Short Take: Intelligent and gripping

Director: Martin Scorsese (The Departed)

Screenwriter: Laeta Kalogridis (Alexander), Dennis Lehane (novel)

Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio (Revolutionary Road), Mark Ruffalo (Zodiac), Ben Kingsley (The Wackness), Michelle Williams (Brokeback Mountain), Max von Sydow (Minority Report)

Length: 2h 18m

Synopsis: It’s 1954. U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels (DiCaprio) is assigned to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a patient at Shutter Island, which is a mental hospital for the criminally insane. Paired with a new partner named Chuck (Ruffalo), the two are convinced that those at the asylum are not telling them everything they need to know. A conspiracy seems like the most logical explanation for what has occurred, but why such a conspiracy would exist baffles them. The answers they find turn out to be the kind that they’d rather not know.

Analysis: Mental hospitals (or what used to be called insane asylums) house many different kinds and severities of mental disorders, from the depressed, to the bipolar, to the suicidal, to the maniacal. The hospital on Shutter Island is meant to be a quasi-prison because it houses nothing but violent offenders, most of whom suffer from varying degrees of psychosis which have prompted them to commit one or several murders. Psychosis itself is defined as a loss of contact with reality, usually including false ideas about what is taking place or who one is (i.e. delusions) and seeing or hearing things that are not there (i.e. hallucinations) (National Institute of Mental Health). One type of psychosis that the film brings up through the character of Rachel (Emily Mortimer) is psychotic depression, which more or less means that a person’s psychosis is brought about due to severe depression. According to WebMD.com, this condition affects roughly 1 in 4 who are admitted to a hospital for depression, but that with modern medicine and treatment they usually recover within a year. In 1954, however, the only “effective” treatment was a lobotomy (the act of severing the nerves connecting the prefrontal cortex to the rest of the brain).

Let us delve into the nature of psychosis. Going by the definition above, someone suffering from it loses contact with reality and is usually subject to delusions and hallucinations. What exactly is a loss of contact with reality? René Descartes’ famous quote of “I think therefore I am” explains that you can prove to yourself that you exist simply because you recognize that you have thoughts. Well, if one exists, by definition they are present in what we call reality. What this quote fails to explicitly detail, however, is if this presence is mental as well as physical. According to Plato, ultimate reality is spiritual, being composed of “ideal” forms or absolutes that exist whether or not any mind recognizes or acknowledges their existence. Our physical world is made up of shadows of everything in the “ideal” world (chairs, people, et al), and so although we are able to recognize that a book is a book its material existence would not be possible without its “ideal” form existing in the ultimate, spiritual reality. What in the world could all this mean? Well, one thing that Plato suggests with this notion is that “existence” is not specific to the material world. Therefore, while “I think therefore I am” may be true, your perception of who you are in your mind may differ from who you are elsewhere; say, reality.

How does one know if they are suffering from psychosis? If one is detached from reality, then whatever the mind conjures must seem as real as the real. Empirical evidence is unreliable because the mind holds sway over the senses (which is why you see, feel, and hear what you do while you dream). The “brain in a vat” scenario seems relevant (a la The Matrix), only the twist is that with psychosis the mind has itself in vat; controlling what one sees and perceives regardless of outside influences. This begs the question of what the difference is between the mind and the self. Are we who our minds tells us to be? If hallucinations and delusions are created by our mind against our will, then how does this relate to our involvement with existence? If our involvement with reality is dependent on our perception of it (which is subject to the interpretive will of the mind), then any compromise to the mind’s connection with reality results in a lack of involvement between the person and reality as well. So, if one’s misinterpretation of reality is negative (as it might be with someone who suffers from psychotic depression), then their actions in actual reality are liable to be negative as well – i.e. violent. Keeping these ideas in mind may help you better understand certain characters in the film, as you’ll know better why treatment of their conditions can’t simply be to display reality to them (say, to argue how it’s impossible for someone who is dead to whisper in your ear).

Rating: 8.0

Interpretation of the Title: The name Shutter Island could have significance with the film, specifically with regards to what takes place on the island. A shutter by definition is a movable cover for a window or opening. If one’s psychological condition were to be analogous to the scenario of that person looking through a window towards the outside, their ability to see through the window to the outside could stand for their ability to perceive reality. Thus, if the window is covered by shutters one cannot see outside, and therefore their perception of reality is incorrect. The name of the island seems very fitting then, as the patients on it all have figurative shutters blocking their perceptions of the real world. On a positive note, shutters aren’t permanent.

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