Martin Scorsese is known for his famous gangster-themed films. Even though after his major success in Taxi Driver, he made only two psychological thriller films, Cape Fear and The Departed, although not quite intriguing as the first one.
His fourth psychological thriller, adapted from Denis Lehane’s 2003 novel Shutter Island satisfied the audience with its mind-bending plot twists and induced several questions about the mysterious tale that takes place on a remote prison island.
The film starts with U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels (played by Leonardo DiCaprio), who teams up with his new partner Chuck Aule (played by Mark Ruffalo) to investigate a missing case of a patient admitted at a mental hospital for criminally insane, located in remote Shutter Island.
But Teddy didn’t take up this case only for the investigation but also to face an arsonist named Andrew Laeddis, who he believes to be his wife’s killer.
But things don’t turn out as they seemed before. Teddy gets engulfed by his guilt of not getting over the death of his wife and children, often dreaming of them. He also lives his past trauma from experience in the Dachau concentration camp while serving as a soldier in the 2nd World War.
All this despair and guilt unearth the personality of Teddy. Subtle warnings from patients inside also make him question his sanity. Is he really the investigating officer Teddy?
His world begins to upside down when he discovers that his investigation on the missing patient was just a setup. His distress increases more and more as he learns the truth behind his appearance on this island.
It turns out he is the Andrew Laeddis, who he seeks to encounter, and Teddy Daniels was the anagram of his name.
The missing patient, Rachel Solando, is the anagram of the name of his wife Dolores Chanal, who he killed for drowning all three of their children while suffering from depression.
And from his arrival to the investigation was all a ploy by the lead psychiatrist to treat his insanity.
Scorsese gives the audience an ambiguous ending to this film. Andrew was taken to be lobotomised even though he has accepted his reality. He asks Chuck if it was worse to live as a monster or to die as a good man.
This made the audience wonder if Teddy deceived Chuck by pretending he is still living in his fantasy world, prompting the doctor to proceed with his lobotomy operation as he didn’t want to live with his memories.
Shutter Island had a stellar cast, including Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, and Max von Sydow.
DiCaprio played a fantastic role in portraying Teddy/Andrew. He perfectly depicted the emotional changes of his character throughout the film and made the audience empathise with him.
Mark Ruffalo played the supporting role of Chuck successfully. His performance also revived his career as he went on to portray Hulk in Marvel Cinematic Universe later on.
Shutter Island is a phenomenal film with looming mystery and story-changing plot twists. Martin Scorsese proved himself as the worthy psychological thriller filmmaker as he was in Taxi Driver.
Even after these years, this film still invokes questions and debates among film critics and audiences.
