Movie name: Shutter Island
Genre: Thriller
Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio
Shutter island (2010), written and directed by Martin Scorsese, is a dark and richly complex narrative in the psychological thriller genre. In many ways this film is a tribute to the film noir masterpieces of the 1950's and has many echoes, both stylistically and in plot mechanisms, of some of Alfred Hitchcock's work including Rebecca, Psycho, and Suspicion, where characters are not who they appear to be. Moving forward Shutter Island also has a suggestion of Alan Parker's Angelheart (1987) starring Robert de Niro where a cop investigating a series of murders discovers at the end that it is he who is the murderer.
Stylistically this film references black and white 1950's psychological thrillers, particularly in terms of lighting. It is easy to imagine this film having first been conceived of black and white. The high contrast between light and shadow creates a dramatic chiaroscuro which underlines the theme of good vs evil which is the centre of thematic and psychological struggle in this film. The lighting is naturalistic though not realistic as often the way light falls on a character's face is at odds with any apparent light source in the scene. This is deliberate and is part of the lighting design to show the balance of light and dark, good and evil in a character's make-up.
The opening of the film carries great significance both stylistically and psychologically and references the Greek myth of the Ferrymen to the underworld. In the original Greek tale, Charon leads lost souls across the misty river styx to the island of the dead. In Scorsese's film the opening sequence begins with a totally white screen out of which resolves a boat, on which two characters are talking. We later learn that Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) companion and side kick, is in fact his psychiatrist which reemphasis's the myth of Charon as the leader of lost souls. The colour Saturation has been rough down really low, so it appears to be almost devoid of colour like a black and white movie, but also this signifies a heaviness, washed out emotions and a lack of reality, particularly when compared with the later dream sequences which are all in heightened super saturated technicolor.
The boat appears to have come from nowhere, implying there was no before and combined with the misty washed out palette immediately says to us that this will be a stylised film. the fixed wide shots of the island looming making it appear like a dark fortress adds a sense of foreboding and emphasise the 'island of the dead' metaphor. The dramatic and suspenseful music adds to this feeling of impending danger and reveals the film to belong to the triller genre. Chuck Aule states there is only one way on and one way off the island, giving us the feeling of claustrophobia and we now know that the characters be trapped and this gives the impression of a labyrinth or maze with a mystery at the centre.
As the characters leave behind their ordinary world and enter into the special world of the second act of the film (the action on the island itself) where the first turning point in the script makes use of 'a threshold guardian' who marks the boundary between the world they have left behind and the special world of the island. The threshold guardian is a narrative device discussed by Christopher Vogler in 'The Writers journey: mythic structure for writers'. This Screen writing 'bible' analyses the characters and turning points used in narrative construction of classic and contemporary film structreu drawing heavily on the work of psychoanalyst Carl Jung and anthropologist Joseph Campbell.
The movie narrative initially appears to follow Todorov's narrative sequence (equilibrium, Disruption of events, Recognition of disruption, Attempt to repair disruption and new equilibrium) but it soon becomes clear that Shutter Island follows a non linear narrative structure. This non linear structure is quite common in psychological thrillers where information essential to solving the mystery becomes evident later or through dream or flashback sequences. Shutter Island is a perfect example of this as there appear to be two stories being told in the film. In fact when you watch the film a second or third time it becomes apparent that there is the story of Teddy Daniels and the story of Ben Kinglsey's character and the two only come together at the end. On a third reading of the film it becomes further apparent that there are in fact three stories - US War hero Teddy Daniels, - wife murderer Andrew Laeddis and The institute's version of events this as seen through the lens of Dr Cawley.
This non-linearity is also marked by a change from the monochrome, desaturated reality of Teddy Daniels's story to the super vibrant technicolor of Andrew Laeddis - the 'real' War veteran. When "Teddy" has a disturbing dream it is in fact a representation of the memories of his alter ego and real self "Andrew " seeping through and Scorsese marks this with dramatic colour and lighting change so that the real or true personality seems like a beautiful far away and strange, colourful landscape and the what is the fantasy personality (that we initially perceive as real) seems somehow gritty and three dimensional or sculptural and this sculptural quality is again brought out buy the high-contrast, black and white style footage.
One of the most important effects that Scorsese uses throughout this film is the use of Thunder and Lightening, First of all it is a plot device to keep him on the island. It is also a metaphor for what is going on in Teddy Daniels' mind, it's a struggle for sanity vs insanity. A powerful, and dangerous angry battle beyond our control. Continuing the lightening theme we have a lighting contrast at its height with powerful lighting effects, simulating lightening strobing the characters between brilliant illumination and plunging them into absolute darkness. It follows in the film noir/1950s psychological horror tradition with overtones of Alfred Hitchcock.
