Film Critique: The Shining

Directed by Stanley Kubrick, ‘The Shining’ is a moving image flip on the 1977 book by Stephen King. Both are heavily influenced by traditional gothic novels, evident in the persistent use of isolation, stereotypical characters, supernatural elements, and grand environments. This 1980’s phycological horror is a cult classic that radiates hidden messages and symbols.

The Shining | Poster Art

The Overlook Hotel is a modern interpretation of a traditional gothic castle. Its immense scale swallows-up the characters in an intimidating style, the structure is its own entity and its own character "the set often operates as another character: one that does not speak but communicates through images as much or as little as it is designed to." – (Barnwell, 2004)

Camera replicates the movements of a human; uncut shots at eye level follow directly behind characters at walking pace, as though audiences are following events like a dream. This style of shot is most contradicted during the opening credits, we see jack travelling to his interview through a grand valley. The birds-eye shot here gives viewers a sense of scale. A sense of perspective and feeling of remoteness. Other interesting shots involve fast zooms, the most memorable being Danny playing darts, then turning to see the twins for the first time. This technique felt out of character for the rest of the cinematography, which alerts viewers to the significance of this encounter.

The action of ‘turning corners’ is significant throughout the film. Examples include Danny’s discovery of the twins as he plays on his tricycle, and when Jack discovers a party mess, which transitions into a vision of his madness. Stanley is using methods of anticipation to unravel the plot using the architecture of the Overlook Hotel, as though the building is controlling the events. The hotels’ long, narrow hallways and vast, bewildering common rooms exude an unusual atmosphere.

These vast hotel spaces are decorated with limited furniture, as seen in figure 1. Loud patterns are used to distract audiences from empty space and suggest continuous refurbishment, also suggesting an uneasy ‘incomplete’ aura. The overlook hotel battles with modernity and ancient forces; the building is now a modern hotel that is haunted by its Indian and exploitive history. Supernatural forces, a common gothic trope, terrorize the characters as the hotel battles its own spiritual and physical evils. Racial themes stemming from the hotel’s history are another significant trait of The Overlook. The hotel could only exist through the destruction of an Indian burial ground, which now caters to the privileged white Americans that initiated this terrible historic event. Jack’s fall into madness sprouts racial slurs against Hollrann, the cook. The supernatural forces within The Outlook are clearly using racial grudges to manipulate Jack. The Overlook Hotel has a racial influence over this character. Historic facts that the film mentions resemble the real history behind America. The 1900’s saw radical industrialisation and the development of scenic locations into resorts and hotels. The stock market crash of 1929 meant these establishments were changing in ownership. This is reflected in The Overlook’s sketchy and mismatched owner history.

 

Figure 1

The plot uses foreshadowing as a governor over the audience and fear is looming from the beginning. We watch the little car travel through a valley at the beginning of the film with a pit in our stomach…even if its our first time viewing the film. I see this as an extreme atmospheric achievement. From the start, Stanley is using his knowledge on the gothic manipulation of human fears to control his viewers.

The gothic theme also makes itself evident in the inclusion of dysfunctional family life. Combined with subtle domestic violence tendencies, the story crafts Jack into a stereotypical gothic villain. This can be seen in his shifty personality, cunningness, sociopathic attitude, and the emphasis on descent when it comes to his insanity. These are all tropes of a typical gothic villain. Jack’s demise at the end of the plot references The Overlook Hotel’s past through the theme of reincarnation. When Jack finally freezes do death at the climax of the film, he replaces Grady in the 1920’s photograph of a party, suggesting he has replaced Grady as a spirit within the hotel as well. Reincarnation was a strong belief amongst native Americans, whose spirits reside within The Overlook. In fact, “The shining became a focus for conspiracy theorists who claimed it was really about the genocide of Native Americans, or the Holocaust, or fake moon landings” – TheGuardian.com (2016) Anne Billson

We are only shown what’s vital to the film, and audiences feel out-of-the loop. This is amplified by the abrupt, artificial and inorganic cuts which label months, days, and time stamps. These break the audiences willing suspension of disbelief in a unique way that allows us to contemplate what we have watched, but still stay semi-immersed. This sensation resembles one of being half-awake, coming out of a deep sleep.


