Jack Winstanley

Honors ELA III

Mr. Probert, pd. 4
April 13, 2014

The Importance of Shutter Island

In 2010, director Martin Scorsese would release Shutter Island, his debut film
to the physiological thriller genre and also one of his most critically acclaimed films
to date. Based on a 2003 novel by the same name, written by Dennis Lehane, the
film follows two United States Federal Marshalls who embark a wild goose chase to
find an allegedly escaped asylum inmate. Through out their search and
investigation, the marshals find that the island on which the asylum sits, and the
people on the island including themselves, are much more than they originally
thought to be. The film delves deep into many deep and complicated themes such as
identity, the influence of past experiences, and the concept of reality, and begs the
readers to form their own thoughts and feelings as the film goes. Martin Scorsese
alone has been hailed for his directing and producing mastery, going all the way
back to his first major film Mean Streets in 1973, and holding true through 1976s
Taxi Driver, 1990s Goodfellas, and 2006s, The Departed. Scorsese puts all of his
talent to good use in Shutter Island, making excellent use of characterization,
perspective along with flashbacks, and suspense through out the film.
The way in which Shutter Island portrays and develops each of its characters
through out the coarse of the film is one of its most important characteristics. None
of the characters are very clearly defined in the beginning of the film, in fact, they
arent even clearly defined by the end of the film. Part of why Shutter Island is so
captivating is because of its ability to take everything you thought you knew about
the character, and completely change it by the end. Top critic for Film.com, C. Robert
Cargill wrote in his review of the film that he felt the characters were brilliantly
crafted., and they do hold true to that statement. The most prominent example of
this ability is Leonardo DiCaprios character, Edward Teddy Daniels and his
transformation over the course of his adventure on the island. His partner, Chuck
Aule is the complete opposite of Daniels, and those differences often times bring out
more and more about each of the characters. Ben Kingslys character, Dr. John
Cawley, is another great example of the films characterization techniques, due to the
amount of mystery that surrounds him. For each and every one of the characters
you meet along the way in Shutter Island, you have to figure everything about them
for yourself.
The main character on the island is Marshall Edward Teddy Daniels, one of
the two marshals dispatched to the island and the protagonist of the film. Upon his
arrival on the island, he carries a very lofty, smarmy, and magnanimous attitude
towards the guards and warden as if he feels like he is above them. He constantly
wears an excruciatingly dour expression on his face and is always flexed with his
shoulders raised. He moves very sharply and aggressively in a giant show of faux-
bravery. This is quickly undermined by his hesitation in surrendering his firearm to
the warden upon admittance to the facility. His refusal to give up his gun shows that
while he may appear to be tough on the outside, he really relies on his gun for a
feeling of safety and true authority. His partner Chuck Aule is the exact opposite of
Daniels. He is well dressed and clean shaven, contrary to Daniels baggy clothes and
rugged characteristics. He stands up straight, cooperates with the Warden and Dr.
Cawley, and behaves in a way that gets him what he wants and needs in order to
properly complete his job. Often times he implores Daniels to take a step back and
think instead of rushing into things as he often does, and more often than not he
ended up being onto something. Aule can be seen as Daniels voice of reason through
out the movie.
The bulk of the story unfolds from the perspective how the characters
perceive things to be, rather than what is actually happening. This creates some very
interesting scenes where the viewer is forced to think about whether or not the
events unfolding in front of them are actually happening, or just what a character
thinks is happening. The bulk of the film is told through the perspective of Teddy
Daniels as he is the one leading the investigation on the island. Where this takes a
slow but interesting turn is when Daniels mental health deteriorates and slowly
breaks apart. You see him become more panicky and jumpy and superstitious. In the
later half of the film he does truly see things that are only happening in his head. The
most notable example of this is when he sees himself shooting Dr. Cawley, despite
the gun being a fake. In the end, his perspective was all just in his head and nothing
more than a complete figment of his imagination. Chuck Aule was really his
therapist, not a marshal. And Teddy, was just an inmate. This becomes more clear
when you look at the beginning shot and closing shot. In those two scenes, you see a
