ON THIS DAY IN HORROR - February 19th
"SHUTTER ISLAND" released in 2010
In 1954, a U.S. marshal investigates the disappearance of a murderess who escaped from a hospital for the criminally insane, located on an island in the middle of Boston Harbor, in Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island!
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Federal Marshall Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his new partner Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo) travel to Ashecliffe Hospital, a government-run mental institution for the criminally insane on Shutter Island, near Boston, when there is a report that one of the prisoners, Rachel Solando (Emily Mortimer) - committed to the asylum for drowning her three children - has gone missing. Daniels, still traumatized from what he saw when his army unit liberated one of the Nazi concentration camps at the end of World War II, has his own reasons for wanting to get to the island; haunted by the recent death of his wife Dolores (Michelle Williams) in an "arson" fire, Daniels believes the arsonist, Andrew Laeddis (Elias Koteas), is also incarcerated on Shutter Island. The head of the hospital, Dr. John Cawley (Ben Kingsley), outwardly cooperates with the Marshall's but others give the agents a less than warm reception, including the Warden (Ted Levine), Deputy Warden McPherson (John Carroll Lynch), and German doctor Dr. Jeremiah Naehring (Max von Sydow). As their investigation continues, Daniels is increasingly drawn to Ward C - a ward reserved for the most serious and violent offenders (which is off limits to Daniels and Aule) - and the ominous island's lighthouse. Daniels paranoia increases as he peels away layers of deceit, which inevitably leads him to the lighthouse where Daniels will learn the truth surrounding the mystery of Shutter Island!
TRIVIA: As the characters of Edward Daniels and Rachel Solando are anagrams of Andrew Laeddis and Dolores Chanal, even the title Shutter Island is an anagram of both "Truths and Lies" and "Truths / Denials".
Top: US Marshall Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) arrives at Ashcliff Asylum on Shutter Island with his partner Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo) to find an escaped patient;
Above: Daniels is consistently given cryptic information by the head psychiatrist Dr. John Cawley (Ben Kingsley).
With the working title of Ashecliff, Phoenix's producer Mike Medavoy then spent a year developing the screenplay with writer Laeta Kalogridis, before approaching veteran filmmaker Martin Scorsese to direct. At that time, Scorsese and star Leonardo DiCaprio were in the middle of developing a film adaptation of The Wolf of Wall Street for Warner Bros., but could not get the studio to commit to the financing. To prepare to shoot Shutter Island, Scorsese screened Out of the Past (1947) and Vertigo (1958) for his cast and crew to give his actors an idea of how his film would be stylistically (Scorsese was also influenced by some of Val Lewton's 1940s zombies movies in creating the film's mood).
[last lines]
Teddy Daniels: You know, this place makes me wonder.
Chuck Aule: Yeah, what's that, boss?
Teddy Daniels: Which would be worse - to live as a monster, or to die as a good man?
[gets up and walks off]
Chuck Aule: [unsure of who he's talking to] Teddy?
Top and Above: While Daniels investigates, he is confronted by the lies from patients (and staff) regarding the escapee, and finds himself inexplicably drawn to the ominous lighthouse on the island.
Shutter Island boasts an incredibly impressive cast, including two Oscar winners: Leonardo DiCaprio (playing Marhsall Teddy Daniels) and Ben Kingsley (as Ashcliff's head psychiatrist Dr. John Cawley); and five Oscar nominees: Max von Sydow (Dr. Jeremiah Naehring), Michelle Williams (Teddy's wife Dolores Chanal), Jackie Earle Haley (playing inmate George Noyce), Patricia Clarkson (as "Dr. Rachel Solando") and Mark Ruffalo, playing Daniels' partner Chuck Aule. Before Ruffalo was considered for the part, DiCaprio and Scorsese also considered Robert Downey Jr. and Josh Brolin, before Scorsese recieved a fan letter from Ruffalo saying how much he wanted to work with him. Joining the cast were Emily Mortimer, Ted Levine, John Carroll Lynch, and Elias Koteas playing (respectively) inmate Rachel Solando, Ashcliff's Warden, Deputy Warden McPherson, and arsonist Andrew Laeddis.
