Shutter Island

Shutter Island starring Leonardo DiCaprio is a film that explores the idea of a government body or other institution and the power they can have over people. Teddy, an government official, and his partner Chuck are sent to Shutter Island, a prison for mentally ill patients, to investigate the escape of a criminal. A storm prevents Chuck and Teddy from being able to leave the island when they feel it was necessary. The two are forced to remain on the island, which leads to a series of events that further confuses the finale of the movie. The viewer is given hints during the movie that there is something more going on that just an investigation. It is difficult to tell if the people who are running the prison are on the side of the investigators or if there is something more going on.

The director uses scenes that are unclear to the viewer if they are real or not to give clues that the ending may be open ended. Some scenes involve ghost figures, or clips that seem like they cannot be real in the context of what we had just seen before it began. Some scenes, like the one in the prison cell with the man that Teddy apparently knows, are more obvious clues. However, the clips following suck you right back in to what you thought the original plot was. There is another scene with the inmate Rachel. She explains to Teddy what is really happening on the island. Around that same time, we also discover that Teddy's wife had drowned his four children in a lake. At this point, you feel as if you have the movie figured out. However, as the film progresses, the director manages to change your mind over and over.

The lighting in the movie is very dark. This gives the film a very dark and mysterious feel. The storm that traps them on the island is another method the director uses to set the mood and tone for the film.

Along with leaving me utterly confused, this movie really struck me in regards to the way that we as humans are so easily manipulated by authority. In Shutter Island, Teddy is given "headache medicine" that confuses him and allows the prison employees to convince him that what they are telling him is true. While our government is not giving out medicine that manipulates us to do what they want, we do tend to fall in line with whatever they say is correct. This applies not only government, but all of they other "they say" traps we fall into. Anything from dieting to where we live is usually based on what we have been told works and works best. In my opinion, the director of this movie purposely left it open ended, number one for entertainment, but also so that we would dwell on the deeper meaning that he had placed in the film.