Shutter Island was ruined for me by the trailer for it. The trailer made the "twist" super obvious. So, I watched the film waiting for a second twist, like in Total Recall when Quaid is almost convinced, but notices that they guy telling him that none of it is real is nervous and afraid to the point that he starts sweating. Instead... I just got the obvious twist I was already expecting. Still a great film that was excellently shot and directed, but I never bothered rewatching it.
i was so invested in the conspiracy of the island and that teddy was being gaslighted into thinking he was insane that i didn't accept the reality until the movie ended lol. even teddy accepted it before me, great movie.
This movie is so good that you could actually interpret it that way. This whole thing WAS a way to keep up the experiments and they caught wind he found out about it. They concocted this whole thing to drive him nuts. Its given away when Kingsley talks about how trained and also dangerous he is. He is a war hero and US Marshal, and he also had a tragic loss and serious ptsd. He was actually dangerous to them but with a key weakness they could exploit. That is discussed as well. What better way for top secret psychology experiments to stay hidden than to turn the tools on him. The movie can be watched that way including his last line. He is a soldier and realized the point of it. Its even mentioned that the N. Koreans and the Russians are doing the same kind of psychology experiments. Its as if he agreed with the violent generals and not the psychologically driven method. Remember he was told by Kingsley that he was on the front lines of a war. He actually chose the nazi doc and the general that talked about biting his eye, over Kingsley and Ruffalo. He says "why don't you try". That could be thought of as forget this stuff lets just have controlled war. Which we are.
One thing that wasn’t explicitly mentioned but I think is a cool detail is that like you pointed out his clothes as a detective don’t fit but the patient white clothes are almost a perfect fit for him when he puts them on, showing which ones are truly his and which are not.
So many details. The opening scene shows Teddy walk past his own handcuffs. The glass of water shows all 3 perspectives. "Who did this to you?"... "You did."
@@rashmisingh-ug7bt During the scene when Teddy is interrogating all the patients, the woman who writes down "Run" asks for a glass of water and we get 3 different shots. One shows the glass half full, another shows it empty and when she picks it up to take a sip, it disappears altogether. It's different for each POV
That last part hit hard. He knew but played along and chose to forget it all, asked "chuck" for mercy with what's basically an assisted suicide without having to explicitly say so. This movie effed me up
that’s interesting I love how the movie built it up with Dicaprio great acting to where at the beginning you think he can’t help it but as the movie progresses he shows he knows more and more than you think by the end even the bald guy knew he knew by the end
What really sucks is that the treatment did work, but because Andrew didn’t want to live with the pain it appears as if it failed, and likely set back any new approaches to psychotherapy over lobotomies-which was Dr. Cawley’s main motivation throughout the film. “What should be seen as a last resort, is quickly becoming a first response. Drug them up and lock them away.”
Yup, the same, and it pisses me off, honestly xD Just because Andy was a pussy all the doctor's work became a waste and also his reputation suffered, pretty selfish
Which apparently was a movie thing and not in the book if im not mistaken which kimda makes the whole thing different from the novel which is wild such a small thing can change everything
It did work, the line at the end was him telling "chuck" I know who I am and I can't live with these memories. I cried during this movie and honestly I cried reliving it with this video. There's been so many movies that should've won Leo an Oscar and imo this is definitely one of them. Shutter Island is one of my favorite movies ❤
I never thought he regressed back into the fantasy. It's was that line about living as a monster or dying as a good man that shows it. He considers himself a monster for what he did and he doesn't want to live like that. He sees the lobotomy as a death of himself, a way to escape the pain of what he did.
Yeah well he died a monster anyway because by hiding the truth he needlessly sentenced many more like him to be lobotomized instead of getting the help they need.
not really..but he can still die as a good man without living as a monster that "they" made him out to be becUse deep down inside..he knew that there was no escaping it..if everyone is in on it...
Also, as mentioned, how easily he just walks off with the guards, the whole scene is calm and clean as well as the fact that Dr Cheen calls him Teddy and there is no reaction. That last one is mainly what makes me think he never regressed back.
The movie leaves no question about this: he chose the lobotomy over having to live with the knowledge of what happened to his family and his part in it.
I am definitely of the opinion that he chose to go through with the lobotomy, but wanted to also reassure Dr. Sheehan that it had indeed worked. It was like a final goodbye and a thank you all in one. Great breakdown!
I honestly don't know how someone could watch this film and walk away from it thinking he had truly regressed. It's expertly acted, and the expressions subtle, but the wording itself is so on the nose, I almost wish the line about monsters and heroes wasn't in there.
I like the final line. It really drives home the complexity of his past. It's not just that he killed his wife. It's that, apparently, to which the movie alludes, he ignored his wife's own mental illness... which led to the death of his children and his rage then leads to his killing his wife, a mentally ill woman. As much as we want to side with Teddy / Andrew, he is indeed very violent, so violent that he has killed and would have killed many other innocent people had the props been real weapons. All this is to paint a subtle realization for the viewer that his past is far more complex than just the killing of his wife, and, the final line, for me, indicates this cryptic conclusion.
So you thought he didnt regress despite in the entire movie, he lived in his delusion? He's also had similar tests before the movie, yet he's always remained delusional
I would like to believe that he acted that way in the end because he wanted to investigate more and acted insane so that he wouldn't have to leave the island yet..😂Its possible too ya know
Brilliantly done. Watching this movie a second time is like watching a whole new film, as nearly every scene takes on a new meaning when you look at it from the perspective of everyone else who knows that Teddy is actually an inmate the whole time.
I wish you pointed out that at the end, chuck called out "Teddy" and Andrew did not respond. Meaning he was no longer in the illusion. Amazing review nonetheless 👏🏾 🙌🏾
you can notice that right after he said "which is worse, to live as a monster or to die as a hero". there for like one second, he looks at Dr Sheehan very straight. this is the moment, where you can tell that he still was aware of and accepted that he is andrew.
Another little detail you didn’t mention is that in the ending when Andrew gets up to go to his lobotomy, Dr. Sheehan calls him Teddy and he has no reaction, which shows that he has left his fake identity behind.
Always fascinated me that even after those ending hints that he's been "cured" and is aware of the reality but just plays the delusion again nobody in there catches up to it. Sheehan could have easily gotten the clue
It would be more believable if there were just 2 shackles, but instead there are multiple shackles this means it could just be a boat storage of the shackles which means Teddy is the real deal cop not an inmate.
The best thing about the movie is that even though you doubt this all being in his mind. You just don't want to believe it and you start to actually feel connected and follow Teddy's journey which makes the ending more exciting. As both Teddy and audience knew it all along just they don't want to accept it and live in his fantasy. The movie was never never about discovering the truth it was always about denying it.
So so real, I really couldn't accept it and I wrote my friend after I first watched this movie, and I told him that it's sooo weird to see HIM as the one with problems, so weird, and I was denying it in chat too lol, I said I wish the movie ended like it should have without the Twist, I don't really mean it but it was very weird to me, really is the best twist I've ever seen and had, amazing movie
When you finally understand what is happening I felt so bad for Kingsleys character .He really wanted to help Andrew and was so sad when he had to labotomize him.
I only watched it twice, but remember that I thought in the end Andrew chose to not live as a monster and made the conscious decision for the lobotomy in a more subtle and calm way, speaking in the language they gave him by orchestrating this elaborate therapy. He honoured the effort that way. Seemed always rather clear to me
I always thought I was pretty smart by getting that last part when he said that, but I didn't get anything else shown in this breakdown but there are many many comments about the "die as a monster/live as a good man" line, which shows me that that was the most obvious, telegraphed hint in the movie lol.
I think I read somewhere that the creepy woman doing the "shush" motion did it because she didn't have any knowledge of the experiment they were doing with Laeddis and because of her loose grip on reality she thought that he was in disguise and fooling the staff and guards. The shush was her basically saying, "Oh, you're wearing a disguise! Well, mum's the word, I won't tell."
Or maybe, just maybe, Andrew was a very vocal patient who talked a lot of nonsense in the ward so many other patients found him too nosy and so she motioned him to shut up, one more time. XD
This is one of my favorite movies of all time! I have watched it multiple times and see something new with every viewing. Another detail at the very beginning is you can see the shackles hanging in the room on the boat where Teddy (DiCaprio) wakes up. This is an immediate clue that he had been a prisoner and was just waking up on the boat after having been most likely sedated and dressed for the role he was about to play. At some point, his clothes had to have been changed, and the fake gun belt put on him. This is also evident by him being disoriented when he is standing at the sink, and he tells himself to pull it together. I always asked myself HOW could he not have already met Chuck when the boat left the dock? Well, that was the reason...he was sedated. When he finally woke up, the role play began...
I mean there are all these odd things about him, but you could also chalk it all up to him having PTSD from the war trauma he experienced. There are so many misdirections thrown at us throughout the movie. The woman looking at Chuck could be that she's scared to say anything because she's afraid of the caretakers.
@@Zeta9966if you watched the film for the first time you would think this. But the ending would tell you the truth and watching it more times you could see more Easter eggs. Like the shackles on the wall.
Another interesting fact that you missed is that in the book Andrew messed up his wives weekly medication due to being drunk, and this is what led her to have a psychotic episode and kill the kids. Dunno why they left this detail out in the film but it really adds to why Andrew felt so much guilt. It was basically his drinking problem that caused his kids death. This kinda reminds me of The Shining. Jacks drinking problem is what made him susceptible to the spirits infultrating his mind in the book, a drinking problem he got from his father, and his father from his father etc.
