The Shining

 

The well known movie adaptation of Steven Spielberg's novel The Shining is a very good horrific time, but it's certainly not your average way of expectations, and at first, I didn't think much about it except for the memorable scenes which are directly in your face.

Jack Torrance, his wife Wendy and their son Danny move towards the reclusive and isolated Overlook Hotel for the winter period in order to take care of the mechanical equipment, furniture and miscellaneous tasks, while it is closed down.

The family is all alone, and they all enjoy the scenery and location, until strange occurances start happening. Danny sees visions from the future and the past, Jack becomes mad and frustrated for some reason and Wendy is the sorrowful witness towards this.

Stanley Kubrick's cinematography is an impressive achievement, such as when Danny rides down corridors and hallways with his tricycle, using a Steadicam. Or the dreamlike scenes where tons of blood flows towards the camera from inside elevators.

It becomes apparant that Danny and Dick, a worker of the Overlook Hotel, have the ability to shine as taken from the title, or to communicate with others in a sixth sense kind of way. Because of this, both characters sense incoming danger.

What the danger exactly implies is shrouded in various meanings. It could be vengeful ghosts, it could be cabin fever or it could simply mean human error in regards to emotions and circumstances. At one point however, it becomes clear that there is more than one explanation plausible.

The Shining features an effective buildup right from the very beginning, as we float through the sky, watching over a car approaching the Overlook Hotel. It builds all the way up nicely, until the payoff knocks out dedicated viewers into disturbing measures.

The old lady in the bathroom, an implied gay blowjob, the twin girls and other hideous moments make the movie a memorable horror entry, with a plot twist at the end that has started discussions for decades now, implying new realities in accordance towards the film's universe.

The Shining is a well made adaptation even though Stephen King the author himself disliked it. Admittedly, I have yet to read the novel itself, but I believe it has become clear enough that Kubrick's version is well respected on it's own.

Rating: 8.0

What really makes The Shining a classic is that there are many interpretations, patterns and symbolism available, something I did not experience the first time watching it. I understood that it wasn't an ordinary horror anyway, but yet, many clues were not found out by me.

Not until other people online pointed me towards these directions, which sometimes ranged from accurate and believable, towards conspiratory and downright obssessive. But perhaps one way or another, Stanley Kubrick truly was obssessed as well with leaving hidden messages behind in his movies, most notably 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Shining.

Room 237 is a documentary about The Shining's film adaptation's deeper meanings. Commentators theorize about various aspects, creating an inquiry in nine parts about what shaped it's lasting appeal. Subliminal appeals are scattered throughout The Shining, literally hundreds of them are subtle references.

Commentators see similarities with sexuality, genocide of Native Americans, the Jewish Holocaust and the fake Apollo moon landings. It's a petrifying experience once you too start noticing there is much more to be seen here than just a horror story.

Alongside Rob Ager's observations with Collative Learning, a favorite of mine to listen to, Room 237 is a pretty interesting documentary about anyone wanting to learn more about The Shining and the way of Stanley Kubrick's directing. My favorite observations are that some rooms and objects are paradoxes filmed in order to confuse the analytical audience on a deeper level.

Rating: 7.0