“THE SHINING” (1980)
Based upon the novel by Stephen King
Screenplay Written by Stanley Kubrick & Diane Johnson
Produced and Directed by Stanley Kubrick
Steven Spielberg once said that if you happen to see a Stanley Kubrick film on television, it is virtually impossible to turn it off or change the channel.
While I would never be so presumptuous to ascribe that sentiment to all of you dear readers, especially as the extraordinary film legacy of Stanley Kubrick is defiantly not suited to everyone’s personal tastes and references. But I will say that this peculiar phenomenon that Spielberg described occurred with me very recently and has taken such a stronghold that I am currently delving deeply into a “Stanley Kubrick phase.” It all began this past New Year’s Eve, the day I returned home from my holiday family visit. On this particular night, as I searched the cable TV grid, I noticed “The Shining” was about to begin and I had solely intended to watch the first couple of scenes as I had not seen the film in many years. Nearly two and a half hours later, I had watched the entire film. I could not have changed that channel even if I had tried.
Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining,” his controversial adaptation of the classic Stephen King novel was a film I gave an extremely wide berth. I was 11 years old when the film was released, and as I was deeply involved with watching movies, any kind of movie with the intention of expanding my cinematic horizons, the name of Stanley Kubrick had already made an impression. I wasn’t exactly certain of who he was but his name carried a supreme weight that permeated the world of popular culture so completely that I was very aware of this presence of this figure whose mere name held such reverence.
My personal history with “The Shining” was one based in tremendous fear. Like Kubrick own name, I really didn’t know much abut “The Shining” at the time other than it was a horror film. But not just any runoff the mill horror film that was the standard release of the day. This film also carried a certain weight and reverence that permeated every wall of pop culture and I somehow knew that I needed to stay far, far away from it. But I was curious.
The story and plot of “The Shining” is well known but I will recount it quickly as a reminder or even as an introduction for those who may not be familiar with the work. Jack Nicholson stars as Jack Torrance, a novelist and former teacher who takes a job as a caretaker for the massive, isolated Overlook Hotel during the business’ winter off-season. While Jack is longing for the solitude and the opportunity to work on a new writing project, and his wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall) contains a certain spooky excitement towards the change in scenery, their young son Danny (Danny Lloyd) is troubled, uncertain and voices his doubts through his imaginary friend “Tony,” who, as Danny describes, lives inside of his mouth. Unbeknownst to his parents, Danny possesses psychic abilities and through private conversations with Tony, the boy has seen some disturbingly dark visions indeed.
Once the Torrance family arrives at the Overlook, Danny finds a kindred spirit in the hotel’s head chef Dick Hallorann (the immortal Scatman Crothers), who is also psychic and can speak telepathically, an ability he refers to as “shining.” When Danny asks if there is anything to be afraid of in the hotel, Dick thoughtfully explains that the building itself also has the ability to shine as it contains memories, some of which are not good. When Danny presses on and asks about room 237, Dick severely warns the child to never, ever enter that room.
The remainder of “The Shining” details Jack Torrance’s psychological descent as he is engulfed with horrific homicidal tendencies towards his family leading to a confrontation, involving elements from the spirit world, in which the survival of the participants hang in the precarious balance.
As I had previously stated, “The Shining” carried a level of menace that felt greater than any other horror film of its day and that was during a period when the thought of William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist” (1973), Brian De Palma’s “Carrie” (1976), Richard Donner’s “The Omen” (1976), and of course, Spielberg’s “Jaws” (1975) filled me with fright. It seemed as if just one look at the film would unleash unquestionable evil into my life. How superstitious of me but I was a child and that is how I felt. Yet, as I look back upon my fears concerning this film, it all feels appropriate. Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining,” with its scant collective of characters, is essentially a chamber piece but it is executed on the scale of an epic as the film’s surroundings suggest a superior world of darkness that exists far outside and even deeply inside the members of the Torrance family.
The very first time I attempted to peek at the film was when I was 12 and “The Shining” made its pay TV debut. I would turn to the channel and become almost hypnotically engaged with the sight of jack Torrance throwing a tennis ball against the wall of the mammoth hotel lobby and then, I would begin to feel unnerved enough that I changed the channel back to something safer. And then, I would change the channel back to the film one more time and I became mesmerized by the sight of Danny riding his big wheel through the cavernous hallways and then, without warning, the female ghost twins would appear and believe me, I could not find the channel remote fast enough.
Over the years, I saw the film in bits and pieces and I actually finally saw the film in its entirety sometime in my late 20s as a local (and now closed) theater held a film society series showing classic motion pictures on one of their screens. It was then that I realized that my initial feelings were confirmed as well as alleviated. Yes, it is a supremely frightening experience but it was conducted in the style that appeals to me much greater than blood, gore and torture porn.
