After watching Room 237 I felt I needed to watch The Shining again, since it’s been a while.
My first impression was that it really, really looks like a movie made in the 1970s-and not in a good way. While I liked Jack Nicholson and Scatman Crothers, I have never understood the popularity of Shelley Duvall. And that kid who played Danny, well, the fact that he only has one other acting credit says all that needs to be said about his skills.
Of course, the real star of The Shining was it’s Director, Stanley Kubrick. Long shots and panning shots and slow fades and strange creepy music and sound effects mixed with bizarre camera angles and tight close ups make The Shining a case study in film direction. Watching it now it plays like one cliche after another, one scenery chewing moment after another, and one WTF was that about? moment after another. I think the last part is the most enduring element The Shining has to offer, it makes no damned sense and it will never make any damned sense.
Is there some deeper meaning to it all? It’s not a question I really care about. The bare bones version is a madman get a job that makes him even more insane, his son is also mentally disturbed, and his wife might not be crazy, but she is a extremely tolerant of madness. Or Jack isn’t crazy, he just has a hard time dealing with returning to a place his soul is cursed to return to, his son has some magical powers that allow him to see the many ghosts that haunt the hotel, and the Wife, well, she’s still a sap that puts up with way too much crap.
In short, I think The Simpson’s version makes a lot more sense. In the end The Shining wasn’t really meant to make any sense and there was nothing all that scary to be had. It was just Kubrick showing off his mad skills-which have not held up that well for me.
