Shutter Island

Shutter Island.

Movie Poster

Insanity. Psychosis. Delusion. Violence. Murder. Denial.

Mental health is a sensitive subject matter and one demonstrated by veteran thriller writer Dennis LeHane, to have not been fully understood in the 1950s. Adapted to film from the original 2003 novel by Martin Scorcese, his 2010 movie is as chilling as it is true to the original tale.

The story follows US Marshall Teddy Daniels and his partner Chuck as they venture to  Shutter Island, effectively an island-wide prison in the Pacific Ocean, a confine for the criminally insane, to investigate the mysterious disappearance of one of the patients there. But Daniels reveals himself to have an ulterior motive for going there and all is revealed as they are whisked around, experiencing the delusions of the island and its maddened inhabitants.

The tale is plagued with questions; What is really going on in the lighthouse? What secrets are really housed in this dark place? What mad truth is to be found amongst the cruel and the condemned? What really happened to Teddy Daniels? Will they ever got off the island? And who is Andrew Laeddis?

Whirled around the island, embroiled in a vortex of self assessment and secrecy, the pair attempt to unravel the mysteries, which increasingly to be intrinsic, with Daniels himself.

With Mental Health Awareness Week approaching in the UK (between 13-19th May) there is no more appropriate a time to delve into the twisted labyrinth of Shutter Island.

The simple plot-line and solitary setting lend themselves to a movie translation and veteran legend, film maker Martin Scorsese creates a superb thriller with a stellar cast. Leonardo DiCaprio takes the role of protagonist Teddy Daniels, Mark Ruffalo as Chuck, Michelle Williams as DiCaprio’s wife, Dolores and Sir Ben Kingsley rounding off the talent bomb, in the role of Dr Cawley. Let it never be said that the man does things by halves. This film would not be the same without the quality of acting talent, plucked from around the globe that he has assembled, with the depth and subtlety necessary to pull off such an emotive piece.

Such a stellar cast of course delivers sterling results, with DiCaprio in particular delivering audiences with an unparalleled representation of a man on the very edge of reason. Bridget Jones move over; such disquiet is not to be mocked. The audience is interred into DiCaprio’s depiction of LeHane’s tortured hero and gripped unrelentingly through 138 minutes of mind bending suspense.

Daniels is a tormented character, in both the book and the movie being plagued with guilt and unrest regarding the death of his wife and children. Haunted by her memory he lived his life in a perpetual state of grief and vengefulness. He displays a man on the very peripheries of right and wrong, truth, fallacy and justice. His inner turbulence is reflected in the wild fervor of the vicious island weather. Despite his apparent resolve, despite all hateful suspicion of the medical staff in residence, his pity, even disgust towards its patients, the mind and past of Teddy Daniels is clearly a most turbulent place to have been. For a federal Marshall and man of the law, his mind is as much in disarray as the patients, his story as much as puzzle as the one he is trying to solve.

Thematically, Shutter Island, as a thriller/mystery, explores the tragedy of grief and morality, namely a moral fission within ones self. The premature death of ones children is a travesty and the early death of a young spouse, tragic. No parent should have to bury their child, let alone do so beside the love of their life. Without spoiling any of the even more dramatic features of such events, this horror worsens and it becomes clear exactly what events tied in with this to so badly damage Daniels and forever tie him to the island. As is the case with most things in this tale, nothing is ever simple, nor ever as it first appears…

With a strong focus on mental health, the film and book draw near exact parallels. Keeping close to the original story, Scorsese creates an atmospheric, character driven haze in which the lingering effects of deep emotional trauma are investigated. Grief and irrationality can cause shock waves through a life and blame assignment can be both detrimental and the only cure. We are not meant to like any of these characters. We are put on edge, made distrustful, tempered and conditioned to be suspicious of everything, even our own eyes. Both the book and movie have a lingering effect and give a fearful yearning for more.

Psychiatry is as interesting as it is terrifying. To involve yourself so deeply into the mind of another is a scary thing, and the persons shown here often already have more than one voice occupying the fuzzy space between their ears.

The greatest part of this movie is it’s chilling end line, delivered by DiCaprio; “Is it better to live as a monster, or die as a good man?”

Read, watch, do both. But rest assured that so long as you experience this, your attitude towards mental health will change. The brains powers of self preservation are extraordinary, and the creation of an entirely new reality is not unheard of. Prepare to be terrified and amazed.

9/10

 

SSDD

Movie Review: “50/50”

Comedy. Drama. Emotional. Quirky Indie. Dark. Humor. Drama Based on Real Life.

These are the tags Netflix delivered me with for its latest offering in “Top 10 for You”. All relating to one movie; “50/50”.

Really!?!? If that were not simultaneously ambiguous and oddly sinister enough for you, the cover shot appeared to be of Joseph Gordon-Levitt shaving his head with Seth Rogen watching in the background. Oooookay.

Well, I though, my cousin said it was good and it’s got to be better background noise for studying than Sorority Row, right?

And so, with uneasy trepidation, my finger plunged the left mouse clicker down on that big black triangle.

As it transpires, it was one of the best decisions I’ve made recently.

