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Shutter Island (film)

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Shutter Island
Theatrical poster
Directed byMartin Scorsese
Written byLaeta Kalogridis
Steven Knight (uncredited)
Dennis Lehane (Novel)
Produced byMartin Scorsese
Bradley J. Fischer
Mike Medavoy
Arnold W. Messer
StarringLeonardo DiCaprio
Ben Kingsley
Mark Ruffalo
Michelle Williams
CinematographyRobert Richardson
Edited byThelma Schoonmaker
Music byRobbie Robertson (supervision)
Production
companies
Phoenix Pictures
Appian Way Productions
Sikelia Productions
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
February 19, 2010 (2010-02-19)
Running time
138 min.
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$80 million [1]
Box office$204,396,224[2]

Shutter Island is a 2010 psychological mystery-thriller film directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Leonardo DiCaprio. The film is based on the 2003 novel of the same name by Dennis Lehane. Production started in March 2008. Shutter Island was originally slated to be released on October 2, 2009, but Paramount pushed the release date to February 19, 2010.[3] Paramount head executive Brad Grey blamed the recent economic downturn as the main decision behind the delayed release date.

Plot

In 1954, U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his partner, Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo), go to the Ashecliff Hospital for the criminally insane on Shutter Island. They are investigating the disappearance of Rachel Solando (Emily Mortimer), a patient who vanished from a locked room. Dr. John Cawley (Ben Kingsley), the head psychiatrist, explains that Rachel was institutionalized after drowning her three children. She believes, however, that she is still home and that her children are still alive.

The cliffs surrounding the perimeter make it impossible for Rachel to have reached the nearby caves. Teddy sees a lighthouse but is told it has already been searched. The Marshals question the staff and learn that Rachel’s psychiatrist, Dr. Sheehan, left for vacation that morning. Teddy asks to see the hospital’s personnel files but Cawley refuses. That night, Teddy has strange dreams about his wife, Dolores (Michelle Williams), who died in a fire two years before. She tells him Rachel is still on the island, as is Andrew Laeddis, the man who started the fire.

In the morning, they interview patients from Rachel’s group therapy sessions, one of whom passes Teddy a warning to run. Teddy explains to Chuck the real reason he took the case: after being transferred to Ashecliff, Andrew Laeddis disappeared. When Teddy investigated, he met a former patient who claimed that the facility was performing human experiments. Rachel is finally found near the lighthouse but she is unresponsive to Teddy’s questioning. He eventually finds George Noyce (Jackie Earle Haley), the man who told him about the experiments. George says that the whole situation is a game for Teddy’s benefit and that he is afraid of being taken to the lighthouse.

Teddy tries to reach the lighthouse and discovers a cave where the real Rachel Solando (Patricia Clarkson) is hiding. She was a doctor at Ashecliff until she found out about the experiments and was committed as a patient. She explains that the hospital is using psychotropic medication in an attempt to master mind control, with the goal of creating sleeper agents for use in the Cold War. She says that Teddy has been similarly drugged since he arrived on the island.

Teddy finally makes it to the lighthouse and finds Cawley waiting at the top. The doctor reveals that Teddy is actually Andrew Laeddis. He murdered his manic depressive wife after she drowned their three children, and then created a fantasy where he was a hero to cope with the pain. He invented Rachel Solando as part of his delusion. He has been under the care of Dr. Sheehan, the man he thought was Chuck, for two years. Sheehan and Cawley decided to try a roleplay experiment, allowing Andrew to live out his delusions in an attempt to bring him back to reality.

Andrew’s memory comes back and he makes peace with his past, but later, while talking to Dr. Sheehan, he once again refers to him as "Chuck", indicating either that Andrew once again believes he is Teddy, or that he IS in fact Teddy Daniels, and the the islands alleged nefarious purpose is a reality.

The only logical reason for the inclusion of the final scene in which the viewer is presented with a shot of the lighthouse, is to reaffirm that the conspiracy surrounding the island is true.

The series of flashbacks which afflict Teddy are meant to indicate that he is a broken man, which is the reason he eventually "gave in" to the plot that he is Andrew Laeddis, and eventually feigned the mental "setback" in order to effectively commit suicide.

In the second to last scene, Teddy asks Dr. Sheehan cryptically if he thinks it would be worse to live as a monster or die as a good man, indicating that he, Teddy Daniels, is about to die a good man, whilst Dr. Sheehan and the others will continue to live as duplicate monsters.

Given the current popularity of movies dealing with government conspiracies, and the general increase in interest surrounding conspiracies by the public and mass media, it would make much more sense if in fact the movie was about a covert government operation, then a movie dealing with the tragedy of mental illness.

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. The author'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.[4] Production began on March 6, 2008.[5]

Filming of the World War II flashback scenes for DiCaprio's character, a former soldier, took place in Taunton, Massachusetts.[6] Scorsese filmed the scenes in old industrial buildings in Taunton's Whittenton Mills Complex to replicate Dachau, a World War II concentration camp seen in flashbacks.[7] 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 Doctor 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.[8] Filming ended on July 2, 2008.[9]

No original soundtrack was written for the film. Instead, Scorsese made use of his long time 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]."[10]

Scorcese cited the great help of Ryan Sword (a.k.a. Skids) in the production of this film at the film's premiere.[11]

Cast

Music

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.[15] Paramount later announced it was going to push back the release date to February 19, 2010.[16] 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.[17]

The film premiered at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival as part of the competition screening on February 13, 2010.[18][19] 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.[20]

