

  1. ↑ "Films | Shutter Island". DarkHorizons.com. Retrieved February 18, 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 "Shutter Island (2010)". Box Office Mojo. Amazon.com. Retrieved December 26, 2010.
  3. ↑ Finke, Nikki (August 21, 2009). "SHOCKER! Paramount Moves Scorsese’s ‘Shutter Island’ To February 19, 2010". DeadlineHollywoodDaily.com. Retrieved February 18, 2010.
  4. ↑ Goldstein, Meredith; Shanahan, Mark (August 26, 2014). "‘Shutter Island’ might be a TV show". Boston Globe. Retrieved August 25, 2014.
  5. 1 2 3 Cox, David (July 29, 2010). "Shutter Island's ending explained". The Guardian. Retrieved May 21, 2012.
  6. ↑ Fleming, Michael (October 22, 2007). "Scorsese, DiCaprio team for 'Island'". Variety. Retrieved January 8, 2008.
  7. ↑ Mayberry, Carly (February 26, 2008). "Trio of stars in for 'Shutter'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 27, 2008.
  8. ↑ Symkus, Ed, "Real local flavor on display in 'Shutter Island'", The Patriot Ledger, February 19, 2010
  9. ↑ Alspach, Kyle (March 8, 2008). "Raynham native plays Nazi soldier executed in Scorsese film". The Patriot Ledger. Retrieved May 21, 2008.
  10. ↑ Downing, Vicki-Ann (March 8, 2008). "Film adaptation of Lehane’s novel a boon to the region". EnterpriseNews.com. Retrieved May 21, 2008.
  11. ↑ Riglian, Adam (April 14, 2008). "DiCaprio, Scorsese filming on Peddocks Island". The Patriot Ledger. Retrieved May 21, 2008.
  12. ↑ Fee, Gayle; Laura Raposa (July 3, 2008). "DiCaprio, crew cap ‘Ashecliffe’ shoot". Boston Herald. Retrieved July 17, 2008.
  13. ↑ "The Music of Menace From Shutter Island". Paramount.com. January 13, 2010. Retrieved February 18, 2010.
  14. ↑ Saba, Michael (February 19, 2010). "Shutter Island Review". Paste Magazine. Retrieved October 12, 2010. Scorsese gets his Hitchcock on.
  15. ↑ Brown, Mick (March 7, 2010). "Martin Scorsese interview for Shutter Island". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved October 13, 2010. 'The key film I showed Leo and Mark,’ Scorsese says, 'was Laura—Dana Andrews, the way he wears his tie, and the way he walks through a room, and he doesn’t even look at anybody; he’s always playing that little game. He’s just trying to get the facts.’ But the films, he adds, that he had 'really tied up tight’ in mood and tone were the lower-than-low-budget schlockers made in the 1940s by Val Lewton when he was the head of the 'horror department’ at RKO Pictures—Cat People, Isle of the Dead, The Seventh Victim and I Walked with a Zombie.
  16. ↑ Daniels, Derek (December 1, 2010). "The Ninth Configuration (Twinkle, Twinkle, Killer Kane)". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixter. Retrieved September 8, 2011. 30 years before the disappointing Shutter Island took viewers to a remote mental asylum with a world-turned-upside-down storyline, William Peter Blatty gave us this...
  17. ↑ "'Shutter Island' shows the power of isolation". Los Angeles Times. February 21, 2010. Retrieved September 8, 2011. A better version of this basic story was done 30 years ago by William Peter Blatty: The Ninth Configuration.
  18. 1 2 Packer, Sharon (September 5, 2012). Cinema's Sinister Psychiatrists: from Caligari to Hannibal. New York, NY: McFarland. p. 197. ISBN 9780786463909. Retrieved April 4, 2014. The Ninth Configuration is far less polished than Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island, but the principle is the same.
  19. ↑ Raw, Kaurence and Ersin Tutan, Defne (2012). The Adaptation of History: Essays on Ways of Telling the Past. McFarland and Company. p. 51. ISBN 9780786472543.
  20. ↑ Gregoriou, Christiana (2012). Constructing Crime: Discourse and Cultural Representations of Crime and 'Deviance'. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 79. ISBN 9780230392083.
  21. ↑ Schwartz, Arnaud "'Shutter Island' : Martin Scorsese face au dérèglement de l'esprit". La Croix, February 23, 2010. Retrieved January 3, 2012 (French).
  22. ↑ McClintock, Pamela (February 13, 2008). "'Star Trek' pushed back to 2009". Variety. Retrieved February 13, 2008.
  23. ↑ "Shutter Island Pushed Back to February". ComingSoon.com. Retrieved November 19, 2010.
  24. ↑ Finke, Nikki (August 21, 2009). "SHOCKER! Paramount Moves Scorsese's 'Shutter Island' To February 19, 2010". Deadline.com. Retrieved October 29, 2009.
  25. ↑ "Shutter Island". Berlinale 2010. Retrieved November 19, 2010.
  26. ↑ "Awards for Shutter Island (2010)". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved November 18, 2011.
  27. ↑ De Pablos, Emiliano (May 17, 2008). "Manga nabs 'Shutter Island'". Variety. Retrieved July 29, 2008.
  28. 1 2 "Shutter Island". Metacritic. Retrieved October 12, 2013.
  29. ↑ "Shutter Island". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixter. Retrieved October 12, 2013.
  30. ↑ Toppman, Lawrence. "'Shutter' yields shudders – and ideas". The Charlotte Observer. Retrieved October 12, 2013.
  31. ↑ Anderson, John (February 19, 2010). "Film Reviews: Scorsese's 'Shutter Island', Polanski's 'The Ghost Writer'". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved October 12, 2013.
  32. ↑ Ebert, Roger (February 17, 2010). "Shutter Island Review". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved October 12, 2013.
  33. ↑ Moore, Roger (February 17, 2010). "Movie Review: Shutter Island". Orlando Sentinel.
  34. ↑ Stevens, Dana (February 18, 2010). "I'm Surrounded by Crazy People – Leo DiCaprio scrunches his face in Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island". Slate. Retrieved October 12, 2013.
  35. ↑ Hornaday, Ann (February 19, 2010). "Critic Review for Shutter Island". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 12, 2013.
  36. ↑ Scott, A. O. (February 19, 2010). "Movie Review: Shutter Island". The New York Times. Retrieved October 12, 2013.
  37. ↑ Brandon Gray (February 21, 2010). "`Shutter Island' Lights Up". Box Office Mojo. Internet Movie Database. Retrieved April 13, 2010.
  38. ↑ Brandon Gray (March 1, 2010). "'Shutter Island' Hangs On, ‘Cop Out,’ ‘Crazies’ Debut Decently". Box Office Mojo. Internet Movie Database. Retrieved April 13, 2010.
  39. ↑ Grey, Brandon (May 20, 2010). "‘Shutter Island' Is Scorsese’s Top Movie Worldwide". Box Office Mojo. Internet Movie Database. Retrieved May 21, 2010.
  40. ↑ Shutter Island Amazon. Retrieved October 24, 2010.
  41. ↑ Shutter Island (2010) Amazon. Retrieved October 24, 2010.

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