Shutter Island

Shutter Island is the latest film to come from the lenses of Oscar winner (The Departed) and living legend, Martin Scorsese. The screenplay was written by Laeta Kalogridis based on the novel by Dennis Lehane.
It's 1954, a time where all the men are called Frank and all the women are called Betty. Everyone is getting over World War II and America is in the midst of it's fascination with bombs and television.
We first meet Federal Marshals Edward 'Teddy' Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo) as they make their way on a ferry from mainland Massachusetts to Shutter Island, an 'Alcatraz' style mental institution for the criminally insane. After chucking his guts up a few times, no thanks to rough seas, Teddy walks out on deck to meet his new partner for the first time.
On the island and after a discussion with chief psychiatrist Dr John Cawley (Sir Ben Kingsley) they find out a female inmate, sorry, patient, Rachel Solando (Emily Mortimer) has escaped from a locked room and the Marshals are there to find her.
Sounds simple. Pfft, yeah right.
Haunted by flashbacks from his days as a soldier who helped liberate the Dachau concentration camp that was piled with dead bodies frozen in the snow, and recent visions of his dead wife (Dolores - Michelle Williams) who was killed when their house was burnt down by a man called Andrew Laeddis, Teddy's world seems to be falling apart around him the moment he steps foot on the island. Somethings not quite right. He's plagued by migraines and the stress of the investigation is taking it's toll. Eager to solve the case and get off the island, Teddy uncovers a conspiracy that links secret experiments conducted by the asylum to experiments the Nazi's did in their death camps. Or does he.... dun dun duuuuuuun.
I guessed the ending after watching the trailer, which is always a bummer, but the journey in between and how they got there was a surprise. The shoot must have been pretty horrible; everything was cold, wet and damp with howling storms raging across the island and gusts of wind blowing everyone here and there. The island itself seemed to be trying to stop Teddy and his partner from finding out the truth.
It was great to see Mark Ruffalo and John Carroll (who plays Deputy Warden McPherson) reunited, their last film together was Zodiac in which Ruffalo played Inspector David Toschi and Lynch was Zodiac suspect Leigh Allen. With a cast that also includes Max Von Sydow, Jackie Earl Haley, Ted Levine and Elias Koteas (who I actually thought was De Niro in the trailer!)(they look so alike!), Scorsese sure fills his characters with very talented actors.
Was is a Scorsese film though? I've seen a few of his films and this didn't really fit into the usual Scorsese 'mould'. Perhaps it would have been more suited to someone like Brian De Palma or even David Lynch. There were enough dream sequences of smoke filled rooms and red curtains to make Lynch feel right at home. Maybe I need to watch a few more of Marty's movies to understand his way better.
All in all, it was a very enjoyable film, definitely one to watch again... you'll see why. I'd love to read the book to see how it all plays out on paper.
Things I learnt: best get one of those magnetic bracelets when travelling on rough seas, if you think you're crazy you probably aren't, DiCaprio can blow smoke up is nose pretty darn well.
Eight out of ten.