"The Shining
"The Shining" by Stanley Kubrick
One of the most ambiguous movies shot by Stanley Kubrick is “The Shining” – a horror film, that tells a story of a family that has moved into a hotel called the Overlook, which was inhabited by ghosts. Throughout the film, the plot develops around the Torrance family: Jack, Wendy, and their son Danny. Kubrick based the film on a novel written by Steven King. The literary source is rather thrilling and intriguing, and the film can be basically given the same positive assessment.
According to the screenplay, Jack Torrance, a writer who had quit abusing alcohol, moves into a distant hotel in the mountains with his family. The winter weather conditions render the hotel fully isolated from the outer world. All roads leading to it are covered with snow, so no vehicles can pass. During this period, the hotel is closed. Isