Shutter Island opening analysis by Nathan

Introduction of Teddy

-The first shot of Shutter Island shows an establishing extreme long shot of a ship coming through heavy mist. This is an important opening as it gives context of where they are to the spectator, allowing us to then just focus on what happens on the inside.

-We then see Teddy, one of the men on the ship, being sick in a toilet onboard. He talks under his breath about how there's a lot of water whilst looking through a window to the sea, implying that this is why he's been sick. His facial expressions shown through a close up make him look revolted at the amount of water. His mouth is slightly open and eyes are faintly squinted as he glares at it, making him look like he has a strong disapproval of water, which leads the spectator to question why he would be on a ship if he feels this way. 

-As Teddy walks through the ship to head outside, we see a pair of handcuffs hanging from the ceiling. This prop suggests danger and criminal activity, which makes the spectator begin to question whether anything suspicious could happen on this ship.


Teddy and Chuck

-The first impression we get of another of the people on the ship, Chuck, is not a good one. We are shown a shot reverse shot of Teddy looking to Chuck, and his facial expression and body language make it seem like he is unhappy or confused about something. We are shown a shot of Teddy stopping to look at something, followed by a shot of Chuck standing looking out to sea, and then back to Teddy looking as though he is unsure about going over. His eyebrows are frowning and eyes are staring in one direction. His body is hesitant to keep walking, so stays in the same spot as he gazes. The spectator is made to feel nervous as we are unsure if everything is alright.

-When Teddy does walk over to Chuck, we discover that they haven't met before as Chuck is his "new partner". They go over a few lines of general dialogue to restore normality and make the spectator feel at ease as the film is starting with equilibrium.

-Though the film has started with normality, we soon find out an important piece of tragic news, that Teddy's wife died. The inclusion of this so early on highlights its seriousness, which is also shown in a flashback. This change in chronology helps us learn about Teddy as a character, as we see how happy he was with his wife. This is the first time he properly smiles in the film, demonstrating how content he was with his life. The use of bright lighting and warm colour adds to this effect. The emotion we see in Teddy at this point connects us to him as a character and allows us to sympathise with him as the film progresses.


-The presumably diegetic music (from the vinyl player) we hear during the flashback is hard to comprehend as to its mood. An eerie, angelic voice can be heard singing, as well as an occasional brass instrument. The atmosphere created by this is quite harrowing, and makes us question whether sadness is the only emotion being felt, or whether something else is also going on. Enigma is used here to confuse the spectator, and make them question whether he is telling the truth about his wife's death. To add to the questions against Teddy, he looks incredibly uncomfortable after revealing this information, and bites his lip after saying it. However, at this point we feel like he might just not like talking about it. These questions running through the spectators mind make the film more exciting and engaging.