tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211112229982829419.post7672468481373145861..comments2022-03-24T16:11:50.124-04:00Comments on The Man From Porlock: Losing Your Head (Shutter Island)Craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01450775188328918558noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211112229982829419.post-56934364469787692312010-03-26T09:36:45.650-04:002010-03-26T09:36:45.650-04:00Thanks, Dondi. Hadn't thought of Jack Nicholso...Thanks, Dondi. Hadn't thought of Jack Nicholson, but you have a point there. Maybe he rubbed off on Leo in <i>The Departed.</i>Craighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01450775188328918558noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211112229982829419.post-67716704827589049922010-03-25T11:45:56.598-04:002010-03-25T11:45:56.598-04:00You are bang on in every respect Craig. Nice revie...You are bang on in every respect Craig. Nice review.<br /><br />It was driving me nuts (bdum tish) where I'd seen this before...till I remembered The Ninth Configuration.<br /><br />I would also add that Leo seems to be increasingly channeling Jack Nicholson in his performances these days...Dondinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211112229982829419.post-91465763062997141662010-02-28T15:13:50.159-05:002010-02-28T15:13:50.159-05:00Thanks for your thoughts, Kevin. I do agree that S...Thanks for your thoughts, Kevin. I do agree that Shutter Island is too long, both in the early going and the backstretch. I think it was Hokahey who, in his review, mentioned that the dream sequence where Daniels' wife turns to ash would have been smashing had it been cut in half. The rhythms are off in that scene, and in the rest of the movie too -- I think because, as Tom Shone <a href="http://tomshone.blogspot.com/2010/02/based-on-exceptionally-tricky-2003.html" rel="nofollow">put it</a>, Scorsese has never been and never will be a "genre director." He always tries to transform a genre exercise into something heavier, and invariably it collapses under the weight.Craighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01450775188328918558noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211112229982829419.post-78477091123376455722010-02-27T19:15:04.136-05:002010-02-27T19:15:04.136-05:00I saw this yesterday and I have to say that I had ...I saw this yesterday and I have to say that I had the complete opposite reaction you did. Maybe I'm weird in that I don't care about twist endings that much. I went into the film thinking it was going to be nothing more than a genre exercise, and I was surprised by how much exposition there was. If the film commits any kind of crime it's that it overstays its welcome by about 20 minutes. <br /><br />I thought the reveal was entertaining enough even if it was predictable...but I knew thematically it wasn't going to be one of Scorsese's deeper films...so I just sat back and enjoyed it on a completely visceral level. <br /><br />Oh, and Mark Ruffalo steals every scene away from Leo. He was great in this. <br /><br />Great thoughts as usual, Craig. I liked what you said about "The Ninth Configuration" and "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge." Having only read the latter I see where you're coming from in regards to surprise-inversion films, but I've only seen the film version of Blatey's novel...so I can't comment on what you're saying there; although, you have me really intrigued and I think I'm going to see if my library has the novel.Kevin J. Olsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17275402809912728035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211112229982829419.post-29037844008869587902010-02-25T01:57:00.835-05:002010-02-25T01:57:00.835-05:00My friend and I both enjoyed the film and I commen...My friend and I both enjoyed the film and I commented afterward on the surface similarity to the plot of the little-known Blatty book/film. But what thrilled me while watching SI, during the cave scene, after which for a time I wasn't sure of either reality; Daniel's or the doctor's. It got me thinking about Foucault how sanity and versions of reality are tied to power. I think it was in Madness and Civilization.Darren Emanuelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09497828724997598107noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211112229982829419.post-2728678730472434112010-02-23T20:38:58.953-05:002010-02-23T20:38:58.953-05:00Thanks, Fernando. Honestly, I wouldn't mind an...Thanks, Fernando. Honestly, I wouldn't mind an outright lark from Scorsese at this point. (What was his last one...<i>After Hours</i>?) I'd go easier on <i>Shutter Island</i> if it were a B-movie without pretense. But if Marty's going to glop on Dachau and infanticide, then I expect him to actually say something about those things. Or cast a leading man who can.<br /><br />Curious what you'll think of <i>The Ninth Configuration</i>. I wouldn't say it's "good," exactly, but it's damned memorable, with a great performance from Stacy Keach and a jaw-dropping barroom brawl set-piece that had to influenced Lynch on some level, its sheer weirdness soaring to eleven on a scale of ten.Craighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01450775188328918558noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211112229982829419.post-59203486260801782222010-02-23T16:52:36.811-05:002010-02-23T16:52:36.811-05:00Spot-on review, Craig. Between the risible special...Spot-on review, Craig. Between the risible special-guest loonies, the BLAM-BLAM-BLAM soundtrack and DiCaprio's exhausting brow-furrowing, I'm afraid this one just further cements my feeling that Scorsese, for all the self-conscious passion, has become monumentally lazy. I used to worship the guy in my misspent youth, but the whole "It's Scorsese so it must be important" (non)critical attitude does art no favors.<br /><br />And, damn it, I still need to see <i>The Ninth Configuration</i>.Fernando F. Crocehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05934811626066160149noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211112229982829419.post-4795188847304630282010-02-22T21:32:21.681-05:002010-02-22T21:32:21.681-05:00As soon as I started reading your review, I though...As soon as I started reading your review, I thought, hm, Ninth Configuration, right? Right. NC was a fun movie as well as one that delved into the profound and was loaded with symbolism. Sounds like I can give SI a miss.Corey Wildehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05566740230330395590noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211112229982829419.post-24732197950280627162010-02-22T18:24:03.560-05:002010-02-22T18:24:03.560-05:00Thanks all for your comments.
To clarify one gene...Thanks all for your comments.<br /><br />To clarify one general thread of conversation, my point about "The Ninth Configuration" is more literary than cinematic. Yes, there are other films with superficially similar plots to "Shutter Island" ("Cabinet of Dr. Caligari," "Spellbound," etc.), but there are *a lot* of similarities between Lehane's premise and Blatty's, enough I think to warrant an explanation on Lehane's part.<br /><br />That said, when I see a plot twist like the one in "Shutter Island" (or "The Sixth Sense") coming from a mile away, it does dampen my enjoyment of the movie. I guessed the twist to "The Usual Suspects" before the big reveal as well, but there were enough other things going on in that film that I loved it anyway. For me, "The Usual Suspects" has enough wit and energy and interesting characters and situations not to *depend* on the twist for its effects as desperately as "Shutter Island" does.<br /><br />Turning over certain elements of "Shutter Island" in my mind, I can appreciate them (e.g., the "clue" Daniels finds under the tile in the room that seemed laughably obvious). I still find little of interest in the movie as a whole, though.<br /><br />inessentials --<br /><br /><i>Rather, allowing oneself trust both the director and the genre conventions allow one to be *thrilled* by the film. It may not be the most complex feeling that can be achieved by film, but it's a pretty great one when it happens.</i><br /><br />You're right, It is a great feeling. For me, though, that kind of trust usually happens from a filmmaker who actively engages me (which Scorsese has done before), not one who asks me to surrender. That's a big problem I have with auteurs in general -- whether it's Scorsese being mechanical ("Shutter Island"), Mann being opaque ("Public Enemies") or Spielberg being lazy ("Indiana Jones and the Whatever....").Craighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01450775188328918558noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211112229982829419.post-66064212376610433512010-02-22T10:00:02.341-05:002010-02-22T10:00:02.341-05:00Nice critique. I didn't know about The Ninth ...Nice critique. I didn't know about <i>The Ninth Configuration</i>, but one could also bring up films going back to <i>The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari</i> (as Anne Petersen has done). I think my basic problem with the movie boiled down to plausibility. I couldn't buy that the psychiatrist allowed DiCaprio's character to indulge in his fantasies, blow up his car, and knock out a guard just to help him learn. I prefer the more sinister interpretation of asylum authorities in films such as <i>One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest</i>.The Film Doctor https://www.blogger.com/profile/03073505923746994988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211112229982829419.post-47831103192957476452010-02-22T08:49:44.090-05:002010-02-22T08:49:44.090-05:00I think Shutter Island works (or doesn't) as c...I think Shutter Island works (or doesn't) as cinematic spectacle, and being too concerned with the film's source material is going to lead you astray. The scenes that work (approaching the island, meeting Jackie Earle Haley in Ward C, dream of Michelle Williams in an ash-strewn apartment) do so because they are built by a still-got-it craftsman who really knows how to frame and edit. The ones that don't (the showdown with the overrated Patricia Clarkson, the big reveal in the lighthouse) fail to work because they probe for some deeper emotional resonance from the dialogue, the acting, and the plotting.