much older Chuck Aule getting ready to, and just finishing, telling the events of that
investigation to his wife. That all begs the question though. Whos perspective are
we really seeing? Dana Stevens of Slate magazine wrote that "an aesthetically and
an intellectually exciting puzzle when talking about the perspective and plot of the
story.
Many flashbacks are used through out the film to give insight to the past
experiences of Teddy Daniels and to also hint to, and ultimately explain, his mental
illness. There are three main series of flashbacks that Daniels has over the course of
the film. The first go back to his involvement in the liberation of the concentration
camp at Dachau during World War II. There he witnesses the botched suicide of the
commandant, the mass execution of the guards and staff, and the mounds of frozen
and mangled corpses of dead Jews and children. The second series are those from
the city apartment. We are led to believe by one of the flashbacks that the apartment
was burnt down by an arsonists and his wife was just in the wrong place at the
wrong time, and was unfortunately killed in the blaze. The third flashbacks take
place at the lakeside cabin where Daniels children were drowned. But in the end, we
learn that the only real flashback was the one from Dachau. His wife didnt die in a
fire, we intentionally burnt down the apartment as an attempted suicide. When they
moved to the cabin to get away, she drowned the children. Teddy refuses to accept
this as being true, so build up these mental movies where it is all unexplained and he
is just a simple observer to these events. He denies ever knowing the children out of
denial for their death. He sees their faces in the bodies at Dachau. He holds his wifes
body as it turns to ash in the apartment. 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."
All of these flashbacks help guide us to just how intriguing and puzzling Shutter
Island is.
Where the film truly excels is in its use of suspense to really grasp the viewer
and pull them in. In regards to the atmosphere, the film is very dreary and dark. The
lack of ability to really see into the surroundings evokes this visceral feeling if dread,
fear, and paranoia. All of this becomes highlighted in the chase scene through the
abandoned fort-turned-mental institution where there are few lights, few sounds,
and many dark, open spaces. Even in these open spaces, the darkness and silence
make them feel small and restricting. Never knowing what is going to happen in the
coming seconds and not even being able to predict what the outcome will be proves
to be a very tactful way of keeping an viewer entranced. Part of what make the film
so addicting is the lack of an explanation. Everyone wants to see the happy ending
where everything works out just fine, but you dont get that with Shutter Island. You
get this physiological rollercoaster that only goes in ninety-degree angles, and lasts
for a little over two hours. You want to see the end just to figure out what is really
happening, and better yet, whether or not any of it is real. Scorsese brings all of this
to life in a way that only he could do, and his way of directing the film really sucks
you in and never lets go of you. Famed film critic Roger Ebert wrote 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.". The suspense and puzzles behind Shutter
Island really do allow it to stand out amongst all other films of the genre.
Umberto Eco wrote, "Two clichs make us laugh but a hundred clichs move
us, because we sense dimly that the clichs are talking among themselves,
celebrating a reunion." Shutter Island takes the clichs to a whole new level and
makes them something so much more than what they were previously. It truly is a
phenomenal film, and one of Martin Scorsese best. Its exquisite use of
characterization, flashbacks, perspective, and suspense really allow it to stand out in
the thriller genre.












Jack Winstanley

Essay Edits

1. Thesis statement is properly highlighted with green

2. All quotes are now properly highlighted with yellow

3. Revised and added to the introductory sentence in the paragraph on
characters in order to add some more fluidity

4. Added some extra adjective to the description of Teddy Daniels in order to
more fully convey his characteristics

5. Reworked the introductory sentence the paragraph on flashbacks to make it
less choppy and more proper

6. Added to some of the body sentences in the paragraph on flashbacks in order
to more fully explain the purpose of the flashbacks.

7. Reworked the grammar for a sentence in the 4
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paragraph in order to have
the sentence make more sense

8. Added to the introductory sentence of the 4
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paragraph in order to make it
sound much smoother

9. Added to the description of the fort in order to better convey the atmosphere
that it creates during its scenes

10. Spelling errors fixed in the 4
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paragraph