Critical reception

The film has received mainly positive reviews. It currently holds a 67% 'Fresh' rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 219 reviews with an average rating of 6.6/10.[21] It also received a weighted average score of 63 out of 100 from Metacritic based on 37 reviews from mainstream critics.[22]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."[23] 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."[24] 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."[25]

Of The Orlando Sentinel, Roger Moore, giving 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."[26] One mixed review includes Dana Stevens of Slate who described the film "an aesthetically and at times intellectually exciting puzzle, but it's never emotionally involving."[27] The Washington Post film critic Ann Hornaday negatively described the film as being "weird".[28] 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."[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] On its second weekend, the film remained #1 for a second-straight weekend with $22.2 million.[31] As of March 21, 2010, the film has grossed $118,355,000 in North America and $83,749,000 in foreign markets, for a total of $201,104,159 worldwide.[2]

References

  1. ^ "Films | Shutter Island". Dark Horizons. Retrieved 2010-02-18.
  2. ^ a b "Shutter Island (2010) - Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved February 28, 2010.
  3. ^ Finke, Nikki (2009-08-21). "SHOCKER! Paramount Moves Scorsese's 'Shutter Island' To February 19, 2010 – Deadline.com". Deadlinehollywooddaily.com. Retrieved 2010-02-18.
  4. ^ a b Fleming, Michael (October 22, 2007). "Scorsese, DiCaprio team for 'Island'". Variety. Retrieved January 8, 2008. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Mayberry, Carly (February 26, 2008). "Trio of stars in for 'Shutter'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 27, 2008. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  6. ^ Alspach, Kyle (March 8, 2008). "Raynham native plays Nazi soldier executed in Scorsese film". The Patriot Ledger. Retrieved May 21, 2008. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  7. ^ Downing, Vicki-Ann (March 8, 2008). "Film adaptation of Lehane's novel a boon to the region". The Enterprise. GateHouse Media. Retrieved May 21, 2008. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  8. ^ Riglian, Adam (April 14, 2008). "DiCaprio, Scorsese filming on Peddocks Island". The Patriot Ledger. Retrieved May 21, 2008. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  9. ^ Fee, Gayle (July 3, 2008). "DiCaprio, crew cap 'Ashecliffe' shoot". Boston Herald. Retrieved July 17, 2008. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  10. ^ "THE MUSIC OF MENACE FROM SHUTTER ISLAND | Paramount Pictures". Paramount.com. 2010-01-13. Retrieved 2010-02-18.
  11. ^ The Times. July 3, 2008 http://www.timesonline.com/entertainment/film/view/2008_07_03_needs_headline_2/. Retrieved July 17, 2008. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help); Missing or empty |title= (help)
  12. ^ Siegel, Tatiana (December 3, 2007). "Kingsley signs on to 'Shutter Island'". Variety. Retrieved January 8, 2008. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  13. ^ Fleming, Michael (December 6, 2007). "Michelle Williams joins 'Island'". Variety. Retrieved January 8, 2008. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  14. ^ Scream 2009: Exclusive Shutter Island Trailer
  15. ^ McClintock, Pamela (February 13, 2008). "'Star Trek' pushed back to 2009". Variety. Retrieved February 13, 2008. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  16. ^ Comingsoon.net
  17. ^ Finke, Nikki (August 21, 2009). "SHOCKER! Paramount Moves Scorsese's 'Shutter Island' To February 19, 2010". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved Oct. 29, 2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  18. ^ "Shutter Island", film file, Berlinale 2010.
  19. ^ Shutter Island (2010) - Awards
  20. ^ De Pablos, Emiliano (May 17, 2008). "Manga nabs 'Shutter Island'". Variety. Retrieved July 29, 2008. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  21. ^ "Shutter Island Movie Reviews, Pictures". Rotten Tomatoes. IGN Entertainment. Retrieved 2010-03-19. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  22. ^ "Shutter Island (2010): Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2010-03-19.
  23. ^ Toppman, Lawrence. "'Shutter' yields shudders — and ideas". The Charlotte Observer. Retrieved 2010-2-20. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  24. ^ Anderson, John. "Film Reviews: Scorsese's 'Shutter Island', Polanski's 'The Ghost Writer'". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2010-2-20. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  25. ^ Ebert, Roger (2010-2-17). "Shutter Island Review". rogerebert.suntimes.com. Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2010-2-20. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  26. ^ Moore, Roger (2010-2-17). "Movie Review: Shutter Island". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 2010-2-20. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  27. ^ Stevens, Dana (2010-2-18). "I'm Surrounded by Crazy People — Leo DiCaprio scrunches his face in Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island". Slate.com. Retrieved 2010-2-20. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  28. ^ "Critic Review for Shutter Island "Shutter Island," a gothic thriller starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo, were put to a free association test, the word most likely to come to mind would certainly be "weird."". Washington Post. Retrieved 2010-2-10. If "Shutter Island," a gothic thriller starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo, were put to a free association test, the word most likely to come to mind would certainly be "weird." {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  29. ^ Scott, A.O. (2010-2-19). "Movie Review — Shutter Island". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-2-20. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  30. ^ Germain, David (2010-2-21, 1:22 pm ET). "`Shutter Island' makes waves with $40.2M debut". Associated Press. Yahoo! News. Retrieved 2010-2-21. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  31. ^ Germain, David (2010-2-28, 2:05 PM EDT). "'Shutter Island' stays afloat at No. 1 with $22.2M". Associated Press. Yahoo! News. Retrieved 2010-2-28. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
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