Shutter Island

             Martin Scorsese directs a psychological thriller, and in the suspenseful motion picture, Leonardo DiCaprio plays the main character, Teddy Daniels or Marshall. Upon arrival to the famous Ashecliffe, a renowned high security prison for the criminally insane. Daniels is introduced to his new partner, Chuck Aule, cleverly played by Mark Ruffalo. They embark on a quest to uncover the mystery of a missing patient, Rachel Solando. As the two detectives work with Dr.Cawly, played by Ben Kingsley, who is the owner of Ashecliffe to find clues, Daniels finds himself questioning authority. He also becomes increasingly leery of his surroundings. As flashbacks become more frequent, he struggles to hold onto what is true when lines between the sane and insane are blurred. The film brilliantly portrays scenes in sophisticated ways with many underlying meanings.

What hooks the audience initially are the minute abnormalities that are first presented. Such as the strikingly uncoordinated tie that Teddy Daniels wears within the first scene. It provokes the question, “What would make a man wear such an ugly tie?” It automatically persuades the audience to pay close attention to other similar cues, seen and unseen, that are out of place. As these clues build upon themselves, it slowly reveals the essential theme of the story.

The musical score adds suspense, sophistication and a hint of lunacy. All of these elements add to the description of Daniels character and the moment of the scene. It is excitingly contradicting when opera music plays during one of Daniels military flashbacks. A soothing opera score becomes a chill of goose bumps. It perfectly personifies the scene to take the audience out of their comfort zone and experience Daniels split sanity between reality and imaginary.

All throughout the film, the theme of betrayal becomes closer involved with isolation. Characters around Daniel who initially could never have been seen as trustworthy become Daniel’s source of truth, and visa versa. Unexpected turns in these changing relationships lead the audience into multiple unforeseen plot twists.

Overall, this film is a memorable psychological thriller of its time. It never leaves the viewer in a dull moment. Every second contains details so curtail, it is almost necessary to watch twice to catch them. And the end, left to the audience to determine which end of the spectrum reveals its true meaning, Daniels tells his partner, “Would you rather live the rest of your life a monster, or die a good man?”