Stanley Kubrick was a visual stylist without equal. I have always been amazed with how he is able to establish the tone and vision of each and every film from the very first shot and “The Shining” is no exception. That opening helicopter angled shot of the tiny Torrance family car driving towards the Overlook Hotel with gliding, sweeping camera work over mountains and water accompanied by Rachel Elkind and Wendy Carlos’ (formerly Walter Carlos) ominous opening theme music perfectly sets the stage. Speaking of music, Kubrick remains one of the very best filmmakers to merge music and images in ways where the thought of one without the other is impossible. Along with Elkind and Carlos’ electronic textures, Kubrick utilized the dissonant classical pieces by Bartok and Gyorgy Lygeti, plus loops of sound textures including heartbeats to give the terrifying spell of the Overlook an unforgettable audio identity.
Visually speaking, Kubrick’s shot composition remains astonishing, with its floor to ceiling ratios and how every shot can exist as a still photograph (a technique most likely devised from Kubrick’s days as a professional photographer). Kubrick’s cinematic innovation was revolutionary as “The Shining” was one of the first films to utilize the Steadicam camera, which gives the camera operator the ability to take long, unbroken tracking shots with a smooth fluidity. (Kubrick even hired the inventor of that camera to assist him for this film.) Just think about all of those incredible sequences of Danny riding that big wheel through the hotel, or Danny running for his life through the hotel’s snowy maze. Those sequences make me think of a soul in flight.
Most effective for me were the moments when the characters emotional and physical states were at their greatest peril. These moments are often reflected within Danny’s psyche as quickly presented still shots intercut with Danny’s frozen, silent screams, suggesting a child trapped within the throes of a nightmare and still haunted by the frightening images upon being awakened. And then there’s Kubrick’s masterful usage of slow motion cinematography utilized at its very best during our entrance into room 237 and of course, the classic, iconic shot of an elevator drowning in waves of pouring blood.
Thematically, I loved the conceptual swan dive the film takes into the disintegrating psyche for both Jack and Wendy. Kubrick’s notorious reputation for filming endless takes of sequences allowed Nicholson and especially Duvall (as Kubrick was infamously nasty to her on-set) to arrive with unhinged performances they may not have otherwise arrived at. While some sections may feel comically over the top, I think they are intended to feel that way, as Kubrick did possess this bizarre ability to merge dark comedy with the nightmarish and somehow, at least to my sensibilities, everything felt to be so true and just right. And that was one of Kubrick’s many gifts. He was never a filmmaker that ever tried to tell the audience how to feel. “The Shining” feels almost like a bird’s eye view of insanity and the story of the Torrance family is given to us in pieces, allowing the audience to make the connections and provide the meanings.
“The Shining” is an ambiguous film, an open-ended film where everything is purposefully unexplained, a quality that further increases the tension and horror of the story. Yes, the film is a ghost story but even that simple aspect is left open for interpretation. Who truly has the ability to shine? Danny and Dick certainly but does Jack as well? And how about that oddball moment when Wendy, escaping from the axe-wielding Jack, happens upon a hotel room and catches the sight of a person in a rabbit costume performing oral sex upon another male patron? Who are the spirits aligned with? The great “redrum” moment when Danny enters the sleeping Wendy’s bedroom and awakens her so she can read the message presented in reverse in the mirror, is a sequence where the ones in peril are aided. But then, the ghosts also seem to have physical abilities as they release the previously unconscious Jack from a locked room.
Going even further is the overall explanation of Jack’s madness. It is just a case of “cabin fever,” as suggested by a story Jack is told during his interview concerning a family who served as off-season caretakers in 1970 and were murdered by the Father? Or it is something even grander as we discover, in a line of dialogue that is almost presented as a throwaway, that the Overlook Hotel was built upon a Native American burial ground. Much speculation over the years has suggested that “The Shining” is actually an allegory about the eradication of Native Americans by white people and Kubrick apparently has planted clues throughout the film as Native American logos, artwork, and photographs are placed throughout the hotel. Is there a certain significance that Wendy arms herself with a wooden bat for self-defense while Jack carries an axe, chopping everything down in his path?
There have even been questions if “The Shining” is an allegory about the Holocaust, especially as the tragedy of the Holocaust was something Kubrick carried deep fascinations with and even came close to making a film about entitled “Aryan Papers”…that is until Steven Spielberg made the formidable “Schindler’s List” (1993).
Regardless, the level of the unknown and unknowable about “The Shining” ads tremendously to its lasting power. In fact, I recently read about a new documentary premiering at the current Sundance Film Festival entitled “Room 237,” and is completely about the conspiracy theories that have originated from Kubrick’s film. A film of this sort feels very appropriate as with Kubrick, one thing always leads to another. And for me, this piece will lead to a future installment of “Savage Cinema revisits” as I write about Stanley Kubrick’s dystopian, satirical and controversial classic, “A Clockwork Orange” (1971).
This is the majesty of Stanley Kubrick as he made works, love them or hate them, that are unforgettable and impossible to shake once you have experienced them. Their power and artistry is limitless and timeless, even in a film that could have been conceived as being nothing more than a haunted house tale.
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