Shutter Island Review

So here's my first film review post.

The Inquire (student newspaper) entertainment head honcho only gave me 200 words to work with, so I found it extremely hard to really talk about the film, and over did it slightly by ending up with just over 300 words, but it will have to do.

Expect a Ponyo on the Cliff review on friday, I have a word limit of 500 for that one which pleases me GREATLY.

Shutter Island:

Scorsese.
There, I said it. A name that will bring in a flurry of eager fans to the box office, a name you don’t even need to be a film fanatic to recognise. His latest film brings him back together with his recent muse of DiCaprio, but does Shutter Island manage to stand out proud amongst the director’s previous body of work?

For a start it fits into the ambiguous genre of thriller/horror. The first half of it is reminiscent of old horror masterpieces such as Argento’s, Suspiria, blending a sense of sinister mystery with moments of horror as DiCaprio’s, Police Marshall investigates a missing patient in an insane asylum. The asylum is of course situated on an island that appears just as menacing as King Kong’s own Skull Island.

The violent editing during the first half keeps the audience swept up in the mystery and adds a tireless urgency to the unravelling film, while the spattering of close-ups of fences, barbed wire and locked gates keeps up the sense of claustrophobia. There are also wonderful undertones of gothic horror, the only thing missing being a cameo from the late Vincent Price.

Dicaprio gives his best crazy eye, gathering a storm of intensity throughout, his performance only challenged by one thing; his ridiculously intense tie.
When things comes to a climax it must be said that the final twist is some what unfulfilling, but the build up is so well handled it negates the negative feeling the initial twist leaves, with the subtly ambiguous final line of the film making up for it.

So overall, a very entertaining film, blending moments of beautiful film-making seen in the dream sequences involving Michelle Williams, while also appealing to the other members of the audience who want an occasional horrific thrill and sprawling yet enjoyable mystery.