Shutter Island (film)

Shutter Island
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Martin Scorsese
Produced by	Martin Scorsese Bradley J. Fischer Mike Medavoy Arnold W. Messer
Screenplay by	Laeta Kalogridis Steven Knight (uncredited)
Story by	Dennis Lehane (novel)
Starring	Leonardo DiCaprio Ben Kingsley Mark Ruffalo Michelle Williams
Cinematography	Robert Richardson
Editing by	Thelma Schoonmaker
Studio	Phoenix Pictures Appian Way Productions Sikelia Productions
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date(s)	February 19, 2010 (2010-02-19)
Running time	137 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English German
Budget	$80 million[1]
Gross revenue	$294,772,842[2]

Shutter Island is a 2010 American 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 located on the island named in the title.

Shutter Island was originally slated to be released on October 2, 2009, but Paramount Pictures pushed the release date to February 19, 2010.^[3] Paramount head executive Brad Grey blamed the economic downturn as the main factor behind the delayed release date.

Plot

In 1954, U.S. Marshal Edward "Teddy" Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his newly assigned partner Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo), go to the Ashecliff Hospital for the criminally insane on Shutter Island located in Boston Harbor. They are investigating the disappearance of Rachel Solando, a patient who apparently vanished from a locked room. Dr. John Cawley (Ben Kingsley), the head psychiatrist, explains that Rachel was institutionalized after drowning her three children.

During the search for Rachel, Teddy sees a lighthouse but is told it has already been searched. He asks to see the hospital personnel files; Cawley refuses, but allows the Marshals to question the staff. They are frustrated to learn that Rachel's psychiatrist, Dr. Sheehan, left on vacation after her disappearance. That night, Teddy has a strange dream in which he sees his wife Dolores Chanal (Michelle Williams), who was killed in a fire two years earlier. She tells Teddy that Rachel is still on the island, as is Andrew Laeddis, the arsonist responsible for her own death.

In the morning, they interview patients from Rachel's group therapy sessions, one of whom distracts Chuck and warns Teddy to run. Later, Teddy reveals to Chuck his ulterior motive for taking the investigation. Andrew Laeddis was sent to Ashecliff for his crime and then disappeared, motivating Teddy to investigate the institution. He met a former patient, George Noyce, who claimed that Ashecliff experimented on patients. Teddy is determined to bring the institution down.

Cawley informs Teddy that Rachel has been found and presents her to him. The delusional Rachel (Emily Mortimer) mistakes Teddy for her husband who died in World War II, and then becomes very agitated. Later, Teddy develops increasingly severe migraine headaches accompanied by hypersensitivity to light. In his sleep he has more strange dreams, followed by waking hallucinations. He is now determined to search for Laeddis in Ward C, which houses the most dangerous patients. There he finds Noyce (Jackie Earle Haley) who is afraid of being taken to the lighthouse and tells Teddy that the entire investigation is a game for his benefit.

Teddy rejoins Chuck and they head to the cliffs surrounding the island, intending to reach the lighthouse. Eventually, Chuck suggests that continuing is too dangerous and Teddy goes to the lighthouse alone. He is unable to reach it, and when he returns, Chuck has disappeared. Looking for him at the foot of the cliff, Teddy finds a woman hiding in a cave who confirms his suspicions to be the real Rachel Solando (Patricia Clarkson). She says she was a psychiatrist at Ashecliff until she found out about the experiments. She was forcibly committed to ensure her silence. She explains that the hospital is using psychotropic medication in an attempt to develop mind control techniques and create "sleeper agent" spies. She says that Teddy has been similarly drugged since he arrived on the island.

Teddy returns to Ashecliff, where Dr. Cawley tells him that he went to the island without a partner - nobody seems to know Chuck. Teddy eventually makes it to the lighthouse but finds nothing unusual on his way up the stairs, contrary to what he expected. At the top of the lighthouse, he finds Dr. Cawley who reveals that Teddy is not Edward Daniels, but ex-Marshal Andrew Laeddis. Cawley says that he has been a patient at Ashecliff for two years since he murdered his manic depressive wife in a fit of rage after discovering she had killed their children. Cawley explains that Rachel Solando never existed, neither as patient nor psychiatrist. "Chuck" then arrives and reveals himself as Dr. Sheehan, Andrew's psychiatrist. Sheehan and Cawley state that Andrew lived the fantasy of still being an active U.S. Marshal. They show him that the names "Edward Daniels" and "Rachel Solando" are anagrams of "Andrew Laeddis" and "Dolores Chanal".

Cawley explains that Andrew has gone through repeated cycles of realizing the truth, only to regress into his fantasy again, during which he has injured multiple orderlies and patients, leading the administrative board to demand a lobotomy as a permanent solution to his problem. Sheehan and Cawley explain that they decided to try an experimental therapy, in which they created the role play of "Rachel's" disappearance based on Andrew's fantasy. They say they hoped that by failing to uncover his mind-control conspiracy, Andrew would see reality and return to it permanently. Andrew appears to accept Sheehan's and Cawley's explanations, blaming himself for failing to help Dolores before it was too late.

The next morning, Andrew once again calls Sheehan "Chuck". Sheehan silently signals to Cawley, and orderlies approach to take Andrew to his lobotomy. Andrew asks Sheehan whether it is better to "live as a monster, or die as a good man," then walks off calmly with the orderlies.

