As much as I've been anticipating Martin Scorsese's latest flick, it didn't take long for me to grow wary of where it was headed.
In the very first scene, when it is established that the two main characters are U.S. Marshals investigating a disappearance at a hospital for the criminally insane, ridiculously loud "suspense" music completely overwhelms the scene. It's just two guys walking into a hospital, but the music sounded like it was the end of a Hitchcock thriller. Baffling decision from a filmmaker who usually uses music to brilliant effect, and emblematic of what I didn't like about the film generally: cheap tactics to project an atmosphere of foreboding, without progressing the film at all. Drab, washed-out cinematography is another of such techniques.
Towards the end of the film, once it enters a simpler "chase" mode leading up to the mildly surprising twist, it picks up a lot of steam. I actually enjoyed the last quarter or so of the film quite a lot, especially Leonardo Di Caprio's performance, but overall Shutter Island is nowhere near Scorsese's best work.
Carmen
Posted February 21, 2010.I totally agree about the music. I forgot to say something to you when we were discussing it. As soon as that music came on I seriously lost interest. It felt like a gimmick (is that the right word?). Either way I thought it really sucked. I think silence would have had a greater effect on the creepiness of the place.
Milly
Posted March 4, 2010.Oh i had completely the same reaction to that music! I felt annoyed at how intrusive and inappropriate it was. However at the time I thought it was due to the cinema completely screwing up the sound for the whole film, the surround kept cutting out >:(