Shutter Island & the failure of movie marketing
I really thought this film was marketed as a horror. I thought it was strange as it was Scorsese and DiCaprio but all trailers and TV spots that I had seen showed dark, eerie, isolated scenes so I naturally thought Marty was having a stab at a Psychological horror type like The Ring so was a bit surprised when it soon became clear it was more of a mystery thriller theme with slight elements of spooky supernatural goings on.
This is the fault of the trailers/film promoters again of course, editing a finished feature to appear like another genre for advertisement purposes. I hate trailers. When they’re not misinforming, they’re giving too much away. In general they should be banned now and people should decide if they want to watch a movie by reading up about it or by word of mouth (neither of which should give any plot away though – spoiling a film ending that I was looking forward to watching is a crime that should be punishable by jail time in my eyes).
I enjoyed the film anyway. It involved a complex, carefully woven story like the kind I’ve loved in films like The Usual Suspects, The Prestige or The Machinist. With this great storytelling and one of the greatest actor/director partnerships of this generation, It’s hard to see where the film could go wrong. All I can say is that although I appreciated the movie, I wouldn’t watch it again. Only because, with the setting and subject matter of this film – a criminally insane prison and the terrible things the “patients” have done to get sent there – I was left feeling a bit disgusted during and depressed when the credits rolled. I don’t know if I am alone on this one, but I have seen some excellent but depressing films in my time (often true stories) but find myself enjoying them the first time round then not feeling any urge to watch them again. Maybe a bit of a strange view, but I guess I prefer a film to make me feel nice at least by the time it’s over.
Definitely worth watching (at least once) anyway. Just don’t judge the movie’s tone by any trailers or adverts you see.
*** – 3 stars
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