Shared with you
Incorrectly regarded as goofs
The plot mixes up two concentration camps: Auschwitz and Dachau. Auschwitz is clearly identified by famous words above the entrance gate and cold weather at the moment of liberation. This camp however was liberated by Soviets and Teddy could have not possibly been there. On the other hand, execution of Nazi guards by American solders is a well documented incident that occurred during liberation of Dachau and it is likely that Teddy was part of it.
Flashbacks are based on memories and are rarely, if ever, accurate.
Flashbacks are based on memories and are rarely, if ever, accurate.
Mrs Kearns writes on the upper left page in the notebook, but the word "RUN" is later shown written on the lower right page.
When Teddy interviews the first patient, he scrawls in his notebook to the point of tearing the paper in one shot. The paper is intact in a later shot.
At the beginning of the movie when Teddy and Chuck are standing on the deck of the boat. Teddy lights a cigarette and clearly has a wedding ring on his finger. The next shot shows him with his left hand resting on the rail with no ring. The following shot once again he is wearing the ring and is doing so through the rest of the film.
In Cawley's study, Daniels puts down his soda and ice on the table and emphatically shoves his hands in his pockets. In the few moments that the view changes to Cawley and Naehring and back again, and the glass is back in his hand.
When Teddy enters the lighthouse from outside, the door handle is on the left but we see from the inside it opens with the handle on the right.
At Dachau, Teddy looks intensely at human bodies piled on top of each other, clearly frozen due to severe cold. Dachau however was not liberated during winter, but on April 29, 1945. It is true that some fresh snow had fallen overnight, but photographs taken by American soldiers show it was just a hint of snow, not a blanket. Late April wasn't cold enough.
Flashbacks are based on memories and are rarely, if ever, accurate.
Flashbacks are based on memories and are rarely, if ever, accurate.
Dr Crawley states that withdrawal from chlorpromazine causes tremor, which is commonly known as a side-effect of taking the drug. It is, however, also a symptom of stopping the medication suddenly, as are nausea, vomiting, dizziness, migraines, and hallucinations.
When they break into the chapel during the storm at the cemetery one of them say "Push!" (the door) and Teddy stumbles inside and falls on the floor. But the door in the background opens outwards.
Mis-heard line. Chuck said "Boss", not "Push".
Mis-heard line. Chuck said "Boss", not "Push".
(at around 1 min) In the WWII slaughter scene, the soldiers fire in one barrage with their rifles aimed straight ahead, yet the guards only fall down dead as the camera tracks left to right.
Flashbacks are based on memories and are rarely, if ever, accurate.
Flashbacks are based on memories and are rarely, if ever, accurate.
At the beginning of the film when Teddy and Chuck are driven up to the asylum gate for the first time they are riding in a small open truck. On the rear of the vehicle a modern white license plate can be clearly seen as it reflects the light. The truck should have sported a black 1953 Mass plate like the one seen later on the doctor's red sedan.
The white license plate is military issue. There's a better look at it ~1:32:30. The doctor's car is not military.
The white license plate is military issue. There's a better look at it ~1:32:30. The doctor's car is not military.
Obvious green screen images when Teddy and Warden are in a jeep coming back from the hidden cave.
Obvious green screen images when on the ferry boat and when entering the island on a jeep passing in front of several buildings.
at 30:21 the main character wakes with is singlet Drenched in water, sodden, at 30:36 he hops off his bed with only a crescent of water across his chest.
No recording of Gustav Mahler's Quartet in A minor existed during WW2. The work was not known to have been performed between 1876 and the early 1960s, when the composer's widow rediscovered the score.
When Daniels and Aule are showing their badges upon arrival at the island it shows "Department of Justice", until 1965 each U.S. District Court hired and administered it own marshals independently from all others, also both characters mention the Marshals being a federal agency, the United States Marshal Service wasn't established as a federal agency until 1969 and was not part of the Department of Justice until 1974, so in the 1954 neither of these facts would be correct.
When Teddy retrieves his tie from a break room after taking a shower, the pinball machine shown is a Gottlieb "Seven Seas" from 1959.
When the chief of the guards is giving Daniels his tour of the island, he says that the bluffs are tangles of poison ivy and live oak. The island is in Massachusetts but Southern Live Oaks don't grow north of southern Virginia.
After the storm blows out the electricity, Daniels comments about the "electronics" being knocked out. The electrical systems used to containing the patients likely had no "electronics", just electrical switches, solenoids, and other parts.
Freud only used the term "subconscious" early in his career, but later rejected it in favor of "unconscious", which a professional should know.
10 minutes in, as Chuck looks at some pictures on the wall of Dr. Cawley's office, Cawley says "Those paintings are quite accurate." All the images are prints, not paintings.
The psychiatrist says "trans...orbital-lobotomy" instead of "transorbital...lobotomy": transorbital is only the (easy) access technique to the brain (frontal lobes), not the important part of the procedure.