Milstein

"Shutter Island", made by Martin Scorsese, made some people disappointed due to its insufficient difficulties of puzzle. However, I don’t think the producer or director intend to make a suspense film but a plot with a puzzle to perform a man who is suffered by his past memory without any awareness. If he really wants to play a riddle game with audience, he has a lot of chances to bewilder us. The point is how it goes and what he shows along with the plot. I see the leading man: outstanding actor Leonardo Dicaprio shows how a patient lost himself in continued nightmare; I see a few excellent sections shows a good director’s skills to render a horror atmosphere; and the best is the ability to overlook total plot and made every line every word every move has its own function. Especially in the rear part, what appear in the front become clues to the truth. Nothing is wasted. It’s so CLEVER and I always found this kind of work in sophisticated directors, maybe it manifests sort of wisdom in veteran directing.

Although it doesn’t show obvious intention to deeper meanings, director still insert some meaningful line to give audience a glance of his ideology: please notice every conversation between insane Teddy (Dicaprio) and other persons, it’s about violence, of people, of institution, of Country, these dialogue is made elaborate.

The end is unexpected not due to the puzzle itself, as I said, it’s not hard, and director seems not intend to focus on this, the unexpectedness is rendered undramatically: Teddy seems leave his “cycle” and then director tells us he fails actually, but actually, he made choice. And it undoubtedly means, whatever this is reality or dream, true or fake, he decides to own the good and dies.