What Are The Critics Saying?

"Disturbingly, deliberately deceptive, it's layered with labyrinthine medical, legal, historical and political issues. It’s difficult to separate reality from paranoid fantasy. That’s the point of this scary, weird, enigmatic film." Susan Granger SSG SYNDICATE "Haunting and hypnotic, Shutter Island is part fever-dream and surrealist art mixed with an ace potboiler; like a Mickey Spillane novel directed by William Wellman and photographed by Salvador Dali." Diva Velez THE DIVA REVIEW "A haunted-house spooker mixed with an obsessed-detective noir, "Shutter Island" is not a great film. But that doesn't mean it isn't one of Scorsese's best, and one to be remembered." Chris Barsanti POP MATTERS "From every note of music to every frame of film and each performance, this picture brings a terrifying tale to screen that will stick in your mind for days." Kevin McCarthy BDK REVIEWS "It's only a matter of time before Daniels cracks under the pressure of Shutter Island, a dark and uninviting rock that makes Alcatraz look like Disneyland by comparison." Scott A Mantz ACCESS HOLLYWOOD "No stranger to onscreen violence and intensity, Scorsese creates an island landscape that's both darkly beautiful and effortlessly creepy. (And just wait till those storm clouds start rolling in!) Pure and palpable evidence of a master filmmaker who's having some real fun with some very old-fashioned genre material." Scott Weinberg FEARNET

"Playing Teddy, a troubled U.S. marshal trying to find a dangerous mental asylum patient, Leonardo DiCaprio (Blood Diamond) delivers one of the best performances of his illustrious career. Martin Scorsese's atmospheric thriller deserves high marks for its fine performances and outstanding production values." Betty Jo Tucker REELTALK MOVIE REVIEWS "Shutter Island sort of invites you to see through Teddy's eyes: peering at uncooperative staff members, frustrated by the doctors' obfuscations and delays." Cynthia Fuchs POP MATTERS "Shutter Island might not be one of Scorsese's great movies, but you can tell he certainly had a lot of fun putting it together." Donald Munro FRESNO BEE "Despite its flaws, Shutter Island is worth seeing for the palpably nightmarish and gothic world conceived by Scorsese." Claudia Puig USA TODAY "Scorsese delivers the tension from first frame to last with a deliberately low-key mood that amps up the eeriness. This is a gothic romance in the most classic sense, but with stakes that only become apparent in their entirety at the end." Andrea Chase KILLER MOVIE REVIEWS "Filled with frightening imagery and stark classical music and quick-cut edits that all keep viewers off-balance. By the time this twisty mystery unfolds its ideas of how the past haunts people, how guilt consumes and how memories shape our mind's machinery, the result is elegant, creepy, fantastic cinema." Michael Smith TULSA WORLD

