Shutter Island
Set up: how is it used in the film?
1. What does the setup reveal to the audience about setting? Where is this place? What gives you information?
2. What does the set up reveal to the audience about characters? Choose one character and explain how the set up reveals this information.
3. What does the set up reveal to the audience about interrelationship between characters? About their goals? Are there any things you learn here that become important later on?
4. What is this ‘world’ like? Safe? Happy? Dangerous? How do you know?
5. What possible conflicts or strains is there that will become part of the story later on?
6. How does this film opening fit with the codes and conventions of the thriller films?
Throughout the film there are constant clues that tell us about Teddy. In the first scene we find out that teddy doesn’t like water; only later on do we know that it’s because of past experience. Also when teddy is talking about the death of his wife he has the flashback then it has a clip of the water and then it goes back to the flashback; this seems like nothing to the audience at the moment but it will soon come to their attention that it has some meaning. In the film they are constantly teasing you by referring to water and giving clues off Teddy’s life.
On the boat the captain comes out to speak to them and tells them that there is only one way out of the island this gives us a sense of fear that they will be trapped. As well as this we see guards on the island and this makes the characters feel insecure. When they arrive on the island it has come to their attention that the guards are on edge; the audience thinks they are because of the missing woman when actually they are because of Teddy. Also as detectives they have a high authority and these guards overpower them; so we know who’s in charge from the very start. Later on in the opening sequence when the sergeant asks them to give in their guns Chuck does not know how to get his gun out this seems weird for a “so called” experienced detective.
One thing that becomes very important later on is the mental people waving at him. We find later on in the film that they are not waving at him because they are but that they know him.
The island seems to be a very dark and gloomy place. It also seems very dangerous as there is a guard with a gun around every corner. The lighting in the film is always very dim and gloomy. Also the weather is always cloudy and stormy and this describes the mood of the island (pathetic fallacy).
The setup seems to reveal that Teddy has seen this before, for example when he says to chuck that it has an electrified perimeter and that he has seen something like this before. This is just another little observation that can be interpreted by the audience as a sign that he has been here before.
From the start there was always suspicion of what Chucks and Teddy’s goals actually were. At first we all think they have come here to find the missing women but eventually we find out that chuck is trying to play out a scenario to trigger Teddy’s memory back. Whereas Teddy’s thinks he has come here to find the missing women but really just wants to find the “murderer” of his wife. In the film there is a lot of strain between Teddy and the Doctor as Teddy believes something bad is going on that he is not being told about, for example he thinks them performing brain surgeries on their prisoners. There is conflict between them through the whole film and we soon realize why. It was because this was all a setup to bring him back to reality and trigger is memory of why he is there.
This thriller film has typical lighting and clothing as it is always dark. However the patience wear white as this shows plain, empty which resembles insanity. It is a typical thriller as it has a lot of mystery and gives us a handful of clues. The most important thriller convention in Shutter Island is that it has a massive plot twist that explains a lot of what has been happening at the beginning of the film.
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