20 Things You Somehow Missed In Shutter Island

13. The Guard Behind Teddy

Shutter Island
Paramount Pictures

And one final detail from this scene - keep an eye on how Scorsese frames Teddy, Chuck, and Kearns. During their individual shots, we always see a guard standing behind Kearns and Teddy, but not Chuck.

While we would expect to see a guard in close proximity of inmate Kearns, having one also stood close to Teddy provides yet another subtle hint that he's also a patient.

Even when we cut to the wide shot of Teddy and Chuck, the guard is on the right-hand side of the screen by Teddy, and therefore able to quickly restrain Teddy if he ends up violently acting out.

Contributor
Contributor

Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.