We watched Shutter Island at home the night before we saw Inception in the theatre. I posted about Inception just after the viewing last night (and my scattered writing betrays my lack of collected thoughts). The similarities didn’t occur to me right away – other than that the lead for both movies was Leonardo DiCaprio. In fact, now I find it quite a coincidence that we happened to see these two films back to back.
Warning: I might do a little spoiling for Shutter Island (and maybe Inception).
In Shutter Island, DiCaprio is a US Marshal investigating the escape of a patient/inmate at Shutter Island, which is a penitentiary for the criminally insane. He goes through his entire search, which of course leads him in circles. We finally discover that he is a patient at the facility! He is criminally insane and suffered a great trauma and cannot face reality. He lives in a world where he didn’t commit any crime but is constantly seeking the person who did, but that person is him.
In Inception, DiCaprio is a thief. He enters dreams and steals ideas. The movie starts with a dream within a dream. He’s in someone’s head while he’s in someone’s head. The movie viewer almost never knows if she is in a dream or in reality. The viewer does come to see, however, how fine the line can be.
I didn’t really get into Shutter Island much. Sure, the twist at the end was interesting and the filming had some eye-catching details but it wasn’t enough. I was drawn to it because the trailer piqued my curiosity (which isn’t too terribly difficult) and it was a Scorsese film but it felt a bit flat. Inception on the other hand is worth seeing!
