Robert Kimble
GMMD211
Shutter Island Scene Analysis
The “Opening Scene” The 2010 movie Shutter Island is a psychological thriller that focuses on our main character “Teddy”. Portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio, our protagonist believes he is a U.S. Marshal who is headed to a remote island, which houses an asylum for the criminally insane, to investigate the disappearance of one of their patients. The harsh reality is that “Teddy” is one of those patients, and the opening scene sets the tone for what is to follow. The opening scene starts with a greyish screen and only the diegetic sound of the waves, symbolizing perhaps being lost at sea with nothing but water surrounding you. We then hear the horn of a ship, followed by a long shot of the ship taking shape as it emerges from the fog. At the front of the ship we see a person standing alone facing the direction the ship is heading. This symbolizes that whomever it is, they are gaining clarity of what is to come. Cut to a medium shot, showing the interior of the boat where we see someone leaning over a toilet and hear them throwing up, meanwhile we also hear the rustling of the chains shown hanging in the forefront. Cut to an extreme close up of our main character looking into the mirror and saying to himself “pull yourself together Teddy, pull yourself together.” This scene wreaks of split personality disorder.
This could have a parallel meaning that while “Teddy” is fighting with himself to regain control, it is making him sick. The use of the extreme close up is to give the audience a first person view and help them feel what he is feeling. Then a cutback to a close up, revealing his physical state of uneasiness is still apparent. Another extreme close up of “Teddy” looking out a small port window with him saying to himself “it’s just water, it’s a lot of water” symbolizes that he has a limited view of the world, and he is trying to minimize the fear of never finding his real self again. We then cut to a medium shot, where his image is out of focus and the handcuffs hanging in the forefront are the focal point of the shot. This foreshadows that there may be more to the story than we can see to this point. The camera pans the room, following him to the exit. He almost seems hesitant as he emerges through the doorway, and using a first person shot we see that he sees, a fence between him and others and still no sign of civilization only water. This foreshadows that he himself may be a patient, and that he feels there is no escape. His uneasiness is apparent as he is disoriented as he makes his way to speak to his partner Chuck, needing to grab the handrail to steady himself. Cut to a close up of the two conversing, with “Teddy” still seeming uneasy with his conversation with a new partner. Parallels to a new patient meeting their new psychiatrist for the first time come to mind here. Trying to make him feel at ease, Chuck starts a little small talk and then says that “Teddy’s” behavior “doesn’t square with Teddy Daniels, the myth the legend” to which it appears “Teddy” takes exception. This appears to be another attempt to find out exactly how he feels, or what he knows, about what he’s done. From his response he seems to be accepting, but not proud, of what he’s done. The conversation then turns to small talk again, in particular girls. The camera then fades out Chuck and focuses on “Teddy.” “Teddy” appears to go into a deep thought, staring off into space. Cut to a vibrant shot of “Teddy” and a beautiful girl, a time of happiness for him in his memory. Music from a record playing in the background, close ups of smiles on both their faces tells a story of a young couple in love. Suddenly the sound of waves crashing against the boat startle him back to reality, with a quick shot flashback of her smiling face as if it were a fleeting memory.
He tells Chuck that she died in a fire, but makes it known how important it is that the smoke killed her. This is how he rationalizes the extreme guilt he has, and that what he did was not his fault. In this scene we even see that he is still wearing his wedding ring, a symbol that even in death he still cares for her.
Cut to the establishing shot of the island, and cue the orchestra with dramatic intonations as to the evil that it holds. Cut to the captain in the background, because of his small part, saying there’s a storm coming and they need to hurry because there’s no way off the island. This gives the audience a feeling of no hope of escape or rescue. As the ship moves toward the island the camera zooms in and the music heightens and intensifies, raising our level on anxiety. As they get closer we see guards coming into focus, and security heightening.