Scorsese and DiCaprio on the set of Shutter Island

Martin Scorsese is a director with an amazing track record. He is particularly famous for having worked with Robert De Niro and together they have made such memorable movies as Mean Streets (1973), Taxi Driver (1976), New York, New York (1977), Raging Bull (1980), Goodfellas (1990), Cape Fear (1991) and Casino (1995). This is in addition to the many fine rock documentaries that Scorsese has made (without De Niro!), such as The Last Waltz (1978) and Shine a Light (2008). For his latest movie, Shutter Island, Scorsese has assembled a stellar cast: there’s no De Niro, but you will find Leonardo DiCaprio, Ben Kingsley, Max von Sidow, Emily Mortimer and Michelle Williams. The movie receives its Italian release this month.

PERIOD PIECE

The film is set in the year 1954 and is based on the novel of the same name by Dennis Lehane. Lehane, who lives in Boston, teaches “advanced fiction writing” at Harvard (the prestigious college in the neighboring city of Cambridge) and he used Boston for this story. DiCaprio plays a young U.S. Marshal, Teddy Daniels, who is investigating the disappearance of a patient from a mental hospital. The place is called Ashecliffe Hospital and it is on “Shutter Island.”

INSANITY

Daniels soon discovers that the psychiatrists at the hospital are rather sinister characters and he begins to suspect that something very strange is going on. He uncovers an interesting lead, but the medical staff block his access to the hospital’s records. At this point a hurricane strikes and Shutter Island is completely cut off from the mainland. A number of patients escape and, in the general confusion, Daniels starts to question his own sanity.
Once again, Scorsese has decided to make a dark and disturbing movie...