Shutter Island: does William Blatty not have a lawyer or something?

[Rev]

THPOILER!

If you know what I'm referring to in the thread title, then you'll have the same reaction I did when you sit through this well-crafted load of old mince.

It's an audacious act of plagiarism.  Not Marty's fault; the problem obviously lies in the source novel, but fuck me, I don't think I've ever seen such a blatant rip-off.  Even the change from Vietnam to WWII seems calculated to just make it different enough to avoid legal problems.  But there should still be legal problems, if there's any justice in the world.

[rudi]

He wrote The Exorcist didn't he? I'm failing to see the link.

Trufacked: He was able to become a pro writer after winning a wad of cash on Groucho's "You Bet Your Life", enabling him to quit his job.

These are the only two things I know about him. Oh, wait: three. He wrote the sequel to The Exorcist too, which became The Exorcist III, confusingly enough.

[phes]

Oh for god's sake, stupid fucking iPhone IGNORE

[rudi]

I'm guessing they share a denoument? To be fair it was hardly the most original of final acts, was it?

[Rev]

He also wrote the Ninth Configuration - the thematic sequel to the Exorcist, which slots between it and Legion - which is what I was stabbing at here.  He took two passes at the book, but the film of it, which he directed himself, is fantastic.  And it's been robbed.

If you've seen Shutter Island, then have a butcher's at the plot synopsis on Wikipedia and see if it rings a bell:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ninth_Configuration

If you haven't seen Shutter Island...  then, well, that's it spoiled.  But it's spoiled by the existence of another film, so my hands are clean.

EDIT:  Twinkle Twinkle Killer Kane is the same thing, but was a pulpier early attempt at telling the same story, written when he wrote 'very hastily and from need'.

[DJ Solid Snail]

Ooh, I hadn't got 'round to 'The Ninth Configuration' yet, but I'll certainly give it a go tonight, as I saw Scorsese's thing last night and rather enjoyed it, and I'm curious to know how right you are about this. 'Legion' is a fantastic film - although seems to have been unfairly ignored as if it's some pointless cash-in Exorcist sequel, which it most certainly isn't - so I've got plenty of time for more of Blatty's stuff. I shall report back.

[Peru]

I think that the two films are sufficiently different in approach to not see Shutter Island as a rip-off of TNC. Firstly, the premise of both films is not in itself original, and despite being a little disappointed with the climax of Shutter Island when I saw it, I'm now appreciating the incredible richness and muscularity of the editing, photography, and performances on their own terms.

I should also say that I'm not a big fan of TNC - after an amazing opening I think it slowly goes downhill. I do enjoy Stacy Keach but I don't think Blatty is a very good director - that barroom scene towards the end goes on for an absolute epoch and doesn't warrant the length for me. I do quite like Exorcist III (or whatever it's called) though.

I would recommend people check out Shutter Island because for the most part it is one of the most purely entertaining and gripping thrillers I've seen in years, and much less the Hitchcock pastiche I had feared.

[jutl]

Copyright protects specific fixed forms of ideas, not the ideas themselves. Borrowing plots is generally considered to be OK in terms of IP law, as far as I know.

[scarecrow]

I'm probably the biggest Scorsese fan ever, but I thought Shutter Island was terrible. He should make a film about gangsters or something, and ditch Di Caprio.

edit: Having seen the Ninth Configuration, I didn't notice any striking similarities, really.

[Still Not George]

I keep misreading this as "Shatner Island". Which would be awesome.

[thecuriousorange]

I don't know the Ninth Configuration, but I thought that the "big twist" at the end of Shutter Island was wayyyy to similar to the "big twist" at the end of The Machinist. I suppose it's probably just a tale that's as old as the hills. I really enjoyed the film, even though I just couldn't swallow the silliness of the story. The whole thing was very well directed I though, especially the dream sequences. Someone described it in a review as a shaggy dog tale, which I think is probably about right.

[phes]

It was really enjoyable but just too long and could do with being cut down by half hour. Also the pacing was all off and important parts of the film felt rushed through whereas big chunks of time were given over to relatively insignificant or dull parts of the story. I felt as though the whole reveal scene was very poor indeed, but i'd need to watch it again to say why.

[kittens]

I thought it was ace. It was clear from the trailer I saw last summer what was ultimately going to happen, but then during the film I found myself questioning that. But then it did happen like I predicted and I felt just sooo clever and great at films.

[rudi]

Weirdly, because I'm still not sure what I think about it I'm spending more time thinking about it than films I've seen, enjoyed and almost immediately forgotten (and forgotten why).

[phes]

Same here - it was pretty densely packed wasn't it and a little incoherent. Definitely needs a second viewing.

[rudi]

Shut up you. I've got the lurgy of death, as has Adem (part-time lurker on here, folks) and it's all your fault. Yours and this lumpy film's. A-HACCCCK! COUGH! COUGH!

[phes]

Dragon Tattoo on Sunday and i'm bringing my tb. 

[Vitalstatistix]

That twist was like a slow-motion vomit. You can see it coming, it goes on too long and it stinks.


Pretty fun film, but ridiculous and hammy, not to mention bizarrely paced.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

I was wrong footed by the big twist. I guessed it correctly about five minutes in but disregarded it, thinking that it wouldn't be anything so hackneyed.

That aside, it was a decent night out at the flicks. Like his remake of Cape Fear, it's pure potboiler stuff, elevated by Scorsese and the cast. Though he still looks too boyish, even with stubble and the beginnings of a double chin, I thought DiCaprio gave a perfectly credible performance in the lead. The dream sequences made me wish Scorsese had directed the Silent Hill movie.

[non capisco]

Though he still looks too boyish, even with stubble and the beginnings of a double chin, I thought DiCaprio gave a perfectly credible performance in the lead.

Leonardo DiCaprio, yesterday

[El Unicornio, mang]

I enjoyed it. The twist was predictable* and it's an idea that's been done to death, but the concept of it such an interesting one which makes repeat viewings more enjoyable that I don't mind too much when it crops up in films. DiCaprio was excellent, there was some great visuals and it was generally well made and could have been great rather than good with a few tweaks here and there.

*Although, did anyone else think that the 'twist' might not have been what it seemed? The last shot hinted that maybe DiCaprio's character was right all along. If that is the case it kind of turns the whole story on it's head again.

Edit to add:

Spoiler alert

According to the author of the original novel, he is sane, and has been drugged (it's a comment on government mind control), as he suspects. So the movie could be taken either way.

[close]

Dennis Lehane (Shutter Island) Interview

[small_world]

Yeah[nb]I'm getting the DO NOT BUMP message, but don't think MY watching this movie amounts to "#An interesting new tangent" [/nb], just watched this tonight.

It was pretty good, some good scenes, a nice little twist. I do think it could be read either way. He either was a cop and being drugged or, Gandhi's explanation was true and he was a nutcase, which then could be split again in the last seconds, he had reverted to his nutcase self as they thought he may, or he was concious of his former actions and wanted to 'die as a good man' as oppose to living like a monster... Or something like that.

Anyway, two things struck me.
The score was a bit over the top, weren't it?
And until I remembered it was based on a book, I thought it might have been an adaptation of a manga movie, some of the scenes and the music all reminded me of that style.

[Famous Mortimer]

I thought the only good thing about the last bit was that he knew he was insane, knew what he'd done and wanted his mind wiped anyway so he didn't have to live with it any more. But that's really about it, as the actual twist itself was so obvious I couldn't believe a director like Scorsese would just do that.

Re: the book's intentions, whatever they were don't really help with the film, I think. There's no way what I saw could be construed in the way Lehane intended...or maybe he's not that good a writer, and it could. Whatever.

Excellently made and acted, naturally, just a fairly slight plot and a crap ending.

[CaledonianGonzo]

Re: the book's intentions, whatever they were don't really help with the film, I think. There's no way what I saw could be construed in the way Lehane intended...or maybe he's not that good a writer, and it could.

I've not read any of his novels, but Ben Affleck's otherwise surprisingly-good adaptation of Lehane tome 'Gone Baby Gone' has a similarly bollocks resolution.  Can't remember whether or not Mystic River did, but I don't remember thinking much of it.

The score was a bit over the top, weren't it?
And until I remembered it was based on a book, I thought it might have been an adaptation of a manga movie, some of the scenes and the music all reminded me of that style.

Well it's a deliberate pastiche of Hitchcock movies and old Powell & Pressburger films like Black Narcissus, The Red Shoes and I Know Where I'm Going.  The first two there both get paid deliberate homage in Shutter Island, and the over-saturated colours and jarring score are also nods of the head.

[Icehaven]

Why does the old bald doctor say

Spoiler alert

''Honey, how come you're all wet?'' to Di Caprio near the end, in the lighthouse? I know he's quoting him from what he said to his wife when he found her, but there's no reason whatsoever for the doctor to say it to him there and then other than just trying to fuck with his head. He even says it in quite a creepy and malevolent way, so that would tie in with him actually being sane and it all being a conspiracy etc.

[close]

[kidsick5000]

Why does the old bald doctor say ....

Isn't that to show

Spoiler alert

that they know every detail of his case. To show that he's told them?

[close]

The film was much better than I expected and proved to have a bit more than the regular "guess the twist" plotline.
The best bit is still the end though. I find DiCaprios final line quite moving.

[Santa's Boyfriend]

It's Chubby Checker I feel sorry for.

[phantom_power]

i thought the doctor doesn't actually say that, it is just what dicaprio hears as reality and his mental construct bleed into each other. there are a couple of other instances of this throughout the film as well.

i thought it was an excellent film, brilliantly directed and acted. i thought the ending was quite obvious but the film did really well to distract you so that you are still left guessing up until the resolution. and the final line is quite chilling and sad.

[Famous Mortimer]

I know it's more than 90 days, but it's a fairly specific category for a thread.

I watched The Ninth Configuration last night, and the similarities in terms of major plot points is extraordinary, in terms of not being credited as a remake.

Spoiler alert

Guy turns up to weird gothic mental hospital...his real mission is a product of his psychosis...the powers that be are in on it and using it as therapy...guy chooses to embrace his other personality and "kill" his old one...

[close]

It's really not the best-made film - the barroom scene, as mentioned, goes on for fucking ever, and the "wacky" mental patients really started to get on my tits at around the 1-hour mark, but it's well worth a watch.

[Rev]

Christ almighty, has it really been a year?

I kicked off about this because it seemed so audacious.  The basic plot is well-worn and obvious, but of all the ways it could be spun Shutter Island chose to stick creepily close to The Ninth Configuration.  I still can't see it as anything other than a rip-off of something that had 'fallen through the cracks'.

As for TNC itself...  well, there's loads wrong with it, but I love it so.  I think of it in the same way I think of the Blues Brothers, but explaining that one will have to wait for another thread.