Can someone tell me why he was considered so violent? He shot his wife because she killed his kids. He also regretted it right after. And why was everyone scared of him?
And also, why were people (Dr. Naehring & The Warden) telling him throughout the movie that violence is a good thing? It's like they wanted him to be more violent, not cure him from being so violent.
If I’m not mistaking, the reason for him being considered extremely violent and dangerous is because of his military training and his detective mind. He’s able to concoct highly elaborated and detailed conspiracy theories in his mind and act them out from a point of view of a hero putting in danger the other patients in doing so. At least that’s what I got from it.
When he would go into his delusions, he would violently assault patients and staff. In addition, because he had a keen mind, he could bypass most of their counter measures like locked doors and evade security. He was intelligent and resourceful but his inability to deal with the tragedy regarding his family left him in his delusional state to protect himself.
To me, what makes Andrew reverting back into the fantasy impossible at the end is exactly what you stated, Teddy Daniels would not have willingly walked over to the guards and workers and accepted the lobotomy. Everything we saw about Teddy in the movie shows his distrust of the staff and doctors. I have to respect Andrew’s decision, I would not want to remember such a traumatic event either and I wouldn’t have to worry about harming anyone anymore. Great film and great video!
I always thought that he was “cured” and then willingly accepted the lobotomy by acting like he regressed. Excellent break down, I missed quite a few things that you brought up in the video!
he was cured, he didn't regress. he accepted the lobotomy because he didn't wanna carry on living with the guilt. check the last line he says to Shaheen
3:32 - upon my first rewatch, I had thought the ill-fitting clothes was more of a "you're trying to be someone you arent, you don't quite fit into the role" but your idea works too
I watched this movie in the theaters and that line "...to live as a monster or die as a good man..." always stuck with me. I took it as he came to grips with what he had done, but couldn't live with himself and wanted to let someone else know.
Great job. My only nitpick which I can’t remember for sure, doesn’t Shaen call him Teddy as he walks away and he doesn’t respond? Slightly signaling he’s done playing the role.
I only watched this movie once about 10 years ago and it's always stuck with me. After watching this Breakdown I'm going to watch it again later. These breakdowns of classic movies are brilliant.
Same here. I really liked it back then too. I understood the twist at the end, it's always stuck with me. I never bothered to go back and watch again, but honestly I'm not the best at picking up this kind of depth on movies. If I watch a movie I enjoy I usually come to TH-cam and watch a breakdown of it like this. I appreciate this trend, and this channel name being Heavy Spoilers is perfect haha. This one's a W for the algo
I really love this movie. I mostly love the setting of an inescapable mysterious island. The added danger of the storms and possibly violent patients made the whole movie feel really spooky and atmospheric.
The storm and fire never being real never crossed my mind, but it very much makes sense. Great analysis! I agree that he choses to be lobotomized because he doesn't want to live as a monster. What a masterpiece.
This is a cafeteria-movie... You pick and choose what parts you want to believe and what parts you don't. That's the beauty of a story told through the eyes of an unreliable narrator.
In the final scene he smoked the cigarette given to him. If he was stuck in the illusion he would carry on believing the cigarettes had been drugged as he stated earlier while delusional. This demonstrates he was in the real world at the end. He knew the cigarette wasn't drugged.
Wow! This is a fantastic breakdown! I think another important element of the weather is the fact that when he is in the past, similar to water, is that the camp is snowing, displaying his PTSD. It shows those memories are frozen and stuck in his mind rather than the fluidity of water which he can change. I think once he starts working things out, that’s when he sees his family frozen, showing the PTSD has them stuck in his mind no matter how many times he tries to change the memory. I think he definitely chooses to have the lobotomy as he realizes the memories are always there no matter how many times they try to use the role play. He recognizes that he doesn’t want to forget again, unless it’s forever.
Thanks for the great video, I missed this before. One thing I still don't understand - I've probably just missed something and hopefully someone can help with this: when Teddy and Chuck are in the graveyard, Teddy tells Chuck that he has been researching the clinic and is convinced that they are conducting horrible experiments, and that he wants to expose the whole thing. Chuck responds that perhaps the clinic already knows what Teddy is doing, and has actually lured both of them to the island as a trap. If Chuck is really Teddy/Andrew's doctor, why would he say that? He seems to be confirming or at least reinforcing Teddy's delusion and paranoia by saying it, and decreasing the chance that the role-play will work.
Great point, and I don't think that anyone has ever come up with a good answer. The only answer I ever got was "Well, due the horrible storm, they had to hurry his delusions along to get the role-play done faster". Are you kidding me? It's scenes like this one (with no half-decent explanations) that make me think that Teddy really was a US marshal and that the doctors are brainwashing him into thinking he's a patient. And so they're constantly filling his head with paranoia and violence to drive him crazy and eventually worthy enough to become the 67th patient at Ashecliffe.
So it all starts with 'Chuck' asking Ted "So what are you here to do, Ted?" and he responds "I'm here to gather the evidence, go back to the mainland, and blow the lid off on this whole thing". Rewatching the picture, something seems off about Chuck, it felt like he instantly switched to a different persona before going into that whole rant. I might be going mad myself, but even the visuals around Chuck felt a bit off, which might be intentional, to show Dr. Sheehan coming out, instead of 'Chuck'. In the earlier scene, before arriving at the crypt where the dialogue is happening, Chuck and Ted are almost hit by a big branch, endangering their lives. I think this made Chuck either angry or consider pulling the plug on the whole thing. So he asks Ted 'What are you here to do, Ted?' and hopes for a glimmer of truth, a glimmer of hope, but all he gets is psychosis. Chuck then blows a fuse, drops the act, and switches to a fed-up Dr. Sheehan who aggressively charges (verbally, of course) at Ted. You can see the effects on Ted as he should be excited that his partner is supporting his theory, but when faced with the aggressive assault, he can only yelp "bullshit, bullshit" and retreat into his shell until saved by the doors opening and light shining through, maybe signifying Dr. Cawley intervening between them to stop a haywire Dr. Sheehan. The last thing Chuck said before going off is: 'What if they staged this whole thing to have you here? To have US here?' I think he didn't want to be there anymore, he felt that Dr. Cawley was putting him up to this task that was actually becoming dangerous, and he was ready to pull the plug and leave Ted live in the delusion until Cawley intervened and snapped him out of his burst of anger. His next lines after the door opens "It's an island, boss! They're always going to find us" are spoken in a completely different tone, and instead of supporting the delusion as before maybe by reinforcing that 'they are watched and everything is indeed planned', he's finding sound reasoning for what's happening, similar to what he's been doing earlier and after, in a more familiar 'Chuck' tone, showing that the act is back on track and Chuck has reverted to his role. Also, notice how the last 'Chuck' question was 'what are YOU here to do, Ted' (not 'what are WE here to do, Ted'), signifying that this is all a 'party' for Ted. While at the end of the rant 'Chuck' says 'to have US here', meaning that in this part, he was as much of a pawn as Ted is for the whole movie, and being put in a position of danger made him angry, making him slip out of the role for a second. At least, that's how I looked at it while watching the movie a second time. Now knowing the twist at the end and the role each one was playing, you notice all the small details that this video shows. ( I think there are even more that could be interpreted, but these are the most 'in your face' ). Frankly, I think the movie is quite frightening... it seemed like Ted had no awareness or control over his delusions and hallucinations. I am scared that my brain can trick my senses into feeling sensations that are not real, and go as far as creating a completely new identity and new memories. This being said, I despise Andrew for allowing Cawley and Sheehan to think they failed in the end. After all that effort they were able to achieve success, only for Andrew to not be able to cope with reality and fake his regression, pretty much committing 'suicide by doctor'. He took the coward's way out and he could have had the dignity to do it by his own hand, which would have allowed the people who undertook a huge effort to make him better a semblance of a win, at least from a medical standpoint. Instead, he proved the 'Nazi' and the Violent Warden right by showing that the transorbital lobotomy was indeed the only solution. Who knows how many patients that could have been cured has he condemned to this cruel fate by his actions in the final scene. To Andrew I say, all monsters can become good men, but you lost your chances to die as one when you abandoned reality, instead of facing it. There is always something you can do to make amends. Repent and dedicate your life to doing good to those in need, there is no greater salvation and repentance for your sins.
I've just rewatched that scene and my interpretation is as such: Andrew starts doubling down on his delusions, sinking deeper into his paranoia (taking about government grants and fictional meetings at prisons with Noyce) and Dr Sheehan see this. Obviously all of Sheehan and Crawleys work rests on this treatment method working for Andrew. When Sheehan sees in this scene that Andrew isnt showing any signs of coming out of his delusions (evidened by the look of concern that develops on his face) he plays along for a bit, I believe to see how far the delusion goes, before he realises he needs to try and counter Andrews thinking to try and pull him back to being closer to the reality they're hopign he'll find. Sheehan starts to point out how ridiculous some of Andrews ideas are ("they've got an electrified fence around a sceptic facility" "where's one shred of evidence she ever existed?") As he does this Andrew starts to get a bit more anxious, grabs between hs eyes as if struggling to cope with being faced with the logic. Sheehan continues to point out illogical points in Andrews delusion (a faked escape, 'they were looking in to you') and Andrew does become softer andstart to question it "There's no way they could have known I'd be assigned to this case, no way". To me I see a patient resisting all reality and sinking into delusions and a frustrated doctor trying desperately to get him to acknoweldge how illogical it all is and bring him back to reality to save the credibility of his methods. Extra point here from this scene - 'Teddy' says Noyce was sentenced to "Life in Detam (sp?) prison" and that he 'found' him and spoke to him. This heavily implies that 'Teddy' spoke to Noyce at Detam Prison. As soon as we meet Noyce in Ashecliffe it's a massive clue that 'Teddy's' memories are all ficticious as clearly Noyce was never at Detam (as he's at Ashecliff) meaning Teddy could never have spoken to him there.
