Reviews
You're Not Who You Think You Are
Shutter Island
directed by
Martin Scorsese
posted by JoVo
I first heard of this movie watching videos online. Ads for it were everywhere, and they saturated my media so much that I got to the point where I didn't want to hear anything else about the movie. Then Topher wanted to go see the movie. So did Kaz and Zeke, so how could I resist? I'd seen the trailers, the movie looked cool, what was there to lose?
It was worth it. Shutter Island was greatly entertaining, beautifully constructed, and thought-provoking. And it's always nice to see Leonardo DiCaprio on the screen, particularly since his boyish looks gave way to fantastic acting.
The movie—based on the 2003 novel of the same name
While on the island, Teddy must deal with his own past. He had a wife, Dolores, who is artistically played by Michelle Williams, who died in a fire two years before. Furthermore, Teddy is a veteran of World War II, and remembers the terrible things he saw at Dachau. He suffers from migraines and nightmares regularly. Moreover, Dr. John Cawley (Ben Kingsley) and the rest of the hospital staff seem to be actively obstructing his investigation to prevent Teddy from uncovering Ashecliff's dark secrets.
But Teddy is a determined son-of-a-bitch, and that winds up getting him into a lot of trouble. I can't tell you what kind of trouble, though, because that'll spoil the movie. And, truly, this is a movie you'll want to go see. It is enthralling from beginning to end.
It's important to note that the movie takes place in an asylum for the criminally sane during the 1950s, when the deinstitutionalization movement was getting into full swing. By the 1960s, the length of stay in psychiatric institutions had dropped by more than half, and most mental institutions were giving way to more humane community-centered facilities. Another big moment in psychiatry occurred during the 1950s, when many new drugs became available for the treatment of the mentally ill. These drugs reduced severe symptoms, allowing people with serious psychopathology to live in communities such as half-way houses and nursing homes.
Ashecliff Hospital, Dr. Cawley avers, is an institution dedicated to treating their patients in humane ways and, ultimately, to help them transition back into society rather than to keep them cruelly incarcerated for the rest of their lives. In many ways, it was purported to be a very modern institution that had begun to abandon the grotesque inhumanity of psychosurgical treatments such as the transorbital lobotomy.
But what is the true purpose of Ashecliff Hospital? You won't know until the thrilling end.
WoD Inspirations
An asylum is a great setting for any World of Darkness game. I could have fit this review in almost any category, honestly. But we'll focus on the ones this story draws me toward the most.
Mage: The Awakening. The Seers of the Throne are more than capable of putting together a diabolical institution with the veneer of good will and authority. That's pretty much their modus operandus. How sinister you want to make Dr. Cawley is up to you, but if he's a Seer, I assure you he'll be a hell of a bad man. The asylum could also be a place where the most dangerous Mad, Banishers, and Seers are placed by some Consilium, or even many. Maybe it's run by the Guardians of the Veil, and it's where they put people who have "seen too much."
As the story progresses, you might begin to think of Teddy's progression as being a sort of Mage game of cat-and-mouse. As in all things WoD, the darker the better.
Hunter: The Reckoning. Teddy could be a Hunter, traveling to Shutter Island to uncover a dark conspiracy. Before Teddy arrives at Ashecliff, he spends a great deal of time trying to find Andrew Laeddis, the man who set the fire that killed Teddy's wife. The search could be a chronicle in itself, culminating in the characters' arrival at Shutter Island itself.
Changeling: The Lost. Although some people might think it a stretch (which is why I didn't list this under the subtopic Fae), Dr. Cawley could be a Fae who enjoys breaking the minds of those it captures, and maybe it prefers those who come somewhat willingly, like Teddy. Or maybe this asylum collects changelings in order to "treat" them for the psychotic hallucinations that lead them to believe they were ever in this fictional "Arcadia."
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