The Simmons Voice

Issue date: 2/25/10 Section: Arts & Entertainment

Media Credit: Darryl Wooten A scene from Shutter Island. Darryl Wooten (far right) played an orderly.

Shutter Island recently hit the silver screen and is proving to be everything it was rumored to be. The 138-minute Martin Scorsese film moves at a swift pace with spectacular cinematography. Never does a scene lag, and one demands more from the director.

Originally, the film was set to be rated PG-13 to reach a younger audience, however, the required editing would have depleted the story-line. Thus the R rating is not only a reflection of the content of the film, but was a necessity in order to tell the story.

The film is a psychological thriller, "a cross between One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, Schindler's List, LA Confidential with a touch of Psycho," critiqued Darryl Wooten, an extra on the set. "I even told Mr. Scorsese, and he said, 'Oh, I like that. I'm going to use that.'"

Scorsese is celebrated for films such as Hitchcock, Otto Preminger, and Jacques Tourneur; Leonardo DiCaprio is similarly honored with comparisons to actors like Jimmy Stewart.

Shutter Island is enriched with thought-provoking plot twists ("Food for thought," Wooten says), that allows one to view the film on a superficial plane and be satisfied, entertained, and enthralled. Or, one could delve deeper into the perplexing conspiracies embedded in the storyline and character development. Paranoia spreads through the movie like an infectious disease; DiCaprio's character says, "As if craziness were catching."

The movie without a doubt requires a second, a third, or fourth viewing to understand all its complexities.

Scorsese remains the master of film. He directs his productions with as much detail as Homer. He masterfully employs ploce, having key characters repeat select words and phrases throughout. In addition, using a limited third-person narrative, Scorsese plays with the mind of the audience, making them question the truth of the narrator.

Parallels and juxtapositions abound, as well as doubling-or even tripling characters. Furthermore, the plot-line develops in such a secretive way that the audience is like a "rat in a maze," questioning every turn and fork, never knowing what will come next.

The film actually has three or four endings. The whole production was conducted in strict secrecy. Extras were told that "Leonardo was the most dangerous person on this island," Wooten divulged, yet, during the film's production, it was never revealed why. Everyone and everything was kept in the dark.

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