As much trouble as many people seem to have with Netflix and their often confusing and illogical categorisation of movies that seem to have absolutely no relation to one another, for one, it seemed they were not having an enthusiastic case of label-vomit; ’50/50′ encompassed every one of those claims.’50/50′ tells the story of an otherwise healthy young man (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) who is diagnosed with a rare form of spine cancer – and is slapped with a 50% chance of survival. Witness how his perceptions of life change when he has no idea how long his will last.

As a general rule I will gladly watch anything and everything if I am to be gifted with the acting of JGL, but the addition of Seth Rogen was for me, an immediate warning flag – would an actor more cohesive with American slapstick comedy really be a fitting co-star for a man who has to only so much as look at something for it to become bittersweet or science fiction?

The definitive answer, I can now confirm is yes! As was inevitable when faced with those thick-lashed baby blues there is an emotional pull towards JGL’s character that means he portrays the change that overcomes him more through little actions and subtle changes in habit than from long winded, emphatic speeches. He is just a regular guy to whom a thing has happened and now he must learn to adapt to that.

We see this overly cautious, wouldn’t hurt a fly, tea-totaller through the break-down of a relationship, the build of a better one, how to rely on others when they need you rather than when you need them, and what you might really feel if your life was suddenly slapped with such imbalance and uncertainty.

Seth Rogen adds a level of entertainment as the extrovert contrast laddish best friend who shows us how learning to deal with a possibly dying friend is in itself a process of adaptation. He becomes fiercely protective of JGL and seems determined to ensure he lives every moment of his life to its fullest, possibly with underlying sentiments of “just in case”.

As well as exerting an inappropriate amount of effort towards getting laid using “he has cancer” as a pick-up line, he delivers some stunning one liners, my favourite of which has to be “I have night blindness“. This was an excuse for a prescription for medical marijuana. Excellent!

Prepare to have your heart strings tugged and to laugh and cry as they yank you every which way. It’s therapy, it’s mental break-down, it’s that fear you have of losing your mind – but it also helps you find it again.

This will change your mentality. Just as the characters complete their journey to “getting” why people change, you will too.

Highly recommend!!      9.5/10

SSDD

August Rush (Movie Review)

This little musically themed flick was something that I had heard about repeatedly from friends and critics over the past few years. I had never had the chance to see it til I eventually just borrowed it from one of them. Here be what I thought.

August Rush is the story of a boy who grows up in care with a keen sense of musicality, despite never once touching a musical instrument. That is, until he moves to New York.

Now I know what you’re thinking:

!Now this is a story all about how, my life got flipped turned upside down, and I’d like to take a minute, just sit right there, let me tell you how I became the prince of a town called Bel Air.”

But no, for our little August it did not quite happen that way. However, it is true that he did discover he had a rare, integral ability when it came to music, an innate, natural capacity to play instruments and compose, hereditary skills apparently gained from his parents.

The reasons for him growing up in care help form the foundations of the movie. The pivotal themes surround a torn family, personal discovery and re-discovery and music, as a means of healing, of life and of joy.

We follow not only August but his mother and father as they embark on their own personal journeys. They traverse parallel paths, riddled with obstacles, battling with blind faith in the worth of what might be at the end. They seem to contain a knowledge somehow that the loved ones they once lost will be there if they can only reach that grand finale.

The trials encountered by these people constitute one of the most genuinely touching movies I think I have ever seen, with moments so poignant and beautiful that their sweetness evokes the closest thing to a little heartbreak as I have ever experienced from a film.

A gorgeous soundtrack featuring Jonathon Rhys Myers, who plays Augusts father, carries the Fairytale in New York theme. Rhys Myers features several times throughout and imoresses with a suitably husky and mature voice, befitting of his rough around the edges, desperately romantic Irish musician character. One cannot help but instantly fall for that lopsided grin and guitar combination – an Irish musician? Really? If you can resist then you have a will of iron!

As for August himself, a young Freddie Highmore was perfectly cast as the bambi eyed, pure-as-fresh-fallen-snow was the perfect cast. Portrayed with both a convincing naivety towards the darker inner natures of people as well as a powerful will to survive, we see the realisation of a brilliant childs dream. Yet the focus of his tribulations lie in beautiful, temporal things rather than outright survival; music, family, love. These needs are a reflection of August as a pure and immaterial youth.

This movie will do something to your soul. Whether it re-affirms your faith that there are still people capable of living simple lives and taking pleasure from the immaterial; whether it brings  solace in the understanding that families can find each other, regardless of time or distance; or even that music really can burrow a route to a freedom you believed you had lost, may only be decided by you.

Watch this, at some point. Suitable for men, women, kids, hell, even the dog might enjoy ot! (my cat purred through the entire thing, if that helps at all)

9 1/2 out of 10

 

SSDD

Magic Mike – Photo Gallery

Purely because I really should have to begin with and didn’t think too – here is a little gallery of Magic Mike for your viewing pleasure 😀 (I figure if I just posted a dozen pictures of cupcakes, the next logical step is to give you men you want to eat them off of… :P) (If you’re asking yourself if I’m joking or not – if you laughed it’s a joke, if you didn’t, I’m serious :D)

 

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