After the initial storm sequence the two protagonists are now wearing white the further serves to underline the stylistic use of high contrast so that they are forever highlighted against the darkness that surrounds them, both literal and metaphorical. From a purely practical point of view having the two actors wear white makes it easier to film them, as they stand out against the darkness. This change to white coats also signifies the characters' absorption by the institute as everyone who works there wear white coats. White is also the colour of innocence the sacrificial virgin who stubbles through the labyrinth, at who's centre the minotaur waits. The minotaur is a symbol of the mad, angry animal side of humanity.
Scorsese now punctuates the film with dream sequences, in one such sequence he uses lighting to reflect the alcoholic drink that Daniels is consuming on his face, showing us that there is more to Daniels drinking than meets the eye. The film then plunges us back into dimly light tunnels, doors and thresholds and corridors. In the George Noyce scene, Daniel is told he is a 'rat in a maze' further underlying the theme of the minotaur in the labyrinth, and also suggesting a dark experiment over which he has no control.
The theme of the lighthouse is introduced at this point of the film, what is a lighthouse? A lighthouse is a point of safety in the darkness, it exists to illuminate the dark to give a sense of direction, so that travellers who are lost may find their way. So the introduction of this symbol which connotes clarity, security, and hope shows us that this is a key to understanding the confusion felt by Daniels in the film, Daniels knows that he must somehow get to the lighthouse where he will be enlightened however he fails to do so and instead discovers a cave where he meets a women in a dirty lab coat who tells him, that she is the missing lady that he has been sent to look for. Here a fire blazes casting shadows on the walls. This scene is reminiscent of Plato's theory of the cave where Mankind only see's a reflection of the world through its shadows projected onto the caves walls whilst intact the real world of colour, brightness and sunlight is just outside but they are unaware of it, unless a wise man comes down into the cave to help them see the truth. In a nutshell this scene sums up the film we are unsure as to what is real and what isn't.
There are a lot of overhead shots which may represent vulnerability there is also the stylistic use of boarded up houses and a grey and foreboding graveyard. This represents things hidden and buried away, matters that have been shut out of the light, forgotten about, hidden from experience. We later discover that this represents Teddy Daniels state of mind, as the psychologist Carl Jung observed what is hidden away and denied will manifest itself in real life. As we will discover this is one of the over arching themes of Shutter Island.
As we come to the climax of the film all previous themes come together, Teddy Daniels appears in a barred room, is he free or is he imprisoned? Is the evil doctor trying to play with his mind as the Women in the cave has suggested or is it the effect of the drugs he thinks he has taken. the lines between fantasy and reality now break down as he tried to escape. Blowing at the doctors car as a means of diversion yet this scene also represents self sabotage as the car cannotes a way out, however its a way out that belongs to the Doctor. It is there waiting for him, but instead of seizing the opportunity he destroys it. Egged on by his fantasy scene of his wife and a young girl who know seem realer than ever.
In the final lighthouse scene, the lighthouse is represented in greys, monotones, all the colour desaturated so this symbol of hope and clarity now appears forbidding and dark. At the top of the light house where the doctor is waiting for him, this represents the pinnacle of the ego where the real self must confess its shadows. Up until this moment Scorsese has cleverly played the audience following the Teddy Daniels narrative we discussed earlier. Now the big reveal comes that was unexpected, now we clearly see there are three story lines in this narrative. The Teddy Daniels story, The Andrew Laedis story which was the real story all along trying to 'breakthrough' into Teddys consciousness the vibrant colours of this story signify that this was real all along. Then there is also the unexpected story of the doctor who had indeed been experimenting on the DiCaprio character but far from being malevolent was a benign attempt to save his sanity. The game is up the struggle is over. DiCaprio's character seems to accept the reality of who he is. Now the asylum is shown in full Technicolor at the end signifying that this parent of the narrative is the real narrative and the two sides of DiCaprios character have been successfully brought together. However the final twist comes when DiCaprio appears to have reverted to Teddy Daniels persona but this is just another one of Scorsese's clever tricks as Andrew Laedis says 'is it not better to die a hero than remain a monster' so we feel perhaps that he willingly goes to the lobotomy unable to live with the reality of his true self. The film ends with a complete inversion of lighthouse symbolism so we see a dark black lighthouse against a flat and featureless light grey sky, that signifies for Daniels, all hope has been extinguished.