Cast

• Leonardo DiCaprio as U.S. Marshal Edward "Teddy" Daniels
• Mark Ruffalo as U.S. Marshal Chuck Aule
• Sir Ben Kingsley as Dr. John Cawley^[4]
• Michelle Williams as Dolores Chanal ^[5]
• Emily Mortimer as Rachel Solando^[6]
• Max von Sydow as Dr. Jeremiah Naehring^[6]
• Jackie Earle Haley as George Noyce^[6]
• Ted Levine as Warden^[6]
• John Carroll Lynch as Deputy Warden McPherson^[6]
• Elias Koteas as Andrew Laeddis^[6]
• Patricia Clarkson as Dr. Rachel Solando^[7]

Production

Feature film rights to the 2003 novel Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane were first optioned to Columbia Pictures in 2003, but the rights lapsed back to the author. Lehane's representatives then sold the rights to the production company Phoenix Pictures, who hired screenwriter Laeta Kalogridis to adapt the novel for film. The project was in development for a year. By October 2007, the project had developed into a co-production between the studios Columbia Pictures and Paramount Pictures. Director Martin Scorsese and actor Leonardo DiCaprio, who had worked together on three films, were both attracted to Shutter Island as their next collaboration. Locations in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Nova Scotia were scouted.^[8] Production began on March 6, 2008.^[6]

Filming of the World War II flashback scenes for DiCaprio's character, a former soldier, took place in Taunton, Massachusetts.^[9] Scorsese filmed the scenes in old industrial buildings in Taunton's Whittenton Mills Complex to replicate the Dachau concentration camp, which was seen in flashbacks.^[10] Extras portraying the Dachau prisoners were called back to reshoot a scene in July, because the film of one scene was damaged due to an improperly sealed film shipping container. Scenes were filmed at the old Medfield State Hospital in Medfield, Massachusetts. Scenes in Cawley's office were shot on the second floor of the chapel during the late evening; lights were shone on the windows to make it look like it was daytime. The surrounding brick walls in the outside hospital scenes were actually painted plywood which served the dual purpose of acting as scenery and blocking the set from view of a local road. Originally, scenes were going to be shot at the old Worcester State Hospital, but the filming would have gone on during the demolition of the surrounding buildings, which was impractical. Borderland State Park in Sharon, Massachusetts was used for the cabin scene. Peddocks Island was used as a setting for the story's island and East Point, in Nahant, Massachusetts for the lighthouse scenes.^[11] Filming ended on July 2, 2008.^[12]

Music

Shutter Island: Music from the Motion Picture
Soundtrack by Various Artists
Released	February 02, 2010
Genre	Film soundtrack
Length	116:41
Label	Rhino Records
Producer	Robbie Robertson
Professional reviews
Allmusic Link

No original score was written for the film. Instead, Scorsese made use of his longtime collaborator Robbie Robertson to create 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, conducted by John Adams
2. "Symphony No. 3: Passacaglia — Allegro Moderato" (Krzysztof Penderecki) – National Polish Radio Symphony, conducted by 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, conducted by 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, conducted by Edo de Waart
2. "Suite For Symphonic Strings: Nocturne" (Lou Harrison) – The New Professionals Orchestra, conducted by 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

Release

The film was scheduled to be released by Paramount Pictures in the United States and Canada on October 2, 2009.^[14] Paramount later announced it was going to push back the release date to February 19, 2010.^[15] 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.^[16]

The film premiered at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival as part of the competition screening on February 13, 2010.^[17][18] Spanish distributor Manga Films will distribute the film in Spain after winning a bidding war that reportedly reached the $6 million to $8 million range.^[19]

Critical reception

The film has received generally positive reviews. Review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes reports that 67% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 228 reviews, with an average score of 6.6/10.^[20] The critical consensus is: "It may not rank with Scorsese's best work, but Shutter Island's gleefully unapologetic genre thrills represent the director at his most unrestrained."^[20] It also received a weighted average score of 63% from Metacritic based on 37 reviews from mainstream critics.^[21] 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."^[22] 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."^[23] Awarding the film 3½ stars out of 4, Roger Ebert of The Chicago Sun-Times wrote in this review that "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."^[24]

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."^[25] Dana Stevens of Slate described the film "an aesthetically and at times intellectually exciting puzzle, but it's never emotionally involving."^[26] The Washington Post film critic Ann Hornaday negatively described the film as being "weird".^[27] 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."^[28]

Many critics and reviewers have noticed that the film contains an unusually high number of references to other films, even by Scorsese's standards. Most noticeably present are a number of Alfred Hitchcock films such as Vertigo and North by Northwest. According to oomska, there is even a glancing reference to The Wizard of Oz.^[29]

Box office

The film opened #1 at the box office with $41 million, according to studio estimates. The movie gave both Scorsese and DiCaprio their best box office opening yet.^[30]

The film remained #1 in its second weekend with $22.2 million.^[31] As of May 21, 2010 (2010 -05-21)^[update], the film has grossed $127,860,427 in North America and an estimated $166,500,000 in foreign markets, for a total of $293,796,367^[2] and became Scorsese's highest-grossing film worldwide.^[32]

Home release

The movie was released on Blu-ray and DVD on June 8, 2010. The Blu-ray includes a Behind the Shutters featurette that follows the film from its inception as an acclaimed novel through the production process and to the big screen, and an Into the Lighthouse feature that discusses the historical landscape of psychiatric therapies during the 1950s through interviews with cast and crew. The DVD features no extra material.^[33]

References

External links

• Official website
• Shutter Island at the Internet Movie Database
• Shutter Island at Allmovie
• Shutter Island at Box Office Mojo
• Shutter Island at Rotten Tomatoes
• Shutter Island at Metacritic

Dennis Lehane Bibliography Kenzie-Gennaro novels A Drink Before the War · Darkness, Take My Hand · Sacred · Gone, Baby, Gone · Prayers for Rain · Moonlight Mile Other works Mystic River · Shutter Island · Coronado: Stories · The Given Day Filmography Mystic River · The Wire · Gone Baby Gone · Shutter Island