The whole exercise is reinforcing his delusions, but that is the point. The doctor explains this at the end. They are letting him go through with it so that he can find that the conspiracy isn’t real. He never actually finds any evidence of these experiments and torture being done.
You've got my attention friend. 3 of my all time favorite( Shutter island , Arrival, Dune) movies I've just listened to you break down and also present idea/ interpretations that I hadn't already come up with. Let's keep it going friend. Subscribed.
I found this video and ran straight to Netflix to see Shutter island, only so that I could come back to this video. I found the movie okay at first, but with this video for context, I realize that Shutter island is simply a masterpiece of a movie. You make great videos man. Thank you for your hard work.
I've seen this film a few times,but the way you broke it down made me realise what an absolute masterpiece the film is. From the writing,to the acting to the directing. An astonishing film. Also the little nuggets I've never seen in the film before,like the woman he interviewed in the canteen that was drinking out an imaginary cup.
I love this breakdown. I went back and watched the entire movie again, and I saw all the clues which makes me appreciate this movie even more. At the 17:47 minute mark, you can see Dr Sheehan and an orderly look at each other and smirk while Teddy is interrogating the staff. Amazing! These are the things you wouldn’t notice unless you watched the movie a second time. What a masterpiece!
And how does no one talk about just after the nurse "define unusual, this is a mental institution, marshal, for the criminally insane, usual isn't a big part of our day" and then EVERYONE LAUGHS because they are literally doing a very UNUSUAL thing, by this "play pretend"
This movie hit me hard, never expected that kind of an ending at all. I actually couldn’t accept the fact that all the investigation that Andrew did was just his illusion and the doctors and nurses were playing all along.
I heard Penn (from Penn and Teller) once describe the "perfect" conclusion to a routine as being "A complete surprise but utterly inevitable". That quote stuck with me because it also describes the perfect conclusion to a story. The end being totally novel but when you think about everything you have seen so far it makes so much sense that you can't believe you didn't see it coming. Shutter Island and Fight Club are perfect examples of this.
this was a very thorough analysis but there’s one detail no one mentions about this movie which is how when “teddy” and “chuck” exist the hospital and head to the lighthouse, chuck tells teddy he found files on andrew laeddis in the archives and he gives the paper to teddy and he probably intended that he will read it and figure out the truth a little sooner, teddy didn’t wanna look at the report or find out anything.
@@pnut3844able you should check out The Aviator, Wolf of Wall Street, and Silence if you haven't already. Scorcese took like over a decade long break away from making Mob movies after The Departed(though The Aviator came out before). The Aviator sort of has a few of the same vibes as Shutter Island as it deals with mental illness.
Wide margin? Not arguing with your opinion, The Departed and Wolf of Wall Street by a wide margin, how does Shutter Island rate a wide margin? Just curious.🤔
Let us know if we missed anything. Huge thank you for checking out the video. Make sure you watch our breakdown of Memento here - th-cam.com/video/M-OZVPnBXyc/w-d-xo.html
You can also watch the film from the perspective that Teddy was sane and the memory of him finding the deceased little girl during the war was his original memory and the doctors on the island used techniques to alter that memory into that girl being his daughter, she's colored differently than the other two children during the scene of the lake, during the fireplace scene they hint that the doctors on the island are repatriated nazi's from the war. "Fake Rachel" also mentioned to not smoke any cigarettes except his own and that's the first thing he does at the beginning. If your familiar with MK ULTRA mind control and nazi experimentation this interpretation of the film makes more sense. It also makes more sense that the ending would be nuanced rather than Scorsese laying out the entire plot for the audience.
@@4dstellatedhypercube558 the simple fact he gets the lobotomy means he was a sane man trying to bring justice for some reason no one ever talks about that
There is one little detail i think you missed. In the video, you mention the one music track, playing in correlation to Tedds trauma and that it nods to contradictions within the concentration camp scene. But actually, I think its supposed to reveal that the liberation of Dachau is too a part of the fantasy. That is the snow. In the movie, it was heavily snowing whilst tedd was liberating the camp, but when it was liberated in real life, it was april. It wasnt snowing at all. I think the music track is supposed to be a theme for tedds defense mechanisms around his trauma.
Something important you didn't mention in the ending talk scene between Teddy and Chuck: look at the curious and surprised facial gesture of Chuck when Teddy brings the quote with the monster vs. good man, telling his psychiatrist subtly that he's" cured" now, and going forward now by choice, to "die"as a good man at least, instead of going on with being a living hell for all around him. The ending isn't open, imo., if you watch and analyse very carefully, because on the question of "what's now, boss/ teddy?"Chuck asks him back to hear some kind of future plans or visions. Instead he shows his old behaviours in a very open way with the devastating paranoia phrase, that was build around on throughout the whole film openly( representing fire, the delusion), which then gets contradicted again seemingly by his deeper going ending quote( representing the water element, the reality), building up the whole contradictory theme into this last two phrases basically, leading into a clear, developed conclusion now. I know, hard to understand maybe, but let's assume he would be still in his typical mental trauma phase: he won't go up by himself to take the walk to his "electricity chair" without still trying dumb shit again or defend himself, because as we learnt through the film: he's a man of"power" with strong defense mechanisms. But the way he now talks and walks calmly, rather than hasty and offensively, shows his progression on a psychological level and that he understood to do the "society" there a favor and dying as a good man, than being the living monster, that he otherwise would be. Also he knows in his mind, that Chuck got the message there and will respect him for that decision. He died in the battle as good, honorable man so to speak.
One of my favourite movies of all time. Story, actors, ending, pure perfection. This masterpiece is very underrated. You must watch it more than once to fully understand perception of story.
At the end he knows the truth. That’s why he makes the comment about dying as a good man. This is one of my favorite movies and I have watched it multiple times. I have never noticed that the patient does not have a glass of water in her hand when she takes a drink! Several other things I never noticed too! I must go home and watch it again tonight!!! Great video!
When he finds Rachel in the cave at first she doesn’t have any shoes but then before he leaves she’s wearing shoes. They mentioned that every patient only gets two pairs of shoes, so not only should she be barefoot but she shouldn’t have any shoes to wear. That whole scene with Teddy in the cave could have be an allegory to Platos cave.
@@JohnS-il1dr She wasn't real. He made her up. Everything she said about "once you're declared insane, no one will believe you" is exactly the same thing "Teddy" said to "his partner chuck" in the cemetery. There were no rats either. In fact, I'm pretty sure there was no storm.
One thing you didn’t mention was Chuck’s reaction when he snapped at the male patient he was interviewing. He makes an attempt to restrain Teddy while looking over to the nurses. He also attempts to restrain Teddy when he snaps at Dr. Jeremiah.
unlike you, i didnt guess the plot twist from the start, and that made the ending 100000x better. The ending was amazing and the way andrew came to grips with the reality of what happened but still chooses to live the rest of his days oblivious of the trauma he's faced is kinda heartbreaking looking back at it.
I envy you for two reasons; 1) being modest enough to admit that you didn't see it coming. 2) experiencing the twist in its fullest. If you haven't seen it, i think you may appreciate the prestige by christopher nolan.
lol yeah, i stumbled upon this movie because i heard it had a great plot twist to it so while watching the whole thing i would come up with my own theories, which all turned out to be wrong.
I wonder how you work on all this. It is so accurate and useful. I am actually studying this movie for academic reason. You are really helping. Thank you very much!
It still blows my mind that the real twist is that Teddy was really who he really was and not Andrew, and that the people on the island were experimenting on him to see if they can convince someone to be someone they aren't. I can't wait for the sequel to come out where Teddy exposes everything.
I like this take, especially for the fact that the doctors didn't do a single thing the whole movie that would actually help him, like the ridiculous idea of playing along with one's delusions in the first place!
I remember watching this movie for the first time and at the end still being on the side of Dicaprio's character, thinking they were setting him up. I was so convinced that Teddy was actually a cop, I just glossed over the big reveal.
Same here! I thought Ashcliffe had won, and they’d silenced Teddy for discovering their cruel experiments. But then I watched the film more times. After this video-just as Scorsese intended-the truth is so much more heartbreaking than what the audience and Teddy is led to believe. 🥺
I've tried to watch this film and it just scared me too much to continue. It's on the freeview channel tonight but yet again the first scene of them going through the grounds and seeing the weird looking balding woman with a scar across her neck. Never understood the plot as i could watch the film. So it's easier and I'm grateful for being able to watch the YT shorts. It does remind me of Titanic for some reason, only in reverse. He survived, she didn't... I don't think I'll ever be able to watch the full movie, tbh. Even more grateful for this video... Great job!
man ive watched the movie a few times over the years and always forget everything except the fact that he is the patient, but still never understand anything else in the movie i dont know how you nail all of these little points... it makes the movie so much better knowing these things
Hey mate, had to pause ~8 mins in to write a comment. This is unbelievably good commentary. I know it's standard symbolism being explained, but it's all concise, accurate and engaging. Thanks for making this. A cut above many good movie analyses
This film is genuinely amazing for the storytelling. Trying to help the person accept their own guilt and consequence is a noble idea but unfortunately he cannot live with his past , so he delved into fantasy. A very real component of ptsd like behaviour.
