Martin Scorsese was inspired by three things prior to making Shutter Island:
1. B-Movies
2. Alfred Hitchcock
3. Good Cinematography
These are all evident with this feature - I was hesitant to see this film, the trailer and the overall marketing of the film proposed the vision that Scorsese had sold himself out to Hollywood, to the mainstream.
How wrong I was - Indeed, Scorsese does follow with the tradition of thrillers with this feature, there is the antagonist, private detective, Teddy Daniels (Leonardo Dicaprio) and the protagonist being the institution, Shutter Island. Or so it seems at first glance.
The film is particularly successful in delivering the sensitive nature of mental health care in the fifties. The horror of the fifties mental health system is a political message in Shutter Island - As well as this, the political message of an ex-war veteran is one of the more current issues that the film focuses on.
Teddy Daniels is a broken man, bruised and clearly still haunted by the horror he witnessed at war. Without giving too much away, there are many twists in the film, the ending is particularly touching leaving not even the slightest crumb of comfort to the audience.
These issues distinguish Scorsese's feature from the usual mainstream thrillers that usually carry Capitalist, anti-feminist and conventional messages.
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