Synopsis:

Shutter Island retold in the style of Memento. Scenes have been rearranged and the story altered to give a new ending.

Intentions:

Shutter Island is a very strong pyschological thriller, however I disliked the Psycho-esque reveal and felt the film could have benefited from being more ambiguous. I wanted to leave enough clues (but not too many) pointing towards certain hidden plot points so that the viewer can come to their own conclusions, just as in Memento. A second viewing of Shutter Island shows how obvious the reveal is in some aspects, and made me realise that the reveal wasn't even necessary. Why not let the viewer decide what the truth is? I didn't fully understand Memento on a first watch, but on subsequent rewatches it became more and more clear to me. Shutter Island is a little similar to The Usual Suspect in that, once you know the twist, there isn't that much incentive to rewatch it (although it is still a great film, regardless). This edit aims to change that.

Change List:

Full cutlist: Cut all WW2 flashbacks. Cut opening shot of the ship Added Memento sound effect to Teddy intro. Cut “that’s a lot of water”, Teddy throwing up a second time. After meeting Chuck, cut Teddy “I can’t stomach the water”. Aim to have less obvious clues regarding the drownings. Cut brief freezeframe of Teddy’s wife as he remembers her aboard the boat. Shortened Teddy and Chuck’s arrival at the gates. Reduced Chuck fumbling around with his gun. In this edit, Chuck is never stated to be Sheehan – he could be Sheehan, or he could be an island officer posing as a marshal. It wouldn’t make sense for an officer to not be able to handle a gun. Cut first prisoner waving at Teddy. Reducing clues that Teddy is Laeddis. Cut Chuck “a what between what and what?” Cut Cawley’s explanation of the paintings. The aim is to make Cawley less sympathetic throughout, but not completely unsympathetic. Cut the following conversation. From Teddy “these are all violent offenders”, to Cawley “it’s my job to treat my patients not their victims. I’m not here to judge”. Kept Cawley saying “she drowned them in the lake behind her house”, but cut the descriptions of following events. Cut Cawley “to sustain the delusion her children never died...” Cut Cawley “it’s as if she evaporated into thin air.” Cut Chuck “How? She turns invisible?” in reference to Rachel sneaking out. Cut shot of police officers sitting around instead of looking for Rachel. Cut Chuck chastising Cawley for allowing Sheehan to leave and the staff laughing in response. Cut the officers & Cawley entering Naehring’s house and discussing music. Cut Naehring asking Teddy if he believes in God. Ended dream sequence of Dolores looking at the cabin before burning up. Cut an orderly saying there won’t be a ferry available due to poor weather (as Teddy says this in the next scene). Added Memento sound effect to the next scene. Cut beginning of Peter Breene’s interview. Cut beginning of Bridget Kearns’ interview. Trimmed Teddy & Chuck in the cemetery. Cut Teddy recalling the Dacau massacre to Chuck in the cemetary. Trimmed McPherson finding the Marshals. Cut McPherson dropping off the Marshals. Cut Teddy interview Rachel from “I buried you” onwards. Cut dream sequence where Rachel is with the drowned children early, before Teddy says “I could get in trouble”. Cut Teddy waking up from the dream within a dream. Added Memento sound effect to Teddy “waking up”. Cut the escaped prisoner talking about the outside world and atomic bombs. Cut Noyce talking about Dolores and Dolores appearing in Noyce’s cell. Lowered the volume of the rats. Cut Rachel saying “You’re the Marshal”, as there’s no way she’d know. Cut Rachel “I asked about the surgeries too”. Cut Rachel talking about brain surgery and Nazis later on. Cut Bridget Kearns laughing at Teddy. Cut Teddy saying the tie is ugly. Cut Cawley “why are you all wet, baby?” Cut Cawley “for God’s sake dry off, you’ll catch cold.” Cut Cawley “you blew up my car, I really loved that car” and Teddy “sorry to hear about that”. Kept Teddy saying he found Rachel, but cut him stating he found her by the caves, and cut Cawley stating she’s not real. Cut mention of withdrawal and Chlorpromazine. The conversation is now recut to make it appear as if Cawley is gaslighting Teddy and ignoring his claims. Cut Cawley’s Psycho-style explanation of the experiment they’ve been conducting and Teddy’s delusions. Cut Cawley “of course I didn’t” in response to being accused of beating Noyce, and cut Noyce’s transcript description. Cut Chuck “I’ve been your primary psychiatrist for the past two years. I’m Lester Sheehan.” Cut Cawley “you’ve had the run of the place for two days. Tell me, where are the Nazi experiments” etc. Cut Cawley “we’re on the frontlines of a war here, old boy...”. Cut all scenes following the shooting at the lighthouse, bar the closing shot of the lighthouse. Shooting scene plays out backwards and forwards. Brief shots from Memento are used. Shooting scene recut to alter the (chronological) ending. In addition, the film has been restructured so that there is a new ending. Part of the film plays in normal colour up until this new ending, whilst the other part plays backwards in high contrast, until the two storylines meet – in the style of Memento. I won’t reveal the new ending.

Additional Notes:

The story was focussed on the Rachel Solando investigation, as well as Teddy's own investigation. Certain overt clues were removed. Scenes following the new chronological ending were cut. All WW2 flashbacks were removed. Some weak or redundant dialogue was cut.

Other Sources:

Memento Blu-ray Memento OST – Opening Titles/Polaroid Fades, Motel Room/Arriving At The Derelict, Time For My Shot Silent Hill (2006) OST – Separated by Guilt There Will Be Blood OST – Fratres, Henry Plainview, Oil Zodiac OST – Graysmith The Ring OST – Aidan Can’t Sleep, Rachel Makes A Copy Following OST – Bruised Westworld: Season 1 OST – The Stray Prisoners OST – Escape, The Keeper The Leftovers: Season 1 OST – Afterimage 3, Afterimage, De Profundis Rescore playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1IgUNzYsm-k34FwzsyJuL4SBFK7KE8sk

Special Thanks: