Review of The Shining (1980) by Michael O — 03 Mar 2016

The Shining by Stanley Kubrick tells the story of Jack Torrance a struggling author who is at the end of his ropes. The plot revolves around his journey in becoming the caretaker of the Overlook Hotel which is plagued by entities that insidiously linger around its grounds.

After applying for a job contract that will last 5 months in Boulder Colorado, he takes for granted the warnings of his employer such as the tremendous isolation during the winter and how solitude may be hard to manage.

In a crazy twist, he barely bats an eye when he is told that the previous care-taker slaughtered his family and committed suicide from what they described "cabin fever." The conflict of the film surrounds Jack's son Danny and his ability to "shine" which involves psychic abilities and activating spiritual forces at the hotel.

He says throughout the film that he has a boy named Tony that lives in his mouth that tells him things that are going to happen. A tremendous foreshadow occurs when Danny has a dream of blood spurting through the elevator door and into the lobby consuming the hotel.

This was a way of foreboding and ominous situation that would befall the family. The film is in the archetype of Supernatural intervention and the gods or "spirits" in this case rebel against Jack and take him to a state of insanity.

The first allusion in the film is the twin girls that Danny see's which signify the daughters that were slaughtered by the previous caretaker. Another foreshadowing element is when one of the workers states that, "it used to be a place where everyone stayed.

" In this way we are aware that something terrible must have happened. Room 237 symbolizes where the family was murdered and when Danny enters it he is attacked by an older woman and is overtaken by Tony who forces him to draw redrum (murder) in blood across the door frame.

I would argue that the film also fits the man's descent into hell archetype as Jack slowly loses all sense of reality. The Cinematography, lighting and sound throughout painted an insidious scenario with the music creating a feeling of horror and despair and the lighting and silhouettes creating a foreboding feeling.

The social commentary of the film seems to grapple with the "white man's burden" as Jack mentions to the bartender and the role of women as Jack has some disparaging things to say about his wife even calling her a "sperm bank" at one point.

What truly is eery about the film is Jack's quick descent into madness especially in the typewriting scene where he prints the same phrase "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" hundreds of times.

Overall I think that the film was fantastic and that the scene with Jack and Danny in the maze was masterfully done even though it was a bit deflating to see Jack go in such a way, the movie however did not seem to resolve itself based on the ambiguous scene with the portrait from 1921, I think it may have signified that he was reincarnate of the same Spiritual entity (Mr.

Grady) from before.