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we did see that thing
Feb. 28th, 2010 10:38 amWent out late Friday and saw the SHUTTER ISLAND. One reviewer described it as Scorcese slumming in pulptown the way Kubrick stooped to conquer with THE SHINING, and while SHUTTER ISLAND is no SHINING, the description is apt. Scorsese's latest is a sprawling, oppressive clutter that comes close in parts to not working. It might not work for you, but it worked for us; the end credits roll and I'm muttering "Marty, you magnificent bastard, you've done it again."
I don't want to give away crucial plot details. I mean obviously this is a film where Things Are Not As They Seem, but the truth you think the movie is about may or may not actually be the truth the movie actually IS about. Which is fine, you will be watching Leo do his twitchy postwar hard boiled cop thing and Kingsley do his foppy overeducated psychologist thing and Max Von Sydow absolutely conjure up the ghost of Dr. Fredric Wertham, and Ted Freakin' Levine, whom we last saw prancing around as serial killer Buffalo Bill in SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, just about steals the film in his precious few moments as the Patton-esque warden. And the gorgeous location shooting doesn't hurt.
As I said it might not work for you, Scorsese is working a difficult game here and there are a few moments where you can see his metaphorical feet slip on the metaphorical tightrope, where his metaphorical hands slip on the metaphorical steering wheel, and you think he's going to run off the metaphorical road. I have seen it happen in other films and when it does you leave the theater feeling cheated and disgusted, angry. Not SHUTTER ISLAND, not for us.
It's curious, the subject matter of SHUTTER ISLAND is a lot pulpier, more sensationalistic than the historical pomposity of GANGS OF NEW YORK (and don't get me wrong, historical pomposity is what I loved about it) or the mob-police con-game of THE DEPARTED - there isn't anything like DEPARTED's bombastic Pogues-fueled lockup scene in SHUTTER ISLAND, which winds up being a lot less "epic" or straightforward than either of those pictures. Strange for something that grows from such pulpy roots.
I don't want to give away crucial plot details. I mean obviously this is a film where Things Are Not As They Seem, but the truth you think the movie is about may or may not actually be the truth the movie actually IS about. Which is fine, you will be watching Leo do his twitchy postwar hard boiled cop thing and Kingsley do his foppy overeducated psychologist thing and Max Von Sydow absolutely conjure up the ghost of Dr. Fredric Wertham, and Ted Freakin' Levine, whom we last saw prancing around as serial killer Buffalo Bill in SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, just about steals the film in his precious few moments as the Patton-esque warden. And the gorgeous location shooting doesn't hurt.
As I said it might not work for you, Scorsese is working a difficult game here and there are a few moments where you can see his metaphorical feet slip on the metaphorical tightrope, where his metaphorical hands slip on the metaphorical steering wheel, and you think he's going to run off the metaphorical road. I have seen it happen in other films and when it does you leave the theater feeling cheated and disgusted, angry. Not SHUTTER ISLAND, not for us.
It's curious, the subject matter of SHUTTER ISLAND is a lot pulpier, more sensationalistic than the historical pomposity of GANGS OF NEW YORK (and don't get me wrong, historical pomposity is what I loved about it) or the mob-police con-game of THE DEPARTED - there isn't anything like DEPARTED's bombastic Pogues-fueled lockup scene in SHUTTER ISLAND, which winds up being a lot less "epic" or straightforward than either of those pictures. Strange for something that grows from such pulpy roots.