The Making Of Shutter Island Shortly after completing his novel Mystic River, which would go on to become an Academy Award®-winning film directed by Clint Eastwood, writer Dennis Lehane radically shifted gears. Moving away from the gritty, blue-collar, Boston settings for which he was best known, Lehane fashioned an intensely atmospheric, terror-filled psychological shocker set at the height of 1950s Cold War paranoia, and at the crossroads where the lines between sanity and madness, truth and delusion begin to blur beyond recognition. This was Shutter Island, which merged elements of Gothic mystery, pulp fiction, conspiracy thrillers and turn of the screws, Edgar Allan Poe-style horror to create a riveting and unsettling effect that took his readers by surprise. Unfolding over just four searing days at the island-based Ashecliffe Hospital for the Criminally Insane, in the midst of a raging Category 5 hurricane, the book presented a most unusual criminal investigation, one that was completely cut off from the outside world and in which the vise keeps tightening on the two lone investigators, ultimately forcing U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels to come face to face with a realm in which the human psyche has run dangerously amok, as well as harrowing secrets, frightening memories and deeply buried truths. The book hinged on the riddle of a murderess's inconceivable and mystifying disappearance from the high-security facility, but within its labyrinth of eerie twists and turns it touched on such topics as the lingering trauma of World War II, the 20th century’s potential for vast conspiracies, the debate over invasive psychiatric treatments and, most of all, on the extraordinary power of the human psyche, in spite of all scientific and legal efforts, to elude even the best efforts to bring it under control. Writing in The New York Times, Janet Maslin called the book "startlingly original" and "instantly cinematic" and it went on to become one of the best-sellers of 2003. Producer Bradley J Fischer ("Basic"), a partner at Phoenix Pictures who was then producing David Fincher’s thriller about a real-life serial murderer, Zodiac, picked the book off an airport kiosk and found himself so transported by its anxiety-soaked atmosphere and web of contemporary themes, he immediately wanted to bring it to the screen. "I’d been a big fan of Dennis Lehane, yet I wasn’t prepared for this novel," Fischer recalled. "It’s a thriller and a Gothic mystery, but there is also much more to it because it has so much depth and deals with serious moral issues. The dense, atmospheric plot features a series of twists and turns that leaves you reeling and is quite mind-blowing." As soon as he could acquire the rights, Fischer jumped into action, along with 2006 Hollywood Film Festival Producer of the Year and company head, Mike Medavoy. Also coming on board as a producer was Phoenix Pictures executive Arnold W Messer ("All the King's Men". Fischer approached Laeta Kalogridis (executive producer on "Avatar"), a screenwriter known for her strong affinity to suspense, adventure and depth of character. Having previously worked with Kalogridis on the 2007 Viking era action thriller "Pathfinder", the producers at Phoenix knew she had the creative potential to realize this challenging material. "We felt Laeta would be able to take Dennis Lehane’s brilliant words and make them come to life in a truly cinematic way," Fischer said. Kalogridis, who also executive produced "Shutter Island" (along with Chris Brigham, Lehane, Gianni Nunnari and Louis Phillips), was thrilled by the challenge of working with the richly woven fabric of Lehane’s story. "We soon had a screenplay that Mike Medavoy and I were very happy with," Fischer said. It was clear that doing justice to Lehane's work, would require a director of particularly deep cinematic knowledge and an abiding love of psychological interplay. The first name that came to Fischer’s mind was Academy Award® winning director Martin Scorsese. It was on a wing and a prayer that the Phoenix executives approached the prolific, almost always engaged director because they assumed that, fresh off his Best Director Oscar® win for the electrifying crime thriller "The Departed", he would be a long shot. But their timing couldn’t have been better. Scorsese was not only available but passionate about the style and themes of "Shutter Island". "Marty was attracted to the idea of taking on a Gothic horror tale that’s shrouded in shadow and mystery," Fischer explained. "He jumped on the idea and his excitement was enormous from the get-go." In fact, "shutter Island" reminded Scorses of another film: "The Cabinet of Dr Caligari". Scorsese ("The Aviator") says it was his first read of the "Shutter Island" script that hooked him. "I didn’t know anything about the story and I started reading it at about 10:30 at night and I needed to go to bed because I had to get up early the next day, but I found I could not put the script down and was constantly surprised by the different levels of the story." He felt an instant link to the story’s mix of classic thriller genres, from shadowy noir to boldface horror. "This is the type of picture I like to watch, the kind of story I like to read," he explained. "Over the years, I think I’ve stayed away from certain kinds of pictures that emulate the style that I find nurturing in a way, but these are the kinds of films I go back to and view repeatedly. I’ve always been drawn to this sort of story." Right from the start of production, the director inspired cast and crew with a series of nighttime screenings of films, both legendary and obscure, that touched upon the themes and styles woven through "Shutter Island", including Frederick Wiseman’s controversial and, at one time, banned 1967 movie exploring the treatment of inmates at a hospital for the criminally insane, "Titicut Follies". It gave the cast and crew a harrowing insight into what asylums were really like in the 1950s and ‘60s, before modern reforms improved conditions and made patients rights a priority. Set inside the Massachusetts Correctional Institute for the Criminally Insane at