For all of those people who are adamant about not having the slightest spoilers revealed to them, don't worry. I'm not going to reveal any secrets regarding the plotline of Shutter Island......or am I?.....I could just be a CRAZY person who actually has a long, insane history of revealing the plotlines of the movies and tv shows du jour--how the hell would you ever know? Egggggsactly.
So with that introduction, I don't think I've ever walked out of a movie theater not knowing if I actually liked or disliked the film I just saw--but that's exactly how I felt after seeing Shutter Island. It's positive and negative qualities appear to exist in perfect counter-balancing equilibrium, and it is really bothering the shit out of me.
The rational part of me wants to list and organize all of the things I enjoyed about the movie, then present all of the things I did not enjoy--like I would with any movie I watch. But I can't with this movie because my thoughts are so hopelessly jumbled. So bear with me, here are my stream of consciousness, sane-maybe-not-sane takes on my trip to Shutter Island:
--Even though I'm not a huge fan of Scorsese's films, in general, I have to admit the guy does a bang-up job here of creating palpable moods from camera shots, set pieces, weather (wind, rain, and lightning), music, and all of that good stuff. I don't think Scorsese (or anybody) could have done a better job establishing the setting and mood.
--While I find fedoras and suits with overcoats to be super slick and cool, as an online NYT commenter said, "it looks like DiCaprio is wearing his dad's clothes." And ugh, Leo's hair! I wanted to take some clippers and taper up the sides and back--erasing the line of demarcation between the short and long hair.
--The acting is top notch from top to bottom and the dialog is pretty engaging.
--The story is super tense. While I can't say that I totally empathized with any of the characters, I still really wanted to get to the bottom of what was happening.
--Unless I'm watching a war documentary, I find Holocaust atrocity imagery to be pretty heavy-handed and unnecessary--especially since we can't even rely on Teddy Daniel's observations in the movie.
--Ah yes, the elephant in the room--the Unreliable Narrator, FTW! I think Shutter Island is "cheap" and fails in this regard, because even though the 'hints' and foreshadowing aren't at all subtle, the viewer is forced to dismiss them because everybody the crazy person is interacting with is corroborating his insane story as reality!!!--misdirection is one thing, but I feel like this is flat-out dishonest. I mean, this crazy and violent person is out of confinement and allowed to "investigate" the institution while all staff members just play along? The orderlies are cool with bunking next to this insane dude night after night all as part of this game? And the lead doctor at this mental institution is claiming this as part of the treatment? Are you shitting me? Is this like the Montessori method to mental health and rehabilitation? Gotta cry 'bullshit' on this.
--I can't help but think any ending other than "Golly, you mean I've been bat-shit crazy for 2+ years" would have been a better conclusion to this story. I guess it goes to show how important the ending really is...all of that scenery, mood, and acting wasted....gack!
And it really is this last point that has me so flustered about this movie--has the 'unreliable narrator' become so cliché as a plot device that no one can ever salvage it?
4 comments:
Really great point about the entire island playing along on this we-have-to-convince-you-that-you're-crazy gambit. I never thought of that. That's super bullshit.
I don't know if I agree with your point on the unreliable narrator, because when it's done well (A Clockwork Orange, Goodfellas, Memento), it's awesome.
Yeah, thanks for reminding me of some films where it can work. But this use of "Oh yeah, I'm the crazy one" seemed better suited to an M. Night Shyamalan film than it did a Scorsese film.
But if you would pardon my ignorance, how is Ray Liotta an unreliable narrator in Goodfellas? It's been a while since I saw it....
It's revealed at the end of the movie, after he's turned on his gang and is testifying against Robert DeNiro and Paul Sorvino. He continues the narration that's gone on throughout the movie, but there's a cut and he looks directly at and talks to the camera. His voice-over was his testimony against his mob family. If you go back and look at the movie, you'll notice that Liotta's character never does anything really that bad. He hits some guys, runs some numbers, and does some coke, but all the mayhem and murder he never knows about and attributes to Joe Pesci or DeNiro, leading one to suspect that his sweet-deal testimony is really just him covering his own ass.
Not to get all film geek on you (too late!), Scorsese then hammers this notion home when at the very end of the film, when Liotta is bitching about life in the suburbs, he's shown walking out of his new house to pick up the morning paper and he again looks at the camera. The scene then cuts to a shot of Joe Pesci (long since dead in the story) pointing a gun at the camera and shooting multiple times, a direct nod to a famous scene in The Great Train Robbery. It then cuts back to Ray Liotta who kind of laughs and turns to walk back into his house. All this while Sid Vicious' version of "My Way" blasts on the soundtrack.
The reference to an old movie, a piece of fiction, and the breaking of the rule about looking at the camera suggests to me that Liotta's character's story is total bullshit -- it's just another piece of fiction -- and he just sold out his friends so he wouldn't have to go to jail.
That's how you do the unreliable narrator trick, people!
Ah, I see, I totally missed that in Goodfellas.
The thing about Shutter Island currently bugging me, now that it is #1 at the box office, is how the tv spots are claiming it has a "killer twist ending" that will "keep you guessing".
Keep me guessing?!? I suppose that's accurate -- at the end of the movie, I had to guess how high the bullshit was being piled over the course of the last 2 hours, since no one in the movie seemed to notice...
Post a Comment