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Sunday, July 11, 2010

Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane - THE MOVIE (2010 - Directed by Martin Scorsese)

Shutter Island

Now, since I finished reading the novel Shutter Island this morning, the plot was still fresh in my mind when I watched the movie today. I have to say this is one of the best on screen adaptations of a novel that I have seen in a very long time.

The plot was accurate almost 100% with only a few missing pieces that, while I enjoyed them in the book, I did not find that I missed them when viewing the film.

One argument might be that by reading the book so recently, I may have damaged my viewing experience. I really do believe that I probably would have enjoyed the movie much more had I not read the book first. The element of surprise I experienced when I read the novel was pretty much eliminated. 

The artistic elements of the film really held up to the descriptions given in the novel. The dreams that Teddy had were filmed beautifully, and it was clear that Scorsese put a lot of heart into filming the story with the same feelings that the book inspired.

One thing that I did wonder while watching the film was if I would have understood everything had I not read the novel. Some aspects seemed a bit disjointed, and I found that I was connecting the puzzle in my own mind with things I had read in the book that were not part of the movie.

The end of the film seemed to conjure up the perception that Teddy was pretending he did not remember that he was Andrew Laeddis, while in the novel, I was left with the notion that Teddy had just relapsed back to knowing nothing about being Andrew Laeddis himself. I do not think that the addition of this detail compromised the film at all, and didn't mind the fact that the movie left added confusion for the viewer.

Sometimes it's very difficult to picture actors as the characters in a novel. At times they do not match with the images of the characters you've created in your mind while reading the book, however, I think Leonardo Dicaprio and Michelle Williams were excellent choices to play Teddy and Delores. They suited the roles well, and were very believable.

Overall, I think some things in the film were explained a little quickly for my liking, and if I hadn't read the book I think I might not have understood fully why they did certain things in the movie. However, I was definitely entertained, and thought it really did live up to the book. I would definitely recommend this film to anyone who wants a little bit of mystery in their lives.

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