Bridgewater, the film unflinchingly depicted a treatment facility in which patients were stripped naked, chained to their cell walls, force-fed and deprived of basic human dignity. The film would have a major impact. Soon after its release, public outrage was so widespread that a class-action suit was brought against Bridgewater, which in turn led to permanent changes in the way state institutions were run across the country. At the heart of Shutter Island’s suspense and mounting fear is the shattering experience of Teddy Daniels, the hard-bitten war veteran and savvy U.S. Marshal who arrives at the island hospital to investigate the disappearance of a killer, only to slide deeper and deeper into an abyss of dizzying riddles, haunted memories and unrelenting fear. To play a character so tightly wound, yet about to unravel in just a few days’ time, the filmmakers had one actor in mind from the start: three-time Academy Award® nominee (1994,2005 & 2007) Leonardo DiCaprio. "He was so right for the part, but also because of his incredibly successful collaboration with Scorsese," Fischer notes. Scorsese wholeheartedly backed the choice. "Having worked with Leo on "Gangs of New York", "The Aviator" and "The Departed", I thought immediately that he should do this." In fact, "Shutter Island" marks the fourth collaboration for the pair. DiCaprio (2004 Hollywood Film Festival Actor of the Year) was convinced as soon as he read the script. "A lot of things about this character appealed to me. I fell in love with the complexity of Teddy, with his search for the truth, which triggers something in him, and also triggered something in me. I was profoundly moved at the end." He was also drawn to reuniting with Scorsese. "The one thing I don’t think people understand about Scorsese is how much he believes in the actors he hires and how much he depends on them doing their homework before they show up on the set." The core of DiCaprio's preparation for the role, was a series of long, explorative talks with Scorsese. "Marty loves to discuss everything at great length, which helps you become even more specific about who your character is and more believable on the screen. We would discuss the scenes almost like forensic detectives, going through the details with a fine-tooth comb." DiCaprio ("Catch Me If You Can") was especially excited about working with Mark Ruffalo, who plays Chuck Aule, Teddy’s new partner. "Mark is an actor I’ve wanted to work with for a long time. He’s given so many fantastic, ultra-realistic performances." "What you have with Mark is a strong emotional connection. He is believable on every level while playing a multi-faceted character," Scorsese offered, Ruffalo ("You Can Count on Me") recalls: "The more I read, the more I felt that playing Chuck, who has much more going on than we initially see, would be an extraordinary challenge. There was an interesting tightrope act involved." 1983 Academy Award® winning Best Lead Actor Ben Kingsley ("Gandhi"), was cast as the brilliant Dr Cawley, who psychoanalyzes Teddy and Chuck’s every move even as he engages them to find his dangerous, missing patient. Scorsese had long hoped to work with Kingsley and was thrilled the role suited him so well. "Ben was a natural for me because of his focus, concentration and compassion. That is what’s so important about the character of Dr Cawley, his level of dedication and his ability to find something human in his violent patients." In taking on the role, Kingsley (Don Logan in the brilliant "Sexy Beast") brought his own vision of what Dr Cawley would look like, to the films set. "It comes from my Shakespeare days that I love to grasp the whole picture. So I chose his green suit and his pipe, as well as his shoes, which are wonderful Oxford brogues that link him to the earth. I think of him as a man with his feet on the ground, but his head in the heights of science." Academy Award® nominee Michelle Williams ("Brokeback Mountain") plays Teddy's wife Dolores. "It’s a really challenging role, which always appeals to me. Playing Dolores was a lot to go through. It’s like being in a nightmare you can’t wake up from and it keeps changing and getting darker and darker as you go with the current." Dolores isn’t the only woman who haunts Teddy Daniels during his journey to Ashecliffe hospital. There is also Rachel Solando, the perilously disturbed murderess whose inexplicable escape brings him to the island in the first place. Rachel appears in two incarnations, played both by 2004 Oscar® nominee Patricia Clarkson ("Pieces of April") and 2003 Independent Spirit Award winner Emily Mortimer ("Lovely & Amazing"). "Rachel is a fantastic, daunting role because you never see her sane in the movie," Mortimer said. The legendary Max von Sydow plays Dr Naehring, one of Ashecliffe’s more ominous and threatening figures. "Max von Sydow is a giant of cinema," says Scorsese. I think I first saw him in Bergman’s "The Seventh Seal". The depth of his control is fascinating to watch." The Verdict "There's obviously a special bond between DiCaprio and Scorsese who re-unite for their fourth collaboration. "Shutter Island": a twisting, convoluted tale of two U.S. Marshals who have been sent to investigate the mysterious disappearance of an inmate from a high security mental institution. "Shutter Island" is a far from pleasant, foreboding place, as viewers will quickly discover during the opening scenes. It appears that no-one, unless your an inmate, a guard or on the medical staff, wants to hang around for long. "Shutter Island" is a dark tale filled with a mixture of creepy, scary, nightmarish moments, in a darkly Gothic setting, heightened by fear of the known and unknown, made more the worse by a Hurricane which is about to unleash its wrath upon the isolated facilty. It soon becomes apparent, the deliberate lack of co-operation and uneasiness amongst the staff may be the cause of Marshal Teddy Daniel's anxiety and his thumping great migraine. There are plenty of clues to help viewers discover where the film is heading, the problem is, because there's so much going on, they're easyily overlooked. Entertaining. 4 STARS." The Story Line

