Major Research Project- Initial inspiration- Shutter Island (2010, Scorsese)

Based on Dennis Lehane's novel of the same name Shutter Island explores the psychological effects a mental institute has on it's patients and the main character U.S Marshal Teddy Daniels. The film has a shocking twist which is what attracted me to use it as inspiration. These are my favourite sort of films, with shocking unexpected twists that change your entire perception of the film and make you want to watch it in a different light. There seems to be a genre 'type' for these films and include films such as Seven (1995, Fincher), The Usual Suspects (1995, Singer), Fight Club (Fincher, 1999) and Saw (2004, Wan). Although on first watch these films seem completely different they all have a specific thing that ties them together. The ending. The ending is a shock to the viewers system, we are changed when watchingh this the first time and on a second viewing we atch the film in an entirely new light. These films are usually hugely popular as the anticipation for the ending is widely recognised. Fight Club even uses the tag line 'The first rule of fight club, never talk about Fight Club'.

Shutter Island definitely had the element of surprise within it and was very hard to pick up on. In fact this film affected me mentally as I was left to question if Teddy Daniels situation is true then doesn't that make me insane as well. This led me to the secret behind these films. That we are viewing this so much from the protagonists point of view that everything else around them is obscured. It is a clouded vision of the main characters interpretation. Only at the end are we given another point of view. This is the type of film I will use for my Major Research Project.