Fig. 1.

The Shining Poster Art (1980)

T H E SH I N I N G
Review By Adam Stone!
The Shining Review

The Shining by Stanley Kubrick in 1980, about isolation, desperation, frustration and phycological horrors. Its one of the most famous films with respect to set design and establishing insanity. The long periods of one point perspective shots are typical of Kubricks style, making the viewer uneasy, building tension of the scene even though there might not be anything particularly interesting in the scene. Eric Henderson from Slant Magazine describes It's the experience more so than the actual content of The Shining that radiates cold, antihumanly indifferent terror. (E. Henderson, 2007). The eeriness, cold emotions and endless corridors almost drive the viewer insane with the amount of jumps and scares involved. Right off the bat, the viewer is shown just how far away this hotel is, winding roads and high mountains with nothing but nature, the car and the road in shot. Establishing how massively isolated the hotel is.

Fig. 2. Isolation Visualised

The father is shown as your average stereotypical man from the start, showing the viewer that isolation could drive anyone insane; intensifying the effects of the horror for the viewer because they might fear that it could happen to them. Its clear that Danny is a mummies boy, given that he always clings to his mother, fearing and avoiding his fathers decisions. This relationship between

The Shining Review

Danny and his mother helps to drive Jack (the father) insane, almost ganging up on him at every given opportunity. The origins of these effects are clear when Wendy (the mother) describes how Jack had dislocated Dannys arm on a drunken rage one night. Peter Bradshaw from The Guardian describes the father jack as a the abusive father (P. Bradshaw, 2012). So its no surprise that Danny clings to his mother for protection. What could work to send Jack insane could potentially be due to some form of jealously. During the film there is a scene that shows Jack playing around with a tennis ball while his son and wife are out playing in a maze, this might symbolise the struggle for the father to get to know his troubled son while the mother almost takes over. This point is further proven when we see the father writing hundreds of pages of all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. This suggests that when Jack was attempting to write, all he could think about was spending time with his son, the isolation of having nothing else to do but work would have been enough to drive anyone insane. Jack even explains to Grady that his wife interferes.

Fig. 3. Chucking Balls at The Wall

The fact that Danny Shines and talks to his imaginary friend (Tony) that appears to give Danny the ability to almost be telepathic, is very interesting and scary for the viewer, especially when Danny re-creates Tonys voice in an incredibly creepy manner. The father, realising that his son is not normal would also be incredibly frustrating to any man, because generally every man wants

The Shining Review

a son so that they can leave their stamp to pass on their name and family to future generations. Despite being a relatively real-seeming film, its actually quite the supernatural film. Being that the hotel was built on an indian burial ground, something called Shining seems to influence the minds of some people in the film, ghosts haunt the hallways and function rooms of the hotel, with only the insane and shiners seeing them. Ian Nathan from Empire believes that The Shining is Ostensibly a haunted house story, it manages to traverse a complex world of incipient madness, spectral murder and supernatural visions (I. Nathan, 2010). Jack even offers his soul for a drink, suddenly a bartender in a red coat appears, suggesting connotations of the devil, who begins to bribe Jack by building a tab of drinks that Jack will eventually have to pay off, in a rather disturbing fashion Teaching his wife and son a lesson.

Fig. 4. Whatll it be Mr Torrence?

The Shining escalates very quickly after the workers leave the hotel, Kubrick shows us time period slides to emphasise to us how much time has gone by. The fathers psychological state only gets worse as he is persistently left on his own while Danny and his mum are out gallivanting around in the hotel. it becomes apparent that Danny and the mum are completely terrified by Jack when Danny is hesitant about hugging his dad and the mother warns Danny to take care when visiting the room, not to wake him up.

The Shining Review

What follows in the film is not an easy watch, it visualises every child's complete horror fantasy, with the father, the man who is supposed to take care of you, chasing you with an uncontrollable rage and desire to murder you.

Fig. 5. The Chase

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The Shining Review

Bibliography
Illustration List (Fig. 1.) - The Shining Poster Art (1980) [Poster] http://collider.com/the-shining-prequel-glen-mazzara-overlook-hotel/ (Fig. 2.) Isolation Visualised - The Shining (1980) from Hawk Films and Warner Bros. Directed by: Stanley Kubrick. [Film Still] (Fig. 3.) Chucking Balls at The Wall - The Shining (1980) from Hawk Films and Warner Bros. Directed by: Stanley Kubrick. [Film Still] (Fig. 4.) Whatll it be Mr Torrence? - The Shining (1980) from Hawk Films and Warner Bros. Directed by: Stanley Kubrick. [Film Still] (Fig. 5.) The Chase - The Shining (1980) from Hawk Films and Warner Bros. Directed by: Stanley Kubrick. [Film Still] Text Sources General Information - IMDb. (N/A): Repulsion (1965) [online] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081505/?ref_=ttco_co_tt

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Eric Henderson. (E. Henderson, 2007): The Shining [online] http://www.slantmagazine.com/film/film_review.asp?ID=3349

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Ian Nathan. (I. Nathan, 2010): The Shining: 'Heeeere's Johnny!!!!!'' [online] http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/review.asp?FID=132700

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Peter Bradshaw. (P. Bradshaw, 2012): The Shining review [online] http://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/nov/01/the-shining-review

The Shining Review