Shutter Island

It's a nice movie for two reasons: First, it's directed by Martin Scorsese. Second, it doesn't feel like it's directed by Martin Scorsese.

Now those two may seem contradictory at first, but they're not. Martin Scorsese is one of the most engaging directors in Hollywood today, and his films draw you deep into the world it creates. What you can expect from a Scorsese picture is clear storytelling, powerful performances, basic yet really effective camera work.

Now on to the second point. Scorsese's style is different in the sense that he has no style. Or it seems that he has none. That's because of his versatility. You cannot really definitely say that a film is Scorsese's based on the visuals or the narrative style. Scorsese can actually direct anything. I bet he could direct a romantic comedy if he wanted to. But I don't think he's into that sort of thing.

Anyway, probably the only indicator that this is a Martin Scorsese picture is Leonardo DiCaprio. I think DiCaprio is to Scorsese as Tom Hanks is to Steven Spielberg. Or maybe that's not such a good analogy. DiCaprio is like Scorsese's muse. But I don't think Hanks is Spielberg's muse. I'm not entirely sure, really.

Mark Ruffalo plays the sidekick so well that he doesn't even try be anything but a sidekick. He's a great team player, Ruffalo. Ben Kingsley, on the other hand, is subtly annoying. You'll hate him at first because of his villainous sneer. But then when he turns out to be not so bad after all, you'll realize that his sneer is actually an annoying smile. Brilliant.


*some info from IMDb
pic from movie-vault.com


Shutter Island. USA. 2010.


Rating: Seven point nine out of ten.
Number of times Scorsese's name is mentioned in this review: Ten.