Accept his guilt but, more importantly, accept reality. But the reality is so horrible that he cannot permanently live with it, and to protect himself from the endless horror, he resets back to a fantasy that he can live with but is unacceptable to the institution because that makes him highly violent and dangerous.
Dennis Lehane is an amazing author and he deserves more credit than the director, imo. This film inspired me to check him out which led me to reading his entire library. He's great and Shutter Island is my favorite. Great video, great content, thanks!
Authors can't get more credit than the director when it comes tor a film. If that were the case it would be the same for many screenplay writers. Orĺ hell, editors, the often usung heroes.
The twist in this film is like a box you find in the attic of your old stuff. You find little tid bits you've forgotten about, remember fondly and never even paid attention to before
A masterful movie , always great to watch each time & as for the ending.....The Dr. "Chuck" calls him Teddy after walking off, he doesn't acknowledge him at all because that's not his name, it's Andrew. When you hear another person's name you usually wouldnt look cause it's not your name being called
I can't watch this only once. This movie blew my mind and also saddening me because of the fact at the end. I would like to watch it again this weekend. The details are amazing. Great job explaining the details!
🐐🐐🐐this one is also rent free for me as well I’ve personally always felt that he chose to go back in to the fantasy. He didn’t want to face the truth of what he did. I never caught the cup of water not being there! What a find!! Really appreciate this breakdown as a whole and you for taking the time to make it! Thanks Paul!! Keep ‘em coming
I originally watched this movie a few years ago and had no clue what was actually going on . But then I watched it a second time a year later and realized most of the things you said in your video. But after watching your video it shed a lot of light on the little details that I’ve missed
A few additional things worth mentioning. When Dr. Cawley is first introduced, pay attention to how he speaks about how the mentally ill used to be treated. Before he says "drowned", he quickly glances at Teddy and slightly changes his tone. While this further underscores Dr. Cawley's distaste for what passed as mental health care in the past, it's also his way of testing Andrew. Dr. Cawley knows that Andrew's children were drowned, and thus even the mention of drowning might be enough to trigger him. When Teddy is interviewing the staff and forces one of them to admit he breached protocol to use the restroom, Chuck can be seen in the background glancing and nodding at one of orderlies, non-verbally assuring him that Teddy is stable. Also, the guard that lets them into Ward C wasn't the one laughing; if you turn on the closed captions, it says that an unseen inmate was laughing. Anyway, great video!
“Which one be worse, To live as a monster or to die as a good man?” I think this line sums the ending. Andrew accepted the truth, however he is wondering if living the rest of his life as a monster (Andrew) is worse than dying as a good man (Teddy). His answer was shown that he didn’t want to give on teddy and decided to play this role for the last time and die as being Edward Daniels
I actually really agree with your intro. I guessed the twist from the trailer and wrote the movie off as cliche without ever having watched it. However, when I did I was floored by everything about it. The twist is only one facet of the film, with all of the character development and movement from scene to scene actually being really, really good.
Even at the end when marked called him teddy he didn’t respond or look back. This was a brilliant movie in the fact that you can spot new things each time you watch it. Look at the background characters and dialogue when theirs groups.
I think I need to watch this movie again soon. I saw it in theaters and never went back to it, but this video makes me wanna revisit it. I absolutely love Martin Scorsese. This one is different from most of his other films.
I read the book before I got to watch the film a months after. Reading the book gave me chills and stops as the plot twists and turns. When I watched the film, I got the same feelings. Kudos to Dennis Lehane, Martin Scorsese, Leo and the writers. They stayed true to the material. One of the best books and film adaptation.
Great review, Paul. This is one of my favorite films. You shared some things that I never noticed before, and it makes me want to watch the film again for the n-th time. This was definitely during the prime era of Leonardo DiCaprio (after Titanic,) and I don't think that Leo could have chosen a better script (other than The Great Gatsby.)
I watched both this movie and inception in theaters since they came out around the same time period. Both kept me up for a few nights after just trying to fully understand what i saw😂
My first time watching this movie was the Superbowl after party 2023. I too figured out in the opening sequence, something was off with Leo's character. The Easter eggs and your in depth analysis; never would have made the connection. I'm surprised you did not reference/similarities the water and the color red to the movie The Sixth Sense. Excellent job!
![30 ชั่วโมงคนเดียว บนรถไฟชั้น 3 โซเวียต [Around The World Ep. 2]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/MlE9boAVqDA/mqdefault.jpg)
Check out our breakdown of Arrival here - th-cam.com/video/JT3Xtrf384I/w-d-xo.html
watch the ninth configuration. stacy keach, thats the OG psych thriller. I feel shutter island is a scam to be honest
Doctors don't carry guns, which explains why Teddy's partner Chuck never had one to surrender upon arriving onto the island.
Shutter Island was ruined for me by the trailer for it. The trailer made the "twist" super obvious. So, I watched the film waiting for a second twist, like in Total Recall when Quaid is almost convinced, but notices that they guy telling him that none of it is real is nervous and afraid to the point that he starts sweating. Instead... I just got the obvious twist I was already expecting. Still a great film that was excellently shot and directed, but I never bothered rewatching it.
0:00 Shitter Island
The first scene Teddy walks past his own hand cuffs
i was so invested in the conspiracy of the island and that teddy was being gaslighted into thinking he was insane that i didn't accept the reality until the movie ended lol. even teddy accepted it before me, great movie.
ME TOO the entire ending I thought they were lying to him !
i still dont believe it! Free my boy teddy!!
@@surenhohn5191me too! And even though he was the bad guy, my mind is set (don't know why) that he was right.
@@email471lmao same
This movie is so good that you could actually interpret it that way. This whole thing WAS a way to keep up the experiments and they caught wind he found out about it. They concocted this whole thing to drive him nuts. Its given away when Kingsley talks about how trained and also dangerous he is. He is a war hero and US Marshal, and he also had a tragic loss and serious ptsd. He was actually dangerous to them but with a key weakness they could exploit. That is discussed as well. What better way for top secret psychology experiments to stay hidden than to turn the tools on him. The movie can be watched that way including his last line. He is a soldier and realized the point of it. Its even mentioned that the N. Koreans and the Russians are doing the same kind of psychology experiments. Its as if he agreed with the violent generals and not the psychologically driven method. Remember he was told by Kingsley that he was on the front lines of a war. He actually chose the nazi doc and the general that talked about biting his eye, over Kingsley and Ruffalo. He says "why don't you try". That could be thought of as forget this stuff lets just have controlled war. Which we are.
One thing that wasn’t explicitly mentioned but I think is a cool detail is that like you pointed out his clothes as a detective don’t fit but the patient white clothes are almost a perfect fit for him when he puts them on, showing which ones are truly his and which are not.
The white ones are for orderlies, not patients.
So many details. The opening scene shows Teddy walk past his own handcuffs. The glass of water shows all 3 perspectives. "Who did this to you?"... "You did."
@@mk-ultramags1107glass of water?
@@rashmisingh-ug7bt During the scene when Teddy is interrogating all the patients, the woman who writes down "Run" asks for a glass of water and we get 3 different shots. One shows the glass half full, another shows it empty and when she picks it up to take a sip, it disappears altogether. It's different for each POV
That would work if it wasnt that he was in orderly clothes not patients.
That last part hit hard. He knew but played along and chose to forget it all, asked "chuck" for mercy with what's basically an assisted suicide without having to explicitly say so. This movie effed me up
that’s interesting I love how the movie built it up with Dicaprio great acting to where at the beginning you think he can’t help it but as the movie progresses he shows he knows more and more than you think by the end even the bald guy knew he knew by the end
lol 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Hit you hard 🤣🤣🤣 you melon it's a film hits you hard 😂😂😂 ma homie stop putting comments on TH-cam 🤣🤣🤣
@@cuzmcc k. Kkk k k k. Ok.
@@LADYBOY1988 loool right? Mfckr so melodramatic 🤣🤣🤣
What really sucks is that the treatment did work, but because Andrew didn’t want to live with the pain it appears as if it failed, and likely set back any new approaches to psychotherapy over lobotomies-which was Dr. Cawley’s main motivation throughout the film.
“What should be seen as a last resort, is quickly becoming a first response. Drug them up and lock them away.”
Psychotherapy and lobotomies are fictional. Fiction is used to market things outside of fiction of course.
Yeah, this was what went through my head too. Can't blame him though.
Yup, the same, and it pisses me off, honestly xD Just because Andy was a pussy all the doctor's work became a waste and also his reputation suffered, pretty selfish
Fantastic point
Which apparently was a movie thing and not in the book if im not mistaken which kimda makes the whole thing different from the novel which is wild such a small thing can change everything
It did work, the line at the end was him telling "chuck" I know who I am and I can't live with these memories. I cried during this movie and honestly I cried reliving it with this video. There's been so many movies that should've won Leo an Oscar and imo this is definitely one of them. Shutter Island is one of my favorite movies ❤
I never thought he regressed back into the fantasy. It's was that line about living as a monster or dying as a good man that shows it. He considers himself a monster for what he did and he doesn't want to live like that. He sees the lobotomy as a death of himself, a way to escape the pain of what he did.