U.S. Marshal's Daniels and Aule have been summoned to Shutter Island to investigate the implausible disappearance of a brilliant triple murderess from a locked room in the impenetrable Ashecliffe Hospital. The remote, windswept isle, with its eerie, volatile atmosphere, suggests nothing is quite what it seems. With a hurricane bearing down on them, the Marshals move rapidly. As the storm escalates, the suspicions and mysteries multiply: each more thrilling and terrifying than the next. There are hints and rumors of dark conspiracies, sordid medical experiments, repressive mind control, secret wards; even a hint of the supernatural: but any proof eludes them. Moving in the shadows of a hospital haunted by the terrible deeds of its slippery inhabitants and the unknown agendas of its equally ingenious doctors, Teddy begins to sense that the deeper he pursues the investigation the more he will be forced to confront some of his most profound and devastating fears. And he realizes that he may never leave the island alive.

Who's Playing Who?

Leonardo DiCaprio Mark Ruffalo Ben Kingsley Max von Sydow Michelle Williams Emily Mortimer Patricia Clarkson Jackie Earle Haley Ted Levine John Carroll Lynch Elias Koteas Robin Bartlett Christopher Denham Nellie Sciutto

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Teddy Daniels Chuck Aule Dr Cawley Dr Naehring Dolores Rachel 1 Rachel 2 George Noyce Warden Deputy Warden McPherson Laeddis Bridget Kearns Peter Breene Nurse Marino

The Production Team

Director Screenplay Adapted Producers D.O.P. Film Editor Casting Production Designer Art Direction Set Decoration Costume Designer

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Martin Scorsese Laeta Kalogridis from the novel by Dennis Lehane Brad Fischer/Mike Medavoy Arnold Messer/Martin Scorsese Robert Richardson Film Editing by Thelma Schoonmaker Ellen Lewis & Meghan Rafferty Dante Ferretti Max Biscoe/Robert Guerra/Christina Ann Wilson Francesca Lo Schiavo Sandy Powell

Run Time 138 minutes Rated MA15+ [AUST] Copyright ©2010 - Paramount Pictures - All Rights Reserved ©1999-2010 The Movie Pages & impact Internet Services. All Rights Reserved. Protected by Australian and International Copyright. Trademark Laws and Intellectual Property Rights apply.