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| What is the truth? |
Another one of Martin Scorsese's great films, yet again with the terrific Leonardo DiCaprio, and yet again a totally different style, vastly divergent from their previous projects together. This time around, we get a dense mood, set not only by the imagery and sound, but also the story itself, as we follow DiCaprio's character in the exploration of an island destined for the incarceration and treatment of the criminally insane. [...]
The story is filled with twists and uncertainties, and is meant to make the audience question every development made, such is the obscurity of the plot. Further development on this subject can be read in the "with spoilers" version of this article, though it is recommended that you have watched the movie beforehand. Immediately after watching Shutter Island, my interpretation was that DiCaprio's character had a complete understanding of who he was, but that it was not actually revealed to the viewer, despite the ending leading to the belief that he was in fact insane, as the ending could actually be just as misleading as the rest of the film.
His certainty of himself is made clear when it's shown that he has full knowledge of what is going to happen to him, and says "Which would be worse? To live as a monster, or to die as a good man?", just after calling Mark Ruffalo's character "partner", while clearly knowing he is not. Despite his absolute certainty about his identity, that scene is not enough to make it clear to the audience, as he could be the marshal who went to investigate on the island but decided to give in, after so much psychological manipulation and the realization that he could never turn it around, or he could be the guy who was being treated on the island for two years, and decided he wanted to be relieved of his traumatic burden, either way the scene makes sense.
But after further thought, I realized that it is actually made clear that he is in fact Andrew Laeddis, the guy who has been there for two years. Allow me to elaborate: Throughout the film, he has dreams and hallucinations about a little girl who he supposedly didn't save, later a picture of the same girl is shown to him, and she is said to be his daughter, which makes sense, considering his dreams. That is not enough though, to eliminate the possibility of him being Teddy, as he could very well have suppressed the memory of his children after his wife drowned them.
But considering the possibility that the "Teddy version" could have had the children (which we know existed), it would be a huge coincidence for his wife to be killed in a house fire caused by a third party, right after the drowning (The third party causing the fire, would make sense if the kids didn't exist). And of course there is the unlikely fact that their names are anagrams, and the likelihood of the "Shutter Island" people just killing him instead of lobotomizing, if his conspiracy were true, which further support that he is Laeddis.
On a separate note, it seems strange to me that he would be considered a highly dangerous person, and be put in such an isolated and high security prison/treatment facility. He burned his house down, together with the body of his wife he had just killed, immediately after finding she had drowned their three children. It seems understandable that after such a horrendous event, one might do things they wouldn't do in their normal state of mind. It's not like he is going to walk around killing people. Of course he would be tried, and probably put in a psychiatric hospital (to actually help him with his profound trauma), or even be arrested, but being sent to "Shutter Island" seems quite extreme, which questions their "great intentions".
Also, Shutter Island counts with an amazing cast, including the aforementioned Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo and Ben Kingsley. Though ironically, even with its gruesome aspect, in terms of acting (save for some of the island's inmates), this film doesn't demand much "out of the ordinary" acting, opposed to the more recent and equally great yet totally different The Wolf of Wall Street.
What did you think of Shutter Island? What is your theory about DiCaprio's character? Share your thoughts in the comments bellow! Will you watch Shutter Island? If so, be sure to come back to share your thoughts in the comments bellow!
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