Sunday 1 August 2010

The One Where Scorcese And Leo Knock It Out Of The Park



Scorcese and I go way back. The reason I appreciate him even more now, than back when he made the Holy Trinity, is because in most peoples eyes, he'll never return to that peak.

It's fascinating to me that most Humans will write others off. Make a masterpiece, and that's your lot. You'll never make a decent movie in this town again.

Scorcese never stopped making great movies, though. History will tell us he made his best one a few years back, with Departed. Showered with awards, finally recognised. Sorry. That doesn't wash. If you think jeff Bridges best ever role was in Crazy Heart, you haven't seen Big Lebowski. If you think Tom Hanks is better in anything he's ever done other than SPR or Apollo 13... skip to the end.

Shutter Island was meant to carry on the trend of Scorcese being showered with awards... but it didn't happen. Leo didn't even get a nod. I have to watch what I say about Leo in these parts, or I may get accused of obsession.

Especially with me prattling on about Inception.

He's an incredible actor. He holds this story together, and makes you want to unravel it.



Each time I watch it, I worry about how it will end. Will he discover the truth...? I just get that invested in the characters.

I don't even care about the light house, or the islands secrets... I want to know how he deals with being haunted... how he's even carried on after what happened, happened.

The Blu Ray looks stunning, as you would expect. There are plenty of pitch black scenes, lit by candlelight, they all look stunning.

The Nazi camp in particular, is vivid. It shocked me in the cinema, and this was like seeing it again, for the first time.



It's the sound though... The music is quality. Pure 1940s Film Noir. Big fog horns, echoing through the room. Very reminiscent of how theatrical Cape Fears theme was. It will jar for some, but for me, it sets the tone perfectly.

It's got a great watchability factor, too. You notice things looking back. Characters reactions. Piecing the bits of the puzzle together.

And that last line?

It gets me every time.

By anyone elses standards, this would be the pinnacle of their career. For Scorcese, and Leo, it's just another tick in the box. What a relationship. What a pairing. Better than Scorcese and Deniro? You know what, after getting sucked in again to this film, I'd say yeah. Why not?

This actually posted accidently a while ago. It was in amongst loads of other bits, and got lost. Thanks to KJC, for it.

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