Story feeling, not story telling.
There is a presumption that the goal of filmmaking is to tell a story. It is not a
particularly discriminating term, because the title “story teller,” like poet, or writer, is fair game for all who claim it. Instead, I like the term “story feeling.” A filmmaker tries to elicit romantic
feelings, sad feelings, sexual feelings, etc. And sometimes, a filmmaker will transcend
observational emotions to create a visceral experience, so that the audience,
watching, feels the way that the characters themselves feel.
From the opening credits, Shutter Island is that kind of visceral. The main character Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) is trapped in an unreal reality. His world looks normal, but it isn't. He can't reconcile the difference between what he sees and what he perceives. What's remarkable about the film is that, from the opening credits, the audience is made to feel the same way. The titles come up over black, but they cut out fast (around two seconds per title, vs. the standard three seconds.) The resulting sequence looks normal, but something feels wrong.
We
meet DiCaprio and Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo) on a boat. As
they talk, we do not cut back-and-forth between over-the-shoulder shots. Instead, the two men are positioned at 90
degrees. Both men
are dressed in similar clothes, and the sky behind them is a dark neutral
blue. So when the camera cuts from
one to another, we still see both faces, both fedoras, both tan jackets. It feels as though the two men are flipping places
in-frame, which looks simultaneously real and unnatural.
Once on the island, the master shots don’t flesh out the location. When
actors are shown in single shots, the long lenses obscure the background and
frustrate any concrete orientation.
Even in the establishing shot of Dr. Cawley’s house (Ben
Kingsley) the pan-down is nipped before the camera comes to rest. What we see looks normal. And yet we know, in our bones, that something is wrong. And so does the main character.
I don’t suggest Martin Scorsese and the editor, Thelma Schoonmaker, calculated this effect down
to the title sequence (although they may have.) Film is arguably a blend of acumen and accidents. Even so, Shutter Island is unique in that the story told is the story, felt.
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