Yeah well he died a monster anyway because by hiding the truth he needlessly sentenced many more like him to be lobotomized instead of getting the help they need.
Exactly
not really..but he can still die as a good man without living as a monster that "they" made him out to be becUse deep down inside..he knew that there was no escaping it..if everyone is in on it...
Also, as mentioned, how easily he just walks off with the guards, the whole scene is calm and clean as well as the fact that Dr Cheen calls him Teddy and there is no reaction. That last one is mainly what makes me think he never regressed back.
The movie leaves no question about this: he chose the lobotomy over having to live with the knowledge of what happened to his family and his part in it.
How DiCaprio didn’t win an Oscar for this is beyond me
freal
That is wot I was going to write he was outstanding in this film
💯
There's at least several of his movies I've made that exact same statement on.
Because it wasn't a very good film...
I am definitely of the opinion that he chose to go through with the lobotomy, but wanted to also reassure Dr. Sheehan that it had indeed worked. It was like a final goodbye and a thank you all in one. Great breakdown!
How do you know he got harmed in ways that are marketed with lobotomy?
Who’s gonna act like those made to be thought of as human are lobotomized?
@@bunk95What does this even mean?
@@bunk95huh?
@@ridiak3637We may never know. I read it three times, and have no idea what point they were trying to make.
@@bunk95this comment is a lobotomy
I honestly don't know how someone could watch this film and walk away from it thinking he had truly regressed. It's expertly acted, and the expressions subtle, but the wording itself is so on the nose, I almost wish the line about monsters and heroes wasn't in there.
Exactly this. Leonardo is such an outstanding actor and also the others in that scene and movie were doing an amazing job.
I like the final line. It really drives home the complexity of his past. It's not just that he killed his wife. It's that, apparently, to which the movie alludes, he ignored his wife's own mental illness... which led to the death of his children and his rage then leads to his killing his wife, a mentally ill woman. As much as we want to side with Teddy / Andrew, he is indeed very violent, so violent that he has killed and would have killed many other innocent people had the props been real weapons. All this is to paint a subtle realization for the viewer that his past is far more complex than just the killing of his wife, and, the final line, for me, indicates this cryptic conclusion.
So you thought he didnt regress despite in the entire movie, he lived in his delusion? He's also had similar tests before the movie, yet he's always remained delusional
I would like to believe that he acted that way in the end because he wanted to investigate more and acted insane so that he wouldn't have to leave the island yet..😂Its possible too ya know
@@eddiedantes7732he didn’t kill the guard
Brilliantly done. Watching this movie a second time is like watching a whole new film, as nearly every scene takes on a new meaning when you look at it from the perspective of everyone else who knows that Teddy is actually an inmate the whole time.
I wish you pointed out that at the end, chuck called out "Teddy" and Andrew did not respond. Meaning he was no longer in the illusion. Amazing review nonetheless 👏🏾 🙌🏾
Nice point out! I never peeped that until now.
I was about to mention this 😅
you can notice that right after he said "which is worse, to live as a monster or to die as a hero". there for like one second, he looks at Dr Sheehan very straight. this is the moment, where you can tell that he still was aware of and accepted that he is andrew.
but was that just intentional at that point? He deliberately did not answer because it did not matter.
THIS
Another little detail you didn’t mention is that in the ending when Andrew gets up to go to his lobotomy, Dr. Sheehan calls him Teddy and he has no reaction, which shows that he has left his fake identity behind.
Always fascinated me that even after those ending hints that he's been "cured" and is aware of the reality but just plays the delusion again nobody in there catches up to it. Sheehan could have easily gotten the clue
Or realized that he was drugged to change his mynd and it worked.... funk
OR Sheehan forgot himself and called him by his real name. I think this is last clue that he was right all along
@@ainenicaintenah ur wrong
It would be more believable if there were just 2 shackles, but instead there are multiple shackles this means it could just be a boat storage of the shackles which means Teddy is the real deal cop not an inmate.
The best thing about the movie is that even though you doubt this all being in his mind. You just don't want to believe it and you start to actually feel connected and follow Teddy's journey which makes the ending more exciting. As both Teddy and audience knew it all along just they don't want to accept it and live in his fantasy. The movie was never never about discovering the truth it was always about denying it.
1 year late comment but agreed
When i saw the movie first time i thought they were just trying to fool Teddy until the end
The audience didn't know all along lol
So so real, I really couldn't accept it and I wrote my friend after I first watched this movie, and I told him that it's sooo weird to see HIM as the one with problems, so weird, and I was denying it in chat too lol, I said I wish the movie ended like it should have without the Twist, I don't really mean it but it was very weird to me, really is the best twist I've ever seen and had, amazing movie
When you finally understand what is happening I felt so bad for Kingsleys character .He really wanted to help Andrew and was so sad when he had to labotomize him.
I only watched it twice, but remember that I thought in the end Andrew chose to not live as a monster and made the conscious decision for the lobotomy in a more subtle and calm way, speaking in the language they gave him by orchestrating this elaborate therapy. He honoured the effort that way. Seemed always rather clear to me
I always thought I was pretty smart by getting that last part when he said that, but I didn't get anything else shown in this breakdown but there are many many comments about the "die as a monster/live as a good man" line, which shows me that that was the most obvious, telegraphed hint in the movie lol.
I think I read somewhere that the creepy woman doing the "shush" motion did it because she didn't have any knowledge of the experiment they were doing with Laeddis and because of her loose grip on reality she thought that he was in disguise and fooling the staff and guards. The shush was her basically saying, "Oh, you're wearing a disguise! Well, mum's the word, I won't tell."
This is exactly it.
@@SignalFlowersso the movie was an experiment? Am done 😂
Love this! I always assumed she knew the truth and that the whole institute was 'briefed' one way or another. She 'shushes' herself to keep quiet.
Or maybe, just maybe, Andrew was a very vocal patient who talked a lot of nonsense in the ward so many other patients found him too nosy and so she motioned him to shut up, one more time. XD
The video said she was [lobotomized]. Theres other torture to make one behave in similar ways.
This is one of my favorite movies of all time! I have watched it multiple times and see something new with every viewing. Another detail at the very beginning is you can see the shackles hanging in the room on the boat where Teddy (DiCaprio) wakes up. This is an immediate clue that he had been a prisoner and was just waking up on the boat after having been most likely sedated and dressed for the role he was about to play. At some point, his clothes had to have been changed, and the fake gun belt put on him. This is also evident by him being disoriented when he is standing at the sink, and he tells himself to pull it together. I always asked myself HOW could he not have already met Chuck when the boat left the dock? Well, that was the reason...he was sedated. When he finally woke up, the role play began...
I thought it was odd when I saw the shackles this explanation would make semse
p
I mean there are all these odd things about him, but you could also chalk it all up to him having PTSD from the war trauma he experienced. There are so many misdirections thrown at us throughout the movie. The woman looking at Chuck could be that she's scared to say anything because she's afraid of the caretakers.
@@Zeta9966if you watched the film for the first time you would think this. But the ending would tell you the truth and watching it more times you could see more Easter eggs. Like the shackles on the wall.
PLUS the sedation could also be one reason for his sickness in the beginning. when I had been in narcosis I always felt very sick afterwards...
He doesn't see the lady drinking water either. It really helps hammer home how much his mind is trying to protect him from water.
I think that’s something that’s well known at this point though so he didn’t bother mentioning it.
Oh my goodness, I noticed the weird cutaway, but did not even think about it until now
i thought that invisible glass of water was an editing mistake at first
@@F76CChe didn’t mention it 😂😂
@@toptiertech7291 yeah. That’s what I said….
Another interesting fact that you missed is that in the book Andrew messed up his wives weekly medication due to being drunk, and this is what led her to have a psychotic episode and kill the kids. Dunno why they left this detail out in the film but it really adds to why Andrew felt so much guilt. It was basically his drinking problem that caused his kids death. This kinda reminds me of The Shining. Jacks drinking problem is what made him susceptible to the spirits infultrating his mind in the book, a drinking problem he got from his father, and his father from his father etc.
Great point
Can someone tell me why he was considered so violent? He shot his wife because she killed his kids. He also regretted it right after. And why was everyone scared of him?
Wondering that too. His wife is way worse than he is. I don’t understand why he’s the most dangerous patient
he's an mentally unstable war hero@@saramack99
And also, why were people (Dr. Naehring & The Warden) telling him throughout the movie that violence is a good thing? It's like they wanted him to be more violent, not cure him from being so violent.
If I’m not mistaking, the reason for him being considered extremely violent and dangerous is because of his military training and his detective mind. He’s able to concoct highly elaborated and detailed conspiracy theories in his mind and act them out from a point of view of a hero putting in danger the other patients in doing so. At least that’s what I got from it.
When he would go into his delusions, he would violently assault patients and staff. In addition, because he had a keen mind, he could bypass most of their counter measures like locked doors and evade security. He was intelligent and resourceful but his inability to deal with the tragedy regarding his family left him in his delusional state to protect himself.
To me, what makes Andrew reverting back into the fantasy impossible at the end is exactly what you stated, Teddy Daniels would not have willingly walked over to the guards and workers and accepted the lobotomy. Everything we saw about Teddy in the movie shows his distrust of the staff and doctors.
