As a huge fan of Stephen King and his novels, and in particular the book this film is based on, I had really high expectations for this film.
It’s impossible to have not heard about this film, its referenced heavily in pop culture, such as: Joey from friends proclaiming how the book is so frightening he hides it in his fridge, ‘The Simpsons parodying it in a Treehouse of Horror episode, ’ and Bruce the shark in Finding Nemo yelling “HERES BRUCEY”.
Jack Torrance played by Jack Nicholson takes a caretaking job at a Colorado hotel in the winter. His wife Wendy, and son Danny, played by Shelley Duvall and Danny Lloyd respectively, join him.
Things get weird pretty quickly when we learn that Danny has a psychic power, called ‘the shining’.
Jack becomes cantankerous after just a few days, and Danny begins to see visions of the Grady twins, who were killed by their caretaker father previously. The film never slows down, keeping you on the edge of your seat until the very end.
The film was one the first to use Steadicam, this technology smoothens the camera movement caused by the operator when tracking over long distances, around corners and over bumps. It’s most famously used when tracking Danny as he rides his trike through the hotel foyer and corridors, these shots were revolutionary at the time.
The soundtrack for this film really is unforgettable. The film opens with the main theme playing during helicopter shot which is tracking Jack driving along the twisting country roads, the theme gives an ominous feel to the scene, as though he’s driving into trouble. The main theme is reminiscent of Bernard Herrmann's main theme for Cape Fear (1962).
Often at times, sound will be used to invoke and emphasise fear or distress, such as when there is a sharp crescendo of music when Jack pulls out a piece of paper from a typewriter, or an intense ringing noise when Jack is berating Wendy in their room. Then finally, when Wendy finds the pages in the typewriter and sees the visualisation of Jack's descent into madness, the music goes wild and intense, matching the performances on screen.
The film's mise-en-scenè remains to be some of the best of all time.
The hotel foyers wooden floor and grand staircase, the hotel corridors featuring the iconic hexagonal orange, red and black pattern, the mint green bathroom in room 237, containing the ghost of a woman who died in the bath, the ballroom where Jack visits the bar and begins drinking again, and the red and white bathroom of the ballroom, where Jack is taken to after having a drink spilled down him. These are just some of the sets that are so unique to the film and give such a distinctive vibe and almost dreamlike ethereal quality to the scenes.
Stephen King, the author of the novel the film is based on, famously dislikes the film, as the film is an unfaithful adaptation of the book, making many changes to characters, namely Jack Torrence, which King believed “has no arc in that movie. Absolutely no arc at all,”. He also showed displeasure at the changes to the film's climax too, and how Kubrick alters the way the hotel is dealt with. (Bose, 2024)
Unfortunately, the film had since been marred by the experience of Shelley Duvall during filming. She claimed that Kubrick was abusive and cruel to her during filming, by asking crew members to ignore her during filming, never complimenting her scenes whilst regularly giving praise to Nicholson, were just some of the ways he mistreated her. She was also required to act out many takes of certain scenes, and due to some of the scenes' subject matter, were incredibly emotionally taxing and exhausting. Her performance is undeniably brilliant, but no performance is worth being subjected to the treatment she endured by her peers. (Sur, 2024)
Nicholson's performance as Jack is a truly terrifying one. A great deal of his performance is physical, in particular the way he contorts his face to produce his character's signature sinister smile. His vocal outbursts at Wendy are very well acted too, enhanced by hand movements, tongue flicking, and wide-unblinking eyes.
This timeless classic is a must watch for any and all film fans, especially for those that enjoy the horror genre.