The further Jack spirals, the more emotive he becomes. The interview at the beginning of the film feels forced and stiff, yet we end on a scene of Jack wailing into the snow, raw madness. Both scenes contradict each other through colour along with acting. Figure 2 shows the warm toned office of the interview set, red walls and stylised décor create a comfortable environment and place of professional work. Figure 3 is set in the snow, flooded with the blue toned lights of the lampposts and maze LED’s, the two figures clash between colour. Jack creates unease through hiding his descent into madness. Viewers are as confused about the initiation of his insanity as Danny and Wendy. We see a progressive physical change in Jack, but we never uncover what methods the hotel and its spirits used to start the process, we never see inside his head.  Jack’s hallucinations begin to bleed into reality…sanity and madness are no longer linear at this point, making audiences feel claustrophobic, the ‘full stop’ on the theme of gothic isolation within the film.

Danny’s purity, innocence and hidden powers make him a typical gothic protagonist hero and the contrast to The Outlook Hotel, the antagonist villain. Danny is the main source of foreshadowing for audiences through his use of powers. We see short cut scenes and vague comments on the events that ultimately happen at the end of the film.

Compared to the characters of Jack and Danny, Wendy feels like an outsider. She has no knowledge on ‘the shining’ and has the least amount of supernatural experiences within the families stay at The Outlook. An unaware and dazed mother. “She is a companion and playmate for Danny, and tries to cheer Jack until he tells her, suddenly and obscenely, to stop interrupting his work.” – rogerebert.com (2006) Roger Ebert. Jack’s use of ‘bitch’ and desire to assert his masculinity constantly demeans Wendy, creating a submissive and emotional damsel. Sexist tendencies are certainly implied here. However, Wendy ultimately rescues Danny, and both escape the hotel at the climax of the film, with limited outside help. This re-establishes Wendy as a strong character.

Figure 2

Figure 3

Wendy Carlos and Rachel Elkind have established huge significance to the score of the film. Their writing skills make the soundtrack its own character. Watching the film without music would be a completely different experience; most tense and uncomfortable moments are created through music alone. The music also significantly amplifies the films idea of isolation by segregating scenes of travel from scenes within the hotel. A wall of noise. In my opinion, The Shining includes the most significant and compelling score amongst all other films in symposia programme.


All elements of the film feel alive; cameras walk and watch, buildings manipulate and brainwash. I felt disturbed after this watching experience, in a way that differs from typical horror films because The Shining lacks typical jump scares and gore. Stanley Kubrick has achieved a story that uses historical, spiritual, phycological, and cultural elements to poetically seduce audiences into this unusual supernatural universe. I left this watch feeling as though the film was cursed, a pioneering piece of the horror genre.

Bibliography:

Barnwell, J. (2004). Production Design: Arhchitects of the Screen. 1st ed. New York: Columbia University Press.

Billson, A. (2019). The Shining has lost its shine – Kubrick was slumming it in a genre he despised. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/oct/27/stanley-kubrick-shining-stephen-king [Accessed 4 Dec. 2019].

Course Hero. (2019). The Shining Context | Course Hero. [online] Available at: https://www.coursehero.com/lit/The-Shining/context/ [Accessed 4 Dec. 2019].

Ebert, R. (2019). The Shining movie review & film summary (1980) | Roger Ebert. [online] Rogerebert.com. Available at: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-the-shining-1980 [Accessed 4 Dec. 2019].

Eggert, B. (2019). The Shining (1980) – Deep Focus Review – Movie Reviews, Critical Essays, and Film Analysis. [online] Deep Focus Review. Available at: https://deepfocusreview.com/definitives/the-shining/ [Accessed 4 Dec. 2019].

Film and Furniture (2019). Figure 1. [image] Available at: https://filmandfurniture.com/film/the-shining/ [Accessed 4 Dec. 2019].

idyllopuspress (2019). Figure 2. [image] Available at: http://idyllopuspress.com/idyllopus/film/shining_interview.htm [Accessed 4 Dec. 2019].

IMDb. (2019). The Shining (1980) - IMDb. [online] Available at: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081505/?ref_=ttfc_fc_tt [Accessed 4 Dec. 2019].

RedBubble (2019). Poster Art. [image] Available at: https://www.redbubble.com/people/kulturarts/works/38399158-the-shining-yellow?p=poster [Accessed 4 Dec. 2019].

TrendChaser (2019). Figure 3. [image] Available at: https://www.trend-chaser.com/entertainment/this-actress-represents-stephen-kings-addiction-to-cocaine-9-other-movie-metaphors/2/?edge=1 [Accessed 4 Dec. 2019].