The Shining Review

        It’s been a long while since I’ve talked about a Stanley Kubrick film. He’s the cream of the crop as far as movie directors go where he’s very precise with how he makes his movies. While he has dedicated fans, this is one of those rare ones where it manages to be relevant in the pop culture sphere. Not to say that his films weren’t bankable, but one where he manages to hone in on his craft and let the overall movie speak for itself. And this particular one has multiple interpretations to a point that a documentary was made that tries to decipher what all the imagery and symbolism mean. I won’t go into all that, this is what I think about the movie as a whole. 

1. Snowed In

        This is the second Stephen King story that got adapted into film. After the success of Carrie, his whole name was now bankable do the stories that he manage to make interesting. It was also a reset for Stanley Kubrick, due to the financial and critically mixed prior film Barry Lyndon that he needed to try something to else to be commercially viable and artistically fulfilling. What we got is one of those unique King adaptations and horror film that is completely different from its contemporaries. Not a slasher or a fright flick, but a psychological one where we see just how one man descends to utter madness while being cooped up. 

        And that’s exactly the whole plot of the film. We follow Jack Torrance as he’s been tasked to oversee the Overlook Hotel in the outskirts of Colorado. His family joins him as he attempts to take care of the hotel due to the frigid weather conditions. Inevitably, malevolent manifestations influences Jack as he goes mad while his son’s gifted abilities appear. So yeah, it’s an interesting story since it’s not technically a traditional haunted house story where a curious party arrive and then the bad things happen. 

        No, more so that this is the story that shows just how much a man goes through while also having invisible influences mess with his head. This is one of Jack Nicholson’s most famous roles, aside from many that spans from multiple decades. He’s that talented as an actor and usually delivers when given the right material. He plays Jack Torrance in a mostly straight laced way where he’s seemingly normal. We learn more about him that he’s a writer and a recovering alcoholic. As I mentioned earlier, he’s a very normal person as he tries to type but can’t get into the rhythm of progress. 

        I feel that in a way, what makes Jack such an interesting character is when after the family settles in the hotel is where we see his range as an actor. His face is probably one of those expressive where he can come off as a devil, or he’s just that talented where it’s not overacting. I love that he can range from being normal to being just a son of a b. The moments when he lashes out at Wendy is heartbreaking and one where Shelley Duvall just nails her sadness. I should talk about her since her acting is one of the infamous moments of Kubrick’s directing. 

        Duvall’s approach to Wendy is one that she’s a caring mother to Danny. There seems to be a passive approach where she’s just relegated to the background. Albeit she steps up when she approaches Jack and when Torrance just goes loco. The moment when she’s swinging the bat as Jack tries to get closer to her was rehearsed multiple times. Additionally, Stanley’s treatment of her from my reading of it is unbelievable considering that her isolation helped her empathy since in the context of the film. Something beyond her is warping her family for the worse. 

        Before I talk about the location, one more thing that I want to mention is the overall supernatural take that the film has. I think with how Kubrick employs the paranormal is interesting since everything happens only when Danny’s “Shine” abilities kick in when he meets Chef Halloran. Both have the ability, and it brings the hotel to life so to speak as it influences Jack to descend into madness. And I like that it doesn’t show the spirits as such with any effect, but one where they seemingly look normal, until they show how they were killed. The twins are the most unsettling thing I’ve seen in the film. 

2. The Overlook Hotel

        The Hotel itself is a character as well. The whole film takes place in it and it’s got a pretty interior that matches the location. It’s revealed that it was built in an ancient burial ground, I feel that the interior pays tribute to the Natives to make peace with them. Unfortunately, it’s haunted without any stretch of imagination. In fact, The Overlook is mostly inspired by the actual hotel called The Stanley Hotel where its reported history makes it a unique haunt. Anyways, the hotel is massive and it feels disorienting just with the layout that we see.

        I like how it’s as disorienting as the hedge maze that it has on the outside. For the reason that it seems to be a sort of purgatory for the dead since it captures the dead spirits and the previous hotel keepers. As I mentioned earlier that there’s no typical special effects when the family encounter the spirits but one where they appear normal. Only showing how they look like when they lower their guard. In particular when Jack investigates the room that Halloran told Danny to avoid. 

        As Jack goes inside the room, he sees a young woman in the bathtub. Torrance of course is turned on and inevitably kisses her. He sees the rotting back and sees her true form as a decomposing corpse. It’s I think one of the best scares in the film, because we’re in Jack’s p.o.v. as he seemingly at ease, only until he sees someone that’s attractive and naked where he lets his inhibitions get the best of him. And I mean, you can’t blame him for wanting someone while being cooped up in the dead of winter. 

3. Legacy

        It’s astonishing to read that the film didn’t get the critical praise that it would get many years after the fact. Some derided the film as being hokey due to the performances of Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall. I can understand it since we don’t see a traditional psychotic break, but one where Nicholson manages to make it effective by just his expressions and his overall mannerism. And I think that it’s not a horror film in the traditional sense but one where it’s very precise and psychological that it doesn’t stoop down to get some scares. Inevitably, the film would be reappraised much later and some hail it as one of Kubrick’s best. 

        Also, this is one of the rare moments where the author hated the adaptation. Stephen King infamously hated this adaptation by stating that it moved far away from his book. To the point that during the 90s, he would produce his own version of The Shining on TV. The film would make multiple appearances and there were some cartoons that paid tribute to it in some tame sense. It would inevitably have a sequel as King wrote Doctor Sleep, which then got adapted by Mike Flanagan. I haven’t seen it, but from what I gathered it’s a good King adaptation but one where it feels unnecessary as a sequel. 

4. Overall

        The Shining is one of Kubrick’s best and one of King’s best adaptations of his work.