Originally the production wanted to film at the old Worcester State Hospital, but because of the pending demolition of the facility, filming was not approved and instead the filming took place at Medfield State Hospital. The exterior settings for Shutter Island were; East Point, in Nahant, Massachusetts was the location for the lighthouse scenes, Borderland State Park in Easton, Massachusetts was used for the cabin scene, while Peddocks Island was used as a setting for the story's island.
The traumatic killing of Nazi guards of Dachau concentration camp was an actual historical event, taking place on 29 April 1945 when the camp was liberated by the US Army. For these scenes, the production moved to Taunton, Massachusetts, with the old industrial buildings in Taunton's Whittenton Mills Complex replicating the Dachau concentration camp. Initially, the Dachau dream sequences were intended to be shot entirely in 65mm, but on the second night of using the 65mm cameras, they broke down entirely (however, a few shots in which Teddy goes through the camp in civilian clothes survive in the movie).
Originally the production wanted to film at the old Worcester State Hospital, but because of the pending demolition of the facility, filming was not approved and instead the filming took place at Medfield State Hospital. The exterior settings for Shutter Island were; East Point, in Nahant, Massachusetts was the location for the lighthouse scenes, Borderland State Park in Easton, Massachusetts was used for the cabin scene, while Peddocks Island was used as a setting for the story's island.
The traumatic killing of Nazi guards of Dachau concentration camp was an actual historical event, taking place on 29 April 1945 when the camp was liberated by the US Army. For these scenes, the production moved to Taunton, Massachusetts, with the old industrial buildings in Taunton's Whittenton Mills Complex replicating the Dachau concentration camp. Initially, the Dachau dream sequences were intended to be shot entirely in 65mm, but on the second night of using the 65mm cameras, they broke down entirely (however, a few shots in which Teddy goes through the camp in civilian clothes survive in the movie).
TRIVIA: The only film of the partnership between Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio that failed to receive any Oscar nominations. Gangs of New York (2002), The Aviator (2004), The Departed (2006) and The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) all received Oscar nominations, including for Best Picture.
Top: Director Martin Scorsese;
Above: Scorsese on set with Ben Kingsley, Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo.
First scheduled to be released by Paramount in the US and Canada on 2 October 2009 - so to be in contention for that year's Oscars - Paramount later pushed the film back to 19 February 2010 due to financing problems. Although another reason cited for the push-back was DiCaprio's unavailability for the interview circuit due to other filming commitments. Shutter Island did, however, have a special "secret" screening at Austin's "Butt-Numbathon" film festival in December of 2009, with critics attending the screening being asked not to release their reviews until the official release date.
Released on February 19th, 2010, Shutter Island grossed over $41 million in it's opneing weekend, the highest box office opening for both DiCaprio and Scorsese at the time, and would eventually earn almost $300 million worldwide. Garnering mostly positive reviews from critics, with Lawrence Toppman of The Charlotte Observer gave the film 4/4 stars claiming "After four decades, Martin Scorsese has earned the right to deliver a simple treatment of a simple theme with flair." The Wall Street Journal, John Anderson highly praised the film, suggesting it "requires multiple viewings to be fully realized as a work of art. Its process is more important than its story, its structure more important than the almost perfunctory plot twists it perpetrates. It's a thriller, a crime story and a tortured psychological parable about collective guilt." Awarding the film 3½ stars out of 4, Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote "the movie is about: atmosphere, ominous portents, the erosion of Teddy's confidence and even his identity. It's all done with flawless directorial command. Scorsese has fear to evoke, and he does it with many notes."
Released on February 19th, 2010, Shutter Island grossed over $41 million in it's opneing weekend, the highest box office opening for both DiCaprio and Scorsese at the time, and would eventually earn almost $300 million worldwide. Garnering mostly positive reviews from critics, with Lawrence Toppman of The Charlotte Observer gave the film 4/4 stars claiming "After four decades, Martin Scorsese has earned the right to deliver a simple treatment of a simple theme with flair." The Wall Street Journal, John Anderson highly praised the film, suggesting it "requires multiple viewings to be fully realized as a work of art. Its process is more important than its story, its structure more important than the almost perfunctory plot twists it perpetrates. It's a thriller, a crime story and a tortured psychological parable about collective guilt." Awarding the film 3½ stars out of 4, Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote "the movie is about: atmosphere, ominous portents, the erosion of Teddy's confidence and even his identity. It's all done with flawless directorial command. Scorsese has fear to evoke, and he does it with many notes."
ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE: 68%
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