Shutter Island

“Then they’ve already won.” Shutter Island has felt like one of those Scorsese movies that departs from his usual, and while that’s been a draw for me it’s also meant that I’ve felt a certain pressure to see the other things he’s done before diving into Shutter Island. I will be pressured (by myself, with no outside influence lmao this is all my doing) no more. It’s time. Shutter Island slots itself nicely into the upper tier of stories I’ve seen put on the screen. There’s still a part of me, a part that is small and knows that it’s wrong, but a real part that wonders what the truth really is, and I think that’s a sign of a fantastic movie experience. The story is multi-layered, full of little hints, and pretty obviously designed to provoke a rewatch to catch all the things that tip you off to the actual nature of the situation. I don’t want to speak at length about the story because I don’t even feel like I’m qualified enough after one watch to dive into the nooks and crannies of it, but it’s special. The last thing that DiCaprio’s character says, which apparently isn’t in the book, is fitting. Uncertainty and deception are the name of the game in Shutter Island, and his final act is the perfect cap for the thrill that this story is. This is another one of those movies that made 2+ hours go by in an instant. Very, and I mean very surprisingly for me, this is the best of the 3 Scorsese films I’ve seen. Better than Raging Bull by a tick, and After Hours is just under that. What I admire about him so far is that none of those movies have a noticeable gap between them, and I think that says a lot about the consistency of his work. What makes that exponentially more impressive is the level at which he’s able to be so consistent. The man just doesn’t make bad movies. I will say that I thought the special effects and the sets weren’t all that, but whatever. The movie was made at a time where that stuff was transitioning into a new era, and if you come to a Scorsese movie for the special effects you’ve probably made the wrong choice anyway. Maybe I wanted more out of the camera as well sometimes but it wasn’t actually a detriment, I never found myself complaining about it. I’ll actually have to get to GoodFellas and Taxi Driver now. So, Shutter Island is a case of something so cohesive and harmonious that I don’t have to analyze things to the ground or talk about how over the top good a certain aspect of the movie was. It’s like that simple dish that just tastes so good, and you don’t really care how or why. I’ll be getting the 4k the next time I see a good deal. Can’t wait to rewatch it and get the book. Also, how many times is Leonardo DiCaprio going to have fake dead wives in dreams?