The Shining (1980)

THE SCOOP
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Plot: A family heads to an isolated hotel for the winter where an evil and spiritual presence influences the father into violence, while his psychic son sees horrific forebodings from the past and of the future.

Genre: Horror/Thriller
Awards: -
Runtime: 119min
Rating: M18 for violence, disturbing images, and nudity.

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IN RETROSPECT
In the last three decades of his life, the late great director Stanley Kubrick made only five films - A Clockwork Orange (1971), Barry Lyndon (1975), The Shining (1980), Full Metal Jacket (1987) and Eyes Wide Shut (1999). His slow method of working, and the scrupulous care with which he chose his subjects have resulted in some of the most daring, provocative, and technically brilliant works ever committed to the big screen. His untimely death a short while after the release of Eyes Wide Shut left such a huge vacuum that it seemed like cinema was split into two timelines - before and after Kubrick’s death.

In almost every genre, Kubrick’s influence was felt. Here in The Shining, the master writer-director changed the face of horror filmmaking and elevated the genre into something that people might give more credit to. The 70s saw the renaissance of horror pictures such as William Friedkin’s The Exorcist (1973) and John Carpenter’s Halloween (1978). Not surprising for a Kubrick picture, The Shining brought a different approach to scaring viewers; gone were the ‘boo!’ moments and grotesque images that were, and still are hallmarks of the genre, and in came psychological chills and atmospheres of dread.

Together with Diane Johnson, Kubrick based the film loosely on the novel of the same name by Stephen King whom reportedly disliked the film because it was not faithful to the source. The film had its detractors at the time of release, but as with most Kubrick works, it got better with age. The Shining stars Jack Nicholson as Jack Torrance, and Shelley Duvall and Danny Lloyd as his wife and son respectively. Jack secures a temporary job as an off-season caretaker for the Overlook Hotel and brings his family on a long trip up to the elegant and isolated building for the winter.

With The Shining, Kubrick further showed why he was regarded as the master of the ‘tracking shot’. To emphasize the vastness of the hotel and create an impending sense of doom that awaits these characters, Kubrick cleverly tailed Lloyd’s character with a steadicam shot at the hip level as he pedals a miniature car through its labyrinth of mazy corridors over an alternating series of carpeted and parquet flooring which result in muted and echoed sound effects respectively. This sequence (along with several other impressive tracking shots) is Kubrick at his technical best.

Unlike a ‘haunted house-themed’ movie, Kubrick shot all of the scenes in the Overlook with clear lighting. Moreover, everything in the hotel looks prim and proper, furniture are symmetrically-placed, and the colors used are bright and cheery. Like David Lynch’s Blue Velvet (1986), this normalcy brings an eerie calm to the proceedings, creating an almost dream-like setting where evil lurks and operates within. The use of music is superb. Wendy Carlos’ assortment of weird rhythms and haunting high notes mirror the characters’ descent into madness.

Even though it is slightly over-the-top, The Shining is easily one of the Nicholson’s top five performances. While Duvall is excellent, credit must go to Lloyd who gives one of the best child performances in a horror film. However, the final ten minutes of The Shining are ill-paced; the transition from a chilly chase sequence in a large maze outside the Overlook to a zoom-in shot that eventually focuses on a dated photograph is too abrupt. It irks me to see such a brilliant film become a tad less brilliant because of a poorly-executed ending. The Shining may not be one of Kubrick’s best, but anything by him is still worthy of a strong recommendation.

GRADE: A- (8.5/10 or 4 stars)

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