My experience of The Shining was good but it could have been better. I thought it was interesting in the beginning when the chef knows that the boys mother calls him “Doc” and reveals that he is psychic to the boy and that he knows that the boy is psychic too. I thought maybe the director could have done a better job explaining that part of the movie. Another element I was confused about was in the end after Jack dies and it shows the poster for the Overlook Hotel in the year 1921 and in the very front is Jack. There were also a few scenes that confused me. One scene in particular that confused me was when Wendy locks Jack in the food pantry and he somehow escapes later. The movie didn’t show how he escaped and it seemed unrealistic. Other than those confusing spots of the film, I thought the director did a great job of keeping the audience engaged and keeping the tone of the film eerie and creepy throughout the whole movie.
The elements of the film that I was most impressed with was the sound, visual effects, and editing used in the film. All of these elements usually play a critical role in most horror movies but The Shining did an excellent job of utilizing all three.
In the very beginning of the film during the drive up to the hotel there is scary music playing which sets the tone for the whole movie and makes the audience aware that something bad is going to happen at the hotel. Then when Jack arrives and interviews at the hotel the manager tells him about the murders that had previously taken place at the hotel. Then whenever something bad is about to happen during the movie, like when Danny has a vision or when Jack is chasing around Wendy with an axe, scary music is playing and it crescendos when there is an anticipation scene. Also the lack of sound throughout other scenes in the movie adds to the loneliness and isolation of the hotel making it even more creepy.
The visual effects during The Shining also contribute to the overall tone of the film and give it an alarming feel. A scene that stood out to me with effective visual effects was when Danny was having a vision and saw the hotel lobby flooded with blood. The color red often appears in this film, for example when Danny becomes possessed and starts saying “red rum” he writes it on the door in red lip gloss, a lot of the rooms in the hotel have red in them, and the characters are also wearing red clothes in many scenes. I think this choice was done on purpose by the director to symbolize violence, blood, and murder and was a prequel for what would take place later in the film when Jack goes crazy and murders Dick who came to rescue Danny and Wendy.
The other element of the film that impressed me the most was the editing of scenes and the different types of editing used to have an optimal viewing experience. There are several eye line match shots in the film that create anticipation scenes and make the audience jump from their seats. One eye line match shot in particular that stood out to me was when Danny was riding his tricycle through the hotel lobby and then it switches to his face and you can see his expression go from normal to terrified and then the camera switches from Danny to the two girls asking Danny to come play with them and then it flashes to images of their chopped up bodies. Another scene that stood out to me using analytical editing was when Jack is going crazy and then he sits down at the bar for a drink and at first it looks like no one is there but then Jack starts talking to himself, the camera zooms in on his face and then he begins talking to Lloyd the bartender and orders a drink.
Critics have written several different opinions on The Shining. Although most critics have overwhelmingly positive reviews of the film, many critics have different interpretations of what the film symbolizes. One famous interpretation was by Bill Blakemore who suggested that the film was symbolic of the genocide of Native Americans, the reasoning being that the hotel is said to have been built over an Indian burial ground, there are several Native American artifcats depicted throughout the film, and Dick Hallorann was murdered on top of a Native American rug when he returns to rescue Danny and Wendy.
The critiques I read somewhat matched my experience of the film but I thought it left a little more to be desired. There were a few holes in the storyline that I mentioned earlier which confused me and I thought that the director should have put more emphasis on Danny’s visions and made them seem more realistic and last longer than they actually did since they play a critical role in the film.
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Hi Finn:
It’s interesting to read how this film shape your experience and ideas. When you mentioned the visual effects made to enhance the horror, I observed the close-up shots of Danny Torrance and Wendy’s face in the scenes of penetration of Room 237 make the audience to see how thrilling and irritating these characters are feeling. Kubrick does an excellent work in transfer the long shot and close-up shot abruptly to create a sense of tension in the audience. That’s also what I think one way the horror genre is created in this film.