<br /><br />In a film with a mixed bag of performances (I was unmoved by DiCaprio and Clarkson, tickled by Ruffalo, Mortimer, and Kingsley), the genuine depth of feeling that you yearned for from Shutter Island is to be found not in the acting or the hackneyed plot. (When DiCaprio pops the aspirin while Kingsley talks about the woman's complex hallucinations in which other inmates play roles, the gig was up for me.) Rather, allowing oneself trust both the director and the genre conventions allow one to be *thrilled* by the film. It may not be the most complex feeling that can be achieved by film, but it's a pretty great one when it happens.inessentialshttp://www.inessentials.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211112229982829419.post-7777023033900380712010-02-21T22:22:38.561-05:002010-02-21T22:22:38.561-05:00Craig - Thanks very much for the link.
And thanks...Craig - Thanks very much for the link.<br /><br />And thanks for your well-written post. What a great revelation about <i>The Ninth Configuration</i>. I read the book a long time ago - but now the plot comes back to me. Also read your post on Blatty.<br /><br />After reading your post, and thinking about it further, the whole elaborate role-play seems more and more contrived and far-fetched. Letting Teddy run around like that was a big risk! Teddy blows up a car and bashes a guard's head with an M1. The story would be easier for me to believe if it had been the diabolical cover-up of dastardly experimentation that Teddy says is going on there.Richard Bellamyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12397053921647421425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211112229982829419.post-16614514101352807662010-02-21T19:24:26.554-05:002010-02-21T19:24:26.554-05:00Maybe if you've heard one "Noooo!" y...Maybe if you've heard one "Noooo!" you've heard them all, but I was impressed by that whole scene -- both in terms of DiCaprio and Scorsese (and Williams, for that matter).<br /><br />Interesting about <i>The Ninth Configuration</i>, which I admit I haven't even heard of.<br /><br />As for the "not any fun" part. I wouldn't go that far, but that's in the same spirit of my criticism (in my review) that Scorsese makes a mistake in concealing the mystery <i>Sixth Sense</i>-style.<br /><br />Which brings me to <i>The Sixth Sense</i>. There are a lot of reasons to bash M. Night Shyamalan (I've done it; and defended him), but I don't think it's for pretending that <i>The Sixth Sense</i> was "original." As far as I know, that's a reading that was thrust upon him. (But maybe that's what you're reacting to.)<br /><br />Thinking a bit more about <i>The Sixth Sense</i> ... what I've always appreciated about that film, even though I think it's not "great," is that the surprise twist at the end isn't essential to one's enjoyment of the movie. If the story ends without the Bruce Willis revelation, the movie still works. You couldn't say that about <i>Shutter Island</i>, which, because of Scorsese's approach, is almost entirely about its mystery.<br /><br />I was engaged enough in <i>Shutter Island</i>, but it sure has its problems.Jason Bellamyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18150199580478147196noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211112229982829419.post-16430211508178020322010-02-21T16:24:41.068-05:002010-02-21T16:24:41.068-05:00And, somewhere in the middle, Hokahey's.And, somewhere in the middle, <a href="http://hokahey-littleworlds.blogspot.com/2010/02/thoughts-on-shutter-island.html" rel="nofollow">Hokahey's.</a>Craighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01450775188328918558noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211112229982829419.post-44336698467855429572010-02-21T14:32:05.183-05:002010-02-21T14:32:05.183-05:00For a more favorable review on the whole, check ou...For a more favorable review on the whole, check out Jason's <a href="http://coolercinema.blogspot.com/2010/02/identity-crisis-shutter-island.html" rel="nofollow">over at</a> The Cooler.Craighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01450775188328918558noreply@blogger.com