I have to respect Andrew’s decision, I would not want to remember such a traumatic event either and I wouldn’t have to worry about harming anyone anymore. Great film and great video!
I would rather the guards shoot me than getting a lobotomy it is truly terrifying.
I always thought that he was “cured” and then willingly accepted the lobotomy by acting like he regressed. Excellent break down, I missed quite a few things that you brought up in the video!
he was cured, he didn't regress. he accepted the lobotomy because he didn't wanna carry on living with the guilt. check the last line he says to Shaheen
@@moneloxakshay1054thats what i thought after watching it… it gives me chills when i starting to understand “die as a good man”
plus check the look he gave Dr Sheehan right after he had said this @@moneloxakshay1054
Either existence he has the choice to live as is a shitty one, so I can believe this.
@@moneloxakshay1054that’s what he literally said
Watching this film broke my heart at the time. Martin Scorsese is a great director.
He also directs animal porn on the DL, not a lot of people's are aware of that but it's 100% fact son.
3:32 - upon my first rewatch, I had thought the ill-fitting clothes was more of a "you're trying to be someone you arent, you don't quite fit into the role" but your idea works too
I watched this movie in the theaters and that line "...to live as a monster or die as a good man..." always stuck with me. I took it as he came to grips with what he had done, but couldn't live with himself and wanted to let someone else know.
Great job.
My only nitpick which I can’t remember for sure, doesn’t Shaen call him Teddy as he walks away and he doesn’t respond? Slightly signaling he’s done playing the role.
I only watched this movie once about 10 years ago and it's always stuck with me. After watching this Breakdown I'm going to watch it again later. These breakdowns of classic movies are brilliant.
Same here. I really liked it back then too. I understood the twist at the end, it's always stuck with me. I never bothered to go back and watch again, but honestly I'm not the best at picking up this kind of depth on movies. If I watch a movie I enjoy I usually come to TH-cam and watch a breakdown of it like this. I appreciate this trend, and this channel name being Heavy Spoilers is perfect haha. This one's a W for the algo
Yeah it's actually better the second time knowing the twist and noticing all the clues
I really love this movie. I mostly love the setting of an inescapable mysterious island. The added danger of the storms and possibly violent patients made the whole movie feel really spooky and atmospheric.
Spot on as far as that vibe the movie gave from beginning to the very end man 💯
The storm and fire never being real never crossed my mind, but it very much makes sense. Great analysis! I agree that he choses to be lobotomized because he doesn't want to live as a monster. What a masterpiece.
This is a cafeteria-movie... You pick and choose what parts you want to believe and what parts you don't. That's the beauty of a story told through the eyes of an unreliable narrator.
In the final scene he smoked the cigarette given to him. If he was stuck in the illusion he would carry on believing the cigarettes had been drugged as he stated earlier while delusional. This demonstrates he was in the real world at the end. He knew the cigarette wasn't drugged.
Can’t thank you enough for this breakdown this movie is definitely a masterpiece.
You mean the book was a master piece...
check out ninth configuration
@@ericorton9600 Not sure why both can't be true.
@@Cole444Train Sorry but I'm going to be one of those guys, you'd know if you read it.
@@ericorton9600 aaaaaaand you're being one of those guys.
Leo should have at least 5 Oscars by now. His movies are masterpieces
Paul Newman should have won 6 but got one for a crappy movie about pool. It was hollywoods apology for not giving him one earlier
absolutely 100% agree!!!
Wow! This is a fantastic breakdown!
I think another important element of the weather is the fact that when he is in the past, similar to water, is that the camp is snowing, displaying his PTSD. It shows those memories are frozen and stuck in his mind rather than the fluidity of water which he can change. I think once he starts working things out, that’s when he sees his family frozen, showing the PTSD has them stuck in his mind no matter how many times he tries to change the memory.
I think he definitely chooses to have the lobotomy as he realizes the memories are always there no matter how many times they try to use the role play. He recognizes that he doesn’t want to forget again, unless it’s forever.
Thanks for the great video, I missed this before. One thing I still don't understand - I've probably just missed something and hopefully someone can help with this: when Teddy and Chuck are in the graveyard, Teddy tells Chuck that he has been researching the clinic and is convinced that they are conducting horrible experiments, and that he wants to expose the whole thing. Chuck responds that perhaps the clinic already knows what Teddy is doing, and has actually lured both of them to the island as a trap. If Chuck is really Teddy/Andrew's doctor, why would he say that? He seems to be confirming or at least reinforcing Teddy's delusion and paranoia by saying it, and decreasing the chance that the role-play will work.
Great point, and I don't think that anyone has ever come up with a good answer. The only answer I ever got was "Well, due the horrible storm, they had to hurry his delusions along to get the role-play done faster". Are you kidding me? It's scenes like this one (with no half-decent explanations) that make me think that Teddy really was a US marshal and that the doctors are brainwashing him into thinking he's a patient. And so they're constantly filling his head with paranoia and violence to drive him crazy and eventually worthy enough to become the 67th patient at Ashecliffe.
So it all starts with 'Chuck' asking Ted "So what are you here to do, Ted?" and he responds "I'm here to gather the evidence, go back to the mainland, and blow the lid off on this whole thing".
Rewatching the picture, something seems off about Chuck, it felt like he instantly switched to a different persona before going into that whole rant. I might be going mad myself, but even the visuals around Chuck felt a bit off, which might be intentional, to show Dr. Sheehan coming out, instead of 'Chuck'.
In the earlier scene, before arriving at the crypt where the dialogue is happening, Chuck and Ted are almost hit by a big branch, endangering their lives. I think this made Chuck either angry or consider pulling the plug on the whole thing. So he asks Ted 'What are you here to do, Ted?' and hopes for a glimmer of truth, a glimmer of hope, but all he gets is psychosis.
Chuck then blows a fuse, drops the act, and switches to a fed-up Dr. Sheehan who aggressively charges (verbally, of course) at Ted. You can see the effects on Ted as he should be excited that his partner is supporting his theory, but when faced with the aggressive assault, he can only yelp "bullshit, bullshit" and retreat into his shell until saved by the doors opening and light shining through, maybe signifying Dr. Cawley intervening between them to stop a haywire Dr. Sheehan.
The last thing Chuck said before going off is: 'What if they staged this whole thing to have you here? To have US here?' I think he didn't want to be there anymore, he felt that Dr. Cawley was putting him up to this task that was actually becoming dangerous, and he was ready to pull the plug and leave Ted live in the delusion until Cawley intervened and snapped him out of his burst of anger. His next lines after the door opens "It's an island, boss! They're always going to find us" are spoken in a completely different tone, and instead of supporting the delusion as before maybe by reinforcing that 'they are watched and everything is indeed planned', he's finding sound reasoning for what's happening, similar to what he's been doing earlier and after, in a more familiar 'Chuck' tone, showing that the act is back on track and Chuck has reverted to his role.
Also, notice how the last 'Chuck' question was 'what are YOU here to do, Ted' (not 'what are WE here to do, Ted'), signifying that this is all a 'party' for Ted. While at the end of the rant 'Chuck' says 'to have US here', meaning that in this part, he was as much of a pawn as Ted is for the whole movie, and being put in a position of danger made him angry, making him slip out of the role for a second.
At least, that's how I looked at it while watching the movie a second time. Now knowing the twist at the end and the role each one was playing, you notice all the small details that this video shows. ( I think there are even more that could be interpreted, but these are the most 'in your face' ). Frankly, I think the movie is quite frightening... it seemed like Ted had no awareness or control over his delusions and hallucinations. I am scared that my brain can trick my senses into feeling sensations that are not real, and go as far as creating a completely new identity and new memories. This being said, I despise Andrew for allowing Cawley and Sheehan to think they failed in the end. After all that effort they were able to achieve success, only for Andrew to not be able to cope with reality and fake his regression, pretty much committing 'suicide by doctor'. He took the coward's way out and he could have had the dignity to do it by his own hand, which would have allowed the people who undertook a huge effort to make him better a semblance of a win, at least from a medical standpoint. Instead, he proved the 'Nazi' and the Violent Warden right by showing that the transorbital lobotomy was indeed the only solution. Who knows how many patients that could have been cured has he condemned to this cruel fate by his actions in the final scene.
To Andrew I say, all monsters can become good men, but you lost your chances to die as one when you abandoned reality, instead of facing it. There is always something you can do to make amends. Repent and dedicate your life to doing good to those in need, there is no greater salvation and repentance for your sins.
I've just rewatched that scene and my interpretation is as such: Andrew starts doubling down on his delusions, sinking deeper into his paranoia (taking about government grants and fictional meetings at prisons with Noyce) and Dr Sheehan see this. Obviously all of Sheehan and Crawleys work rests on this treatment method working for Andrew. When Sheehan sees in this scene that Andrew isnt showing any signs of coming out of his delusions (evidened by the look of concern that develops on his face) he plays along for a bit, I believe to see how far the delusion goes, before he realises he needs to try and counter Andrews thinking to try and pull him back to being closer to the reality they're hopign he'll find. Sheehan starts to point out how ridiculous some of Andrews ideas are ("they've got an electrified fence around a sceptic facility" "where's one shred of evidence she ever existed?") As he does this Andrew starts to get a bit more anxious, grabs between hs eyes as if struggling to cope with being faced with the logic. Sheehan continues to point out illogical points in Andrews delusion (a faked escape, 'they were looking in to you') and Andrew does become softer andstart to question it "There's no way they could have known I'd be assigned to this case, no way". To me I see a patient resisting all reality and sinking into delusions and a frustrated doctor trying desperately to get him to acknoweldge how illogical it all is and bring him back to reality to save the credibility of his methods.
Extra point here from this scene - 'Teddy' says Noyce was sentenced to "Life in Detam (sp?) prison" and that he 'found' him and spoke to him. This heavily implies that 'Teddy' spoke to Noyce at Detam Prison. As soon as we meet Noyce in Ashecliffe it's a massive clue that 'Teddy's' memories are all ficticious as clearly Noyce was never at Detam (as he's at Ashecliff) meaning Teddy could never have spoken to him there.
The whole exercise is reinforcing his delusions, but that is the point. The doctor explains this at the end. They are letting him go through with it so that he can find that the conspiracy isn’t real. He never actually finds any evidence of these experiments and torture being done.
You've got my attention friend.
3 of my all time favorite( Shutter island , Arrival, Dune) movies I've just listened to you break down and also present idea/ interpretations that I hadn't already come up with.
Let's keep it going friend.
Subscribed.
I found this video and ran straight to Netflix to see Shutter island, only so that I could come back to this video. I found the movie okay at first, but with this video for context, I realize that Shutter island is simply a masterpiece of a movie. You make great videos man. Thank you for your hard work.
I've seen this film a few times,but the way you broke it down made me realise what an absolute masterpiece the film is.
From the writing,to the acting to the directing.
An astonishing film.
Also the little nuggets I've never seen in the film before,like the woman he interviewed in the canteen that was drinking out an imaginary cup.
You forgot to mention Nice is Rorschach from The Watchmen...
He understands at the end, he lets the doctor know he understands, and he makes the choice.
Phenomenal film and acting.
We love Leo!
I love this breakdown. I went back and watched the entire movie again, and I saw all the clues which makes me appreciate this movie even more. At the 17:47 minute mark, you can see Dr Sheehan and an orderly look at each other and smirk while Teddy is interrogating the staff. Amazing! These are the things you wouldn’t notice unless you watched the movie a second time. What a masterpiece!
great observation
Yeah. I watched it a third time and couldn't help but marvel at their reactions. They were playing along the whole time. They just let him. 😅
And how does no one talk about just after the nurse "define unusual, this is a mental institution, marshal, for the criminally insane, usual isn't a big part of our day" and then EVERYONE LAUGHS because they are literally doing a very UNUSUAL thing, by this "play pretend"
All these little details we don’t notice but our subconscious does.
That’s why this movie will live in our heads rent free forever.
Now watch it again believing that he really is Teddy and it’s a totally different movie. You’ll notice a ton more Easter eggs then.
We should mention that the book Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane is very well written and incredibly interesting!
Thank you for the video!
This movie hit me hard, never expected that kind of an ending at all. I actually couldn’t accept the fact that all the investigation that Andrew did was just his illusion and the doctors and nurses were playing all along.
I heard Penn (from Penn and Teller) once describe the "perfect" conclusion to a routine as being "A complete surprise but utterly inevitable". That quote stuck with me because it also describes the perfect conclusion to a story. The end being totally novel but when you think about everything you have seen so far it makes so much sense that you can't believe you didn't see it coming. Shutter Island and Fight Club are perfect examples of this.
this was a very thorough analysis but there’s one detail no one mentions about this movie which is how when “teddy” and “chuck” exist the hospital and head to the lighthouse, chuck tells teddy he found files on andrew laeddis in the archives and he gives the paper to teddy and he probably intended that he will read it and figure out the truth a little sooner, teddy didn’t wanna look at the report or find out anything.
Damn. This is an expert level breakdown. My favorite Scorcese film of the past 15 years by a wide margin.
The only scorcese movie I like, bc its not another dumb mob movie
@@pnut3844able you should check out The Aviator, Wolf of Wall Street, and Silence if you haven't already. Scorcese took like over a decade long break away from making Mob movies after The Departed(though The Aviator came out before). The Aviator sort of has a few of the same vibes as Shutter Island as it deals with mental illness.
@@pnut3844able Are you calling Goodfellas, The Departed and Casino dumb mob movies?
Wide margin? Not arguing with your opinion, The Departed and Wolf of Wall Street by a wide margin, how does Shutter Island rate a wide margin?
Just curious.🤔
@@brothermouzone1307 the departed is one of the best movies of all time. Not sure what the other guy is waffling about.
Let us know if we missed anything. Huge thank you for checking out the video. Make sure you watch our breakdown of Memento here - th-cam.com/video/M-OZVPnBXyc/w-d-xo.html
You can also watch the film from the perspective that Teddy was sane and the memory of him finding the deceased little girl during the war was his original memory and the doctors on the island used techniques to alter that memory into that girl being his daughter, she's colored differently than the other two children during the scene of the lake, during the fireplace scene they hint that the doctors on the island are repatriated nazi's from the war. "Fake Rachel" also mentioned to not smoke any cigarettes except his own and that's the first thing he does at the beginning. If your familiar with MK ULTRA mind control and nazi experimentation this interpretation of the film makes more sense. It also makes more sense that the ending would be nuanced rather than Scorsese laying out the entire plot for the audience.
You mention the suit not fitting, at 4:12 it looks like the roles are revered?
@@4dstellatedhypercube558 the simple fact he gets the lobotomy means he was a sane man trying to bring justice for some reason no one ever talks about that
There is one little detail i think you missed. In the video, you mention the one music track, playing in correlation to Tedds trauma and that it nods to contradictions within the concentration camp scene. But actually, I think its supposed to reveal that the liberation of Dachau is too a part of the fantasy. That is the snow. In the movie, it was heavily snowing whilst tedd was liberating the camp, but when it was liberated in real life, it was april. It wasnt snowing at all. I think the music track is supposed to be a theme for tedds defense mechanisms around his trauma.
“Flash of lightning even though there is no storm” is it possible he is getting shock treatments?
I ADORE THIS BREAKDOWN! I’ve watched it twice mate
Internet high five to the crew
Which time did you pound off to it?
I watched it 5 times not gonna lie I love this movie I watched this movie 1000 times
. . . love ? o k 4 me thO a bit of actual dialogue since "great scene"
y'et he just babbles on & on a n d ON ~ adore huh well - am out reject
@@jennyanydots2389 all of it
Something important you didn't mention in the ending talk scene between Teddy and Chuck: look at the curious and surprised facial gesture of Chuck when Teddy brings the quote with the monster vs. good man, telling his psychiatrist subtly that he's" cured" now, and going forward now by choice, to "die"as a good man at least, instead of going on with being a living hell for all around him. The ending isn't open, imo., if you watch and analyse very carefully, because on the question of "what's now, boss/ teddy?"Chuck asks him back to hear some kind of future plans or visions. Instead he shows his old behaviours in a very open way with the devastating paranoia phrase, that was build around on throughout the whole film openly( representing fire, the delusion), which then gets contradicted again seemingly by his deeper going ending quote( representing the water element, the reality), building up the whole contradictory theme into this last two phrases basically, leading into a clear, developed conclusion now. I know, hard to understand maybe, but let's assume he would be still in his typical mental trauma phase: he won't go up by himself to take the walk to his "electricity chair" without still trying dumb shit again or defend himself, because as we learnt through the film: he's a man of"power" with strong defense mechanisms. But the way he now talks and walks calmly, rather than hasty and offensively, shows his progression on a psychological level and that he understood to do the "society" there a favor and dying as a good man, than being the living monster, that he otherwise would be. Also he knows in his mind, that Chuck got the message there and will respect him for that decision. He died in the battle as good, honorable man so to speak.
Great breakdown mate. Going to rewatch Shutter Island soon
I haven't watched this since it hit DVD, but you got me wanting to watch it again. Great breakdown!
One of my favourite movies of all time. Story, actors, ending, pure perfection. This masterpiece is very underrated. You must watch it more than once to fully understand perception of story.
Every Leo Dicarpio film is a masterpiece, lets just admit it.
easy to admit, my favorite actor by a mile.
While i enjoyed Critters 3 as a young boy, im not sure anyone would call it a masterpiece!
Wasn't he in Titanic? That movie sucked donkey balls.
Hé has some flaw movies but not much. More good movies of him than bad thats for sure
Boogie Nights Sucked 😂
At the end he knows the truth. That’s why he makes the comment about dying as a good man. This is one of my favorite movies and I have watched it multiple times. I have never noticed that the patient does not have a glass of water in her hand when she takes a drink! Several other things I never noticed too! I must go home and watch it again tonight!!! Great video!
very good video and breakdown...this movie is soo good...so much work has been put into this...and DiCaprio is amazing
Thanks so much
When he finds Rachel in the cave at first she doesn’t have any shoes but then before he leaves she’s wearing shoes. They mentioned that every patient only gets two pairs of shoes, so not only should she be barefoot but she shouldn’t have any shoes to wear. That whole scene with Teddy in the cave could have be an allegory to Platos cave.
Was this real or in his head?
@@justinwinningham4892she was real and she was tasked to confirming his theory about shutter island.
@@JohnS-il1dr She wasn't real. He made her up. Everything she said about "once you're declared insane, no one will believe you" is exactly the same thing "Teddy" said to "his partner chuck" in the cemetery. There were no rats either. In fact, I'm pretty sure there was no storm.
