Ryder: The Shining

I hope it's okay for me to post my reviews here.

THE SHINING (1980)

"Heeeeere's Johnny!"​

I had the toughest time trying to stay awake watching this movie - twice. I didn't manage to finish it the first time a few years ago because I fell asleep - around the part when Hallorann was explaining to Danny about the "Shining", a telepathic ability that can communicate with others without talking, as well as being able to prophesy future events to come. Needless to say, the pacing of the beginning can be hard to swallow as it builds up the atmosphere, but for this movie, I can say it's well worth the wait.

Based on the Stephen King novel of the same name, this is a very appropriate story for Stanley Kubrick to adapt. If you've seen his movies, you'd know symbolic imagery is his talent. Full Metal Jacket, Apocalypse Now, 2001: A Space Odyssey, all of which had complex scenes that provoke your senses while embedding their ideas into your subconscious. Kubrick's style of storytelling isn't just to create a puzzle for the sake of puzzling the audience, but to leave the audiences disturbed enough that they would think about what the heck they had just witnessed for weeks to come. This description fits The Shining quite appropriately, as it does have a disturbing twist at the end that leaves you wondering.

This is the correct way to make a 'deep' movie, IMO. Don't just confuse your audience. Make them feel something they could relate to or something they could understand while you insert confusing imagery in between. A confusing picture that's interesting will often leave me more motivated to find out what it means than one that leaves me feeling empty, a give-and-take relationship. To be fair, Kubrick's 2001 had the latter effect on me - more or less. Then again, 2001 was more often cited when talking about "deep movies" than The Shining.

Aside from the symbolism, the rest of the film portrays a series of escalating domestic violence. I'm not quite sure myself, but I feel like Jack (played by the ever talented Jack Nicholson) is either in purgatory or some similar ethereal place in the story (most likely Hell) as he's asked to 'correct' his misbehaving wife and son. Either that, or he's having cabin fever, a delusion, but that final scene tells me it's more likely the former case. Nicholson gives a splendid performance as always playing a believably normal and sane father that just suddenly snaps in a fit of anger and frustration all too commonly seen among real life domestic violence. Tim Burton's choice for The Joker later on makes a lot of sense when you've seen Jack's performance here.

Overall, check out The Shining if you haven't already. It's definitely a horror movie worth a look this Halloween.

8/10

 

I'm just glad you didn't post anything about the remake of The Shining. That was a certified turd. The original is always gonna be the best, especially in this case.

 

Yeah, I don't usually enjoy remakes, unless I've watched them as a kid before seeing the original (like The Fly and The Thing remake in the '80s). Some remakes can be good though, like the aforementioned two.

 

I didn't watch t.v. or go to the movies til I was in my mid teens, (back in the stone age), so I never got to see the origional Shining until then. Never saw The Fly, but I did see The Thing recently. To be honest, It bored me to sleep.

 

Yeah, there's a lot of psychological stuff going on in that movie. I can see why it might be boring to some people.