Shutter Island Theory Essays

From watching the 2006 film titled “The Departed”, I argue that the social message of the film is not just identity but the changing of identity through socialization. This can best be described through the symbolic interaction theory. Like the main characters of the film, people give meaning to their behavior based on the meaning they impose on objects, events and other behaviors (Anderson & Taylor, 2009). The film’s main protagonist Bill Costigan and main antagonist Colin Sullivan both share similar backgrounds and culture. Costigan “being born into a family with criminal backgrounds”, rebels against the social norm like his father and instead becomes an undercover state police officer. Sullivan on the other hand “with influence from

Nolan creates an atmosphere where one scene will move steadily to the next, building anticipation until all hell breaks loose. Nolan has really done his research with this film as he explores a deeper meaning in good vs. evil. It makes the film seem so real life unlike most fantasy superhero movie. For some reason, the viewer can actually imagine this happening in real life. The lights and effects are very promising.

Phenomenal Acting and a jaw dropping storyline are the foremost reasons why The Departed is by all means a spectacular movie. This film will go down as one of the best crime thrillers of the 21th century. Many viewers of this movie will find themselves astonished as the storyline roller-coaster’s around making twists and turns never expected. Some may question the vulgar language and intense violence but if you are a person who’s easily offended, simply do

The movies describes a major theme of “The Departed” as one of the oldest in drama—the concept of identity—and how it "affects one's actions, emotions, self-assurance, and even dreams.” Many years later, an older Sullivan, now in his mid twenties, (Matt Damon) is finishing his training for the Massachusetts State Police with classmates, including fellow cadet Barrigan (James Badge Dale). In another class are Cadet Brown (Anthony Anderson) and Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio). All four men graduate to become state troopers. Sullivan is a sergeant, and has just passed the state trooper detective test. He goes in to meet with the calm and collected Captain Queenan (Martin Sheen), and the aggressive and

The setting of the movie is just as important as any other aspect of the film. The fact that it takes place in a mental hospital/institution on a remote island surrounded by rocky cliffs, huge waves, caves, steeps along with a creepy lighthouse, where it is said cruel experiments take place, screams suspense and thrill. The island is surrounded with tall brick walls laced with electric fencing and only one port to leave and arrive. The facility itself gives off an eerie feel with its creepy architect. Inside, the buildings are littered with labyrinth style spaces that seem to almost consume its inhabitants. Flickering, somewhat, unreliable lighting and approaching storm adds to sketchy scenery. I feel this makes the audience feel at unease throughout the film, as if

We feel that One Flew over the Cuckoo’s nest is filled with many psychological connotations. This movie is set in a mental hospital where McMurphy was admitted to be psychologically evaluated because of violent behavior. Upon his arrival McMurphy noticed that the patients were very robot-like in their actions. The hospital is extremely structured where the patient’s daily life was monotonous. We will discuss the various connotations by answering the following questions that have been asked.

The film Pleasantville directed by Gary Ross is about two modern teenagers, David and his sister Jennifer, somehow being transported into the television, ending up in Pleasantville, a 1950s black and white sitcom. The two are trapped as Bud and Mary Sue in a radically different dimension and make some huge changes to the bland lives of the citizens of Pleasantville, with the use of the director’s cinematic techniques. Ross cleverly uses cinematic techniques such as colour, mise-en-scene, camera shots, costumes, music and dialogue to effectively tell the story.

The film A Separation (2011) is a story that goes more in depth than the overall story between a father and mother, and their child throughout the struggles of divorce in Iran. It covers themes such as one’s life and hopes, and social, economic, and political misfortune.

Throughout the movie, The Notebook, there were many different aspects that corresponded with the material learned throughout the semester. There were times were you were able to pin point why each problem was faced based on different character backgrounds. As began to watch the movie, you start to understand the culture aspects of each individual by the way they talk and present themselves, which caused many situations to arise. Also, these many situations arise throughout the movie that affected the outcome of decisions made: biological, psychological, and social/environment. However, diversity played a magnificent role from the beginning to the end. So, therefore, throughout this paper you will have a better understanding of the analysis of this film, which should provide information about the movie.

A sense of belonging will often emerge from the connections made with people, places, groups, communities, and the larger world. The Bourne Identity is a novel, written by Robert Ludlum. The main character in this novel is Jason Bourne, a broken man, not only in the physical, but also in the emotional and psychological sense. Throughout the entire novel we see a man who is attempting to put the pieces of his life back together after suffering from a sudden onset of amnesia. There are several ways that this text relates to belonging and not belonging, all of which become increasingly obvious as the novel progresses. Through the loss of memory every aspect of an individual’s sense of belonging is completely removed, and as Bourne struggles

“Insidious” is a 2010 horror movie centralizing around the lives of protagonists Renai (Rose Byrne) and her husband Josh (Patrick Wilson). The movie mainly focuses on the supernatural activity going on within the house, and it is later revealed that the cause of the hauntings is due to demons attempting to take over the body of their unconscious son, Dalton (Ty Simpkins).

The vision Christopher Nolan had for The Prestige (2006) was to add to the outbreak of street magician film, whilst playing a large dramatic subplot equal in grandeur to the magical performances within the film. In the final sequence of the film, I will analyse how the cinematography and sound resolves the plot so that it summarises the themes present in the film, whilst also invoking a response from the audience. Nolan predominantly uses close up shots, non-diegetic sound (music) and dialogue collaboratively to convey the dramatic, personal subplot of the characters and their relationships, whilst appealing to the audience bringing forth an emotional response from the audience. The heavy, slow, dramatic atmosphere of the ending sequence uses various techniques to summarise and uncover the underlying mysteries of the events throughout the film and consolidate themes introduced during the exposition.

“Ordinary people” everywhere are faced day after day with the ever so common tragedy of losing a loved one. As we all know death is inevitable. We live with this harsh reality in the back of our mind’s eye. Only when we are shoved in the depths of despair can we truly understand the multitude of emotions brought forth. Although people may try to be empathetic, no one can truly grasp the rawness felt inside of a shattered heart until death has knocked at their door. We live in an environment where death is invisible and denied, yet we have become desensitized to it. These inconsistencies appear in the extent to which families are personally affected by death—whether they

individuals psychotic break. There is no right or wrong way to approach this film, however, an

Trainspotting presents an ostensible image of fractured society. The 1996 film opens, famously, with a series of postulated choices—variables, essentially, in the delineation of identity and opposition. Significant here is the tone in which these options are delivered—it might be considered the rhetorical voice of society, a playful exposition of the pressure placed on individuals to make the "correct" choices, to conform to expectation.