As a soldier of the transformation of Old Hollywood to New Hollywood, a film director who rescued waned Hollywood since World War II, Kubrick has made some really great films. Kubrick’s works are very poor compared to most American directors. He started his directing career in the 1950s, and he only made 18 works in his life. Kubrick didn’t seem to be interested in filming commercial films, but surprised producers and viewers with his own unique personality and gained a unique position in film history.
The Shining is a psychological horror film that Kubrick adapted from Stephen King’s novel of the same name during 1978-1979, and became a shining classic in the history of American horror movies. This film is different from the horror films before. The theme of the film transcends the pattern of ghosts in the past, and explores the deep soul of human beings and the crisis of humanity and family. “Chicago Sun-Times” once commented: “This movie is not about ghosts, but about madness, and to what extent people’s spirits will be magnified in isolated situations.” Although this film caused some controversy in the early days of it’s release, it has been widely recognized and highly praised over time. Some even commented that it is one of the greatest movies ever, and is recognized as the most artistic horror film.
When Kubrick was a student, he often skipped classes, and he was considered to be lack of minimal social skills by his teacher. His introverted character accompanied Kubrick’s whole life, but perhaps it is this unique character that deeply influenced his way of looking at the world, dealing with interpersonal relationships, and forming his own unique film perspective. Kubrick’s 10 major works have penetrated into the reality of human existence from different angles. He presented various types of movies in a distinctive personal style, including science fiction, horror, suspense, war, family ethics and so on. Among them, The Shining has pushed the creation of horror films since the 1970s to a climax.
The movie plot is like this: Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) becomes the caretaker of the Overlook Hotel in up in the secluded mountains of Colorado. Jack, being a family man, takes his wife (Shelley Duvall) and son (Danny Lloyd) to the Hotel to keep him company throughout the long, isolated nights. During their stay, strange things occur when Jack’s son Danny sees gruesome images powered by a force called ‘the shining’ and Jack is heavily affected by this. Along with writer’s block and the demons of the hotel haunting him, Jack has a complete mental breakdown and the situation takes a sinister turn for the worse.
The artistic style of The Shining is arguably quite unique among many horror films. Kubrick did not rely on the vomiting bloodthirsty styling to attract the audience, but used various techniques to create a horrible atmosphere. The terror atmosphere also depends on the perspective given by the camera, the camera’s fast motion and multi-angle shooting, a large number of motion shots and low-lens shots, depicting the strange and gloomy atmosphere of the hotel from Danny’s point of view. The most representative is the long shot from the 34th minute of the film, which is a low shot from the back of Danny, and the audience seems to follow Danny’s sight going through the hotel’s empty hall, the quiet corridor. It seems that the eyes behind are monitoring Danny’s every move, giving people strong psychological pressure. At the end of the film, the mother and son escape from the hotel. Jack is frozen in the snow and ice, rolling his eyes and revealing a terrible expression. In the end, Jack appears in a photo of former employees of the hotel. This scene maybe imply that such a tragedy has never stopped, and will continue.
Stanley Kubrick’s direction is pure excellence, giving the whole film a cold and atmospheric look, thus creating an unbearable sense of paranoia and terror. There are moments of sheer brilliance and exquisite perfection in this film; the horrifying maze chase is a perfect example. Single shot is masterfully created and there are some genuinely scary scenes which will make you sit on the edge of your seat.
Another point that has to be mentioned is the soundtrack of the film, the giant of modern music, and the modernist musical classics of the Hungarian composer Bartok, who is known as the “Greatest Composer of the 20th Century.” The film was initially accompanied by gloomy music, which laid the groundwork for the film’s strange and inexpressible tone. Kubrick is very good at using soundtrack to create movie atmosphere. It can be said that the soundtrack is also one of the symbols to recognize the Kubrick movie, which is also highlighted in his films 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange and so on. These soundtracks give the audience a great psychological hint, and let them be deeply involved in the film world created by the director.
Regarding the theme of The Shining, some people think that it has a broad social and humanistic foundation and contains humanistic care. The film places the characters in an empty but isolated environment, and the hotel was built on the uncold bones of the Indians who were driven and killed by American. In the novel “The Shining”, the room is 217, but in the film it is changed to 237. Some critics says it may be 2*3*7=42, which symbolizes the events of 1942. In addition, when Jack and his wife first confronted each other in the film, the wife cut Jack 42 times on the stairs. Besides, the last photo of the film was dated July 4, 1921, and July 4th was the national birthday of the United States. It was the day when the Declaration of Independence was promulgated.
Frank Manchel pointed out that Stephen King, the author of The Shining, is using the traditional creation category of “Haunted House” to symbolize the fall of the real society and the sins of history. Steven Bruhm also said that not only the evil forces in the hotel invaded the heart of the protagonist Jack, but also the sad and cruel American history that was left in the corridors of the hotel and also influenced him. Those in the hotel who have been intertwined with the historical space, who have witnessed the imprisoned undead have stepped into the intersection of parallel spaces, felt the imprisonment of history and reality, and saw the dark side of civilization. The content of genocide and racial discrimination implied in The Shining makes this film more socially meaningful.
It is also said that the film accurately reflects the inner public anxiety of the American public. Just as people feel horrified at the male protagonist, they also deeply sympathize with him and feel sorry for his tragedy, because the tragedy of the male protagonist is more than just his personal but the entire American society. The contemporary American people not only suffer from increasing and endless work pressure, but also face the danger of family breakdown because of neglect of communication. The story of the protagonist in the film is exactly the stories that have occurred in contemporary America.
However, the questioning of the theme of this film is not limited to these two views. Different people can see different fears in The Shining and even resonate with the protagonist. This is where Kubrick’s greatness is at. Kubrick is good at revealing the weakness of human nature through the violent lens. It reflects the reality of human existence and expresses his questioning of good and evil. It is also the reason why his movie is shocking and thoughtful.
In short, The Shining is a monument in the history of the world’s horror movies. Its influence continues to this day. Many of today’s horror films still draw on The Shining in terms of creating atmosphere. This is probably the so-called real classic.