Analysing Opening Scenes and Enigma - 'Shutter Island'

The second opening scene that I will analyse in terms of enigma and mystery is from Martin Scorsese's 'Shutter Island'.

The scene begins mysteriously with a fog-filled landscape, making everything unclear for the spectator. The lack of music unsettles the audience, and the diegetic sound of the boat's horn as the boat emerges through the dense mist, gives the scene a creepy, enigmatic aesthetic.

When the non-diegetic music does begin, it is sinister and haunting, with the director cutting to a man being sick in the toilet. The man looks ill, and his body language makes him appear uncomfortable in the surroundings. The low-key lighting in the boat's cabin contributes to the enigma. We don't yet know who this man is, or where he is going, but we can see that he is smartly dressed. One element in the shot creates further mystery; the man has a plaster over his left eye, though we do not know what the wound is or how he got it (none of the other characters ever mention it throughout the film).

The use of side lighting and backlighting on the man make him seem even more mysterious, as does the fact that he does not appear to know his new partner who is with him on the boat. His unusual behaviour creates mystery for the audience, not least his response when his partner asks him about his wife. The flashback to a woman with Teddy creates further mystery, as we are unaware why he is no longer with her (an important plot point revealed later in the movie) but his unusual figure behaviour and the cut to the crashing waves hint that he may have had something to do with the break up (or her death, as we later find out).

To create further enigma it is revealed that the men are on their way to a secure mental hospital for the criminally insane, but crucially we don't know why they are going there, adding to the mystery. The extreme long shot of the island that ends the scene, accompanied by more threatening non-diegetic music, creates more enigma and the expectation that these men, Teddy in particular, are in grave danger.