@kaarthuisplus she was real, woke him up, started a fire etc.
One thing you didn’t mention was Chuck’s reaction when he snapped at the male patient he was interviewing. He makes an attempt to restrain Teddy while looking over to the nurses. He also attempts to restrain Teddy when he snaps at Dr. Jeremiah.
unlike you, i didnt guess the plot twist from the start, and that made the ending 100000x better. The ending was amazing and the way andrew came to grips with the reality of what happened but still chooses to live the rest of his days oblivious of the trauma he's faced is kinda heartbreaking looking back at it.
I envy you for two reasons;
1) being modest enough to admit that you didn't see it coming.
2) experiencing the twist in its fullest.
If you haven't seen it, i think you may appreciate the prestige by christopher nolan.
lol yeah, i stumbled upon this movie because i heard it had a great plot twist to it so while watching the whole thing i would come up with my own theories, which all turned out to be wrong.
I figured out Chuck was Dr. Sheehan during the patient interview, but had no idea about Teddy until the end.
I wonder how you work on all this. It is so accurate and useful. I am actually studying this movie for academic reason. You are really helping. Thank you very much!
It still blows my mind that the real twist is that Teddy was really who he really was and not Andrew, and that the people on the island were experimenting on him to see if they can convince someone to be someone they aren't. I can't wait for the sequel to come out where Teddy exposes everything.
I like this take, especially for the fact that the doctors didn't do a single thing the whole movie that would actually help him, like the ridiculous idea of playing along with one's delusions in the first place!
I always thought (in retrospect) the patient who shushed is parroting what everyone is saying, but doesn't realise he is subject of the secret
That’s actually brilliant
I remember watching this movie for the first time and at the end still being on the side of Dicaprio's character, thinking they were setting him up. I was so convinced that Teddy was actually a cop, I just glossed over the big reveal.
Same here! I thought Ashcliffe had won, and they’d silenced Teddy for discovering their cruel experiments.
But then I watched the film more times. After this video-just as Scorsese intended-the truth is so much more heartbreaking than what the audience and Teddy is led to believe. 🥺
I agree that he knew at the end. he was self aware and chose his own fate.
I've tried to watch this film and it just scared me too much to continue. It's on the freeview channel tonight but yet again the first scene of them going through the grounds and seeing the weird looking balding woman with a scar across her neck. Never understood the plot as i could watch the film. So it's easier and I'm grateful for being able to watch the YT shorts. It does remind me of Titanic for some reason, only in reverse. He survived, she didn't... I don't think I'll ever be able to watch the full movie, tbh. Even more grateful for this video... Great job!
man ive watched the movie a few times over the years and always forget everything except the fact that he is the patient, but still never understand anything else in the movie i dont know how you nail all of these little points... it makes the movie so much better knowing these things
Hey mate, had to pause ~8 mins in to write a comment. This is unbelievably good commentary. I know it's standard symbolism being explained, but it's all concise, accurate and engaging. Thanks for making this. A cut above many good movie analyses
This film is genuinely amazing for the storytelling. Trying to help the person accept their own guilt and consequence is a noble idea but unfortunately he cannot live with his past , so he delved into fantasy. A very real component of ptsd like behaviour.
Accept his guilt but, more importantly, accept reality. But the reality is so horrible that he cannot permanently live with it, and to protect himself from the endless horror, he resets back to a fantasy that he can live with but is unacceptable to the institution because that makes him highly violent and dangerous.
I judge him guilt free. He did what needed t o be done.
Dennis Lehane is an amazing author and he deserves more credit than the director, imo. This film inspired me to check him out which led me to reading his entire library. He's great and Shutter Island is my favorite. Great video, great content, thanks!
Shutter Island and Mystic River are two of my favorite books, and they were both made into great movies!
Authors can't get more credit than the director when it comes tor a film. If that were the case it would be the same for many screenplay writers. Orĺ hell, editors, the often usung heroes.
The book is so much better I laughed the first time I tried to watch shutter Island
The twist in this film is like a box you find in the attic of your old stuff.
You find little tid bits you've forgotten about, remember fondly and never even paid attention to before
A masterful movie , always great to watch each time & as for the ending.....The Dr. "Chuck" calls him Teddy after walking off, he doesn't acknowledge him at all because that's not his name, it's Andrew. When you hear another person's name you usually wouldnt look cause it's not your name being called
I can't watch this only once. This movie blew my mind and also saddening me because of the fact at the end. I would like to watch it again this weekend. The details are amazing. Great job explaining the details!
🐐🐐🐐this one is also rent free for me as well
I’ve personally always felt that he chose to go back in to the fantasy. He didn’t want to face the truth of what he did.
I never caught the cup of water not being there! What a find!!
Really appreciate this breakdown as a whole and you for taking the time to make it! Thanks Paul!! Keep ‘em coming
One of my most favorite films of all time. Oppenheimer was the only movie that equaled it in greatness for me personally
Fun fact, in the novel the names of the 3 children are: Rachel, Edward & Daniel. Which is why he has Andrew takes the name Edward Daniels
I originally watched this movie a few years ago and had no clue what was actually going on . But then I watched it a second time a year later and realized most of the things you said in your video. But after watching your video it shed a lot of light on the little details that I’ve missed
A few additional things worth mentioning. When Dr. Cawley is first introduced, pay attention to how he speaks about how the mentally ill used to be treated. Before he says "drowned", he quickly glances at Teddy and slightly changes his tone. While this further underscores Dr. Cawley's distaste for what passed as mental health care in the past, it's also his way of testing Andrew. Dr. Cawley knows that Andrew's children were drowned, and thus even the mention of drowning might be enough to trigger him. When Teddy is interviewing the staff and forces one of them to admit he breached protocol to use the restroom, Chuck can be seen in the background glancing and nodding at one of orderlies, non-verbally assuring him that Teddy is stable. Also, the guard that lets them into Ward C wasn't the one laughing; if you turn on the closed captions, it says that an unseen inmate was laughing. Anyway, great video!
Ishtuk jugia baichung vutia?
This is by far the best breakdown I came across. Thank you so much for explaining it so simply and brilliantly ❤️
“Which one be worse, To live as a monster or to die as a good man?”
I think this line sums the ending. Andrew accepted the truth, however he is wondering if living the rest of his life as a monster (Andrew) is worse than dying as a good man (Teddy). His answer was shown that he didn’t want to give on teddy and decided to play this role for the last time and die as being Edward Daniels
Thank you! This is one of my all time favorite movies. Love it!!!
I actually really agree with your intro. I guessed the twist from the trailer and wrote the movie off as cliche without ever having watched it. However, when I did I was floored by everything about it. The twist is only one facet of the film, with all of the character development and movement from scene to scene actually being really, really good.
Love how you have been great films that some of your younger viewers might not have seen before but should 😊
Even at the end when marked called him teddy he didn’t respond or look back. This was a brilliant movie in the fact that you can spot new things each time you watch it. Look at the background characters and dialogue when theirs groups.
I think I need to watch this movie again soon. I saw it in theaters and never went back to it, but this video makes me wanna revisit it. I absolutely love Martin Scorsese. This one is different from most of his other films.
Thanks
I read the book before I got to watch the film a months after.
Reading the book gave me chills and stops as the plot twists and turns.
When I watched the film, I got the same feelings.
Kudos to Dennis Lehane, Martin Scorsese, Leo and the writers. They stayed true to the material. One of the best books and film adaptation.
Yea. When chuck realized what he was actually doing the look Ruffalo gives says it all. Great performances all around
Thanks for the breakdown Paul!! Love your videos mate
Cheers mate. Hope you have a good weekend and thanks for the kind words.
Man that review made it way better, can’t wait to watch it again!
Thank you for this breakdown. I actually thought I'd worked it out, but there were so many things I'd missed
Absolutely BEAUTIFUL breakdown! Thanks so much! I thoroughly enjoyed your video!! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Great review, Paul. This is one of my favorite films. You shared some things that I never noticed before, and it makes me want to watch the film again for the n-th time. This was definitely during the prime era of Leonardo DiCaprio (after Titanic,) and I don't think that Leo could have chosen a better script (other than The Great Gatsby.)
what do you mean Leo choosing the script?
I watched both this movie and inception in theaters since they came out around the same time period. Both kept me up for a few nights after just trying to fully understand what i saw😂
Absolutely loving the breakdowns of older movies. Almost every one you pick is one that’s stuck with me for years. Keep making great content! ❤
lol "older movies" its not from 1970.
@@neglectfulsausage7689 it’s not from 2023. Hell it’s not from 1923. Well spotted!
its not just the details but how subtle they are. That's why I love this movie.
Well done! Excellent work. I mean you even found an extra botch the scene 🎬! 👏
I love the fact that you dug deep through this movie. I had to watch it a few times to get more out of it. Great film!
My first time watching this movie was the Superbowl after party 2023.
I too figured out in the opening sequence, something was off with Leo's character. The Easter eggs and your in depth analysis; never would have made the connection.
I'm surprised you did not reference/similarities the water and the color red to the movie The Sixth Sense.
Excellent job!
Just watched it. Ending was heartbreaking 💔. Great breakdown!
Thanks. Now I understood the missing links clearly 😃
Crazy lady in the yard didn't have any tools tho....she was picking off deadheads by hand and was chained up
I love this movie. I rewatch at least once a year.