Shutter Island is one of Martin Scorsese’s more mysterious films. Nothing about it is straightforward, from start to finish –especially the finish. The beautiful performance by Leonardo Dicaprio brings the viewer into the experience of the film, pulling them further and further into the fray with the ups and downs of his own emotional turmoil.
One could talk for hours about the film’s many particulars — and people certainly have since 2010 — but for now, here are 10 of the many questions we are still asking.
Was Andrew In Prison Before The Island?
We find out that Andrew (Teddy) has committed murder. In his moment of lucidity, he defines the murder as being that of his wife, after she murdered their own children.
But the murder of a single person doesn’t seem so extreme as to land someone on Shutter Island — meaning he must have done something else before he got there, which landed him on the island. But if his delusions are based on Shutter Island, what were they before?
Did Killing Germans Contribute To His Denial?
While still believing that he is Teddy, Andrew frequently has flashbacks of being a soldier in World War II. He remembers assisting in the massacre of German soldiers who had surrendered.
Is this a part of his guilt, which caused him to form an alternate identity in order to compartmentalize his pain? If so, why can remember it so clearly?
Do The Doctors Blame Him For His Children’s Deaths?
While lucid, Andrew is repeatedly referred to as a murderer and a killer. In many descriptions of the film, his character is also described as a psychotic killer. This seems like an exaggeration, however, when we learn of his crimes.
Andrew killed German soldiers, but it doesn’t seem like this is what he was charged with. Technically, he was charged with the murder of his wife — a crime, for sure, but one he committed after she had murdered their three children — a tragic act in a moment of shock and grief, yet no one acknowledges this.
Were His Experiences In Ward C Real?
While Andrew is walking through Ward C as Teddy, he sees prisoners in various terrible states living. They are mostly naked, all of them dirty, and their living quarters, in general, are dark and like that of medieval dungeons.
When Teddy later wakes up as lucid Andrew, his cell is cleaner and more comfortable looking, but the same place, nonetheless. This means it exists — so do the prisoners living in the squalor he saw also exist?
Did He Actually Climb Down A Cliff Face?
It’s revealed that Andrew apparently imagined talking to a woman on the side of a cliff. This is immediately after Chuck, or Dr. Sheehan, left his side and went off on his own.
He becomes convinced Chuck is dead and goes searching for him. He climbs down the side of the cliff, where he later says he spoke to a woman. The Dr. reveals that the woman doesn’t exist — so did he really climb down the cliff at all?
Was The Conversation With The Driver Imagined?
Andrew (Teddy) wanders out of the woods after the worst of the storm is over. A guard, who he had earlier referred to as looking like an “ex-military prick”, pulls up in a car and offers him a ride.
While driving, the guard engages Teddy in a conversation about the human relationship to violence. It’s a bizarre conversation, and, in retrospect, feels either imagined or like Teddy was speaking to a fellow patient, but we see the guard again later, in reality. So did the conversation even happen?
Why Did Dr. Sheehan Leave Him Alone?
Chuck is really Dr. Sheehan pretending to be Teddy’s partner. He’s doing this in order to keep an eye on Teddy while they allow him to work through the role-play simulation they have set up for him.
So why is there a period in the film where Dr. Sheehan leaves Teddy completely alone? We know he doesn’t imagine his conversation in Ward C because they refer to it later — so was someone close by then, listening?
Why Was The Guard’s Gun Empty?
On his way to the lighthouse, Teddy comes upon a guard holding a gun. Teddy takes the gun from the guard and leaves him unconscious. Later, having made it to the top of the lighthouse, he threatens Dr. Cawley with the gun, and Dr. Cawley tells him that the gun is not loaded — which is true.
Did they have some way of knowing that Teddy would come upon this particular guard or do no guards have loaded guns?
Does Dr. Sheehan Think He’s Lucid At The End?
Believing that Andrew has gone back to thinking he’s Teddy, Dr. Sheehan nods to the guards, giving them the go-ahead to come and collect Andrew for his lobotomy, seeing as this was the agreement in place should their role-play test fail in bringing him back to sanity.
However, just before he gets up, Andrew questions whether “it’s better to live as a monster, or die as a good man.” Sheehan suddenly becomes alarmed and stands up, calling Teddy’s name. Does he think he’s lucid? If so, why not stop him?
Is He Lucid At The End?
The biggest question of them all — is Andrew lucid at the end of the film, or is he, in fact, Teddy? The last thing Sheehan calls him is Teddy, either just because they were just conversing as Teddy and Chuck, or possibly in the form of a question — asking him if he is, in fact, Teddy at that moment.
He could be Teddy, merely sharing a passing musing that happens to imply he might be lucid, or he could be Andrew, letting Sheehan in on the fact that he is surrendering himself.
