A review of "Shutter Island"

        Director Martin Scorsese invites us to take a 138 minute descent into madness and shows us why psychological horror is a dish well served in an asylum for the criminally insane, together with a small helping of a crime thriller. Edward Daniels and Chuck Aule (played by Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo respectively) are US marshalls dispatched to Ashecliffe hospital to investigate the escape of one of its deranged inmates. What follows after is a slow but steady plunge into the unknown, where the audience follows Daniels down a long winding path where nothing is what it seems. Something sinister is afoot in Ashecliffe, and the audience soon realizes that an escaped mental patient is the least of their worries. Through the eyes of Daniels, we see periodic instances where the surroundings meld into unimaginable scenes of cruelty and bloodshed in Dachau. Rumors of "trans-orbital lobotomies", "psychotropic drugs" and human experimentation lurk beneath the veneer of a facility built for the sole purpose of rehabilitative treatment. Even symbols of security like uniformed guards and medical orderlies seem to be twisted into co-conspirators of an unspeakable evil within the walls of the hospital. As Daniels replied to the resident psychologist, "screw this sense of calm".

        What Scorsese has succeeded in, is getting his audience to share in the paranoia that is plaguing the disturbed mind of his protagonist. Just as Daniels finds himself gradually losing his ability to distinguish the surreal from the real, so is the audience led to believe in the improbability of his delusions. We drink from the common cup of madness with Daniels, as we begin to suspect the film's entire premise and when even the wildest conspiracy theories seem to triumph over any rational explanation for the chain of events unfolding before us. Any instance of denial by the staff of Ashecliffe is an admission of guilt. Every gesture and expression of concern belies murderous intent. As with Daniels, we are coaxed by the film to "trust no one", not even the nurses or the doctors in Ashecliffe. This deception is aided in good measure by extremely convincing performances by the supporting cast, with special mention to Emily Mortimer, Ben Kingsley and Max Von Sydow. Mortimer elicits mixed feelings of sympathy and revulsion as a tortured mental patient with the unfortunate distinction of having drowned all her children. Kingsley and Sydow are well suited to playing the part of two seemingly innocent doctors, disarming the audience with their earnest claims of patient welfare; at the same time, their confidence and serenity amidst the wildest of circumstances make us retreat suspiciously into the warm embrace of paranoia. This is mind rape at its best.

        The film ends on a heavy note, as Daniels asks if it is "better to live as a monster, or to die as a good man". As Richard Corliss states in his review of this film, "some things about ourselves are so painful to acknowledge, we almost wish we could cut them out of our skulls". This also opens the troubling implication that psychological conditioning can create another personal identity that may seem no less real than the original. "Self-existence", as an objective concept in our minds, is juxtaposed with our subjective interpretations of our personal identity. That it is possible to have a long discussion on the themes explored in the film bears good witness to the complexity of its plot. While there are some implausibilities in the plot, the best part of the film lies in its progression and the plot twists that entice the audience. No doubt, we are like "a rat a maze", but it is a highly enjoyable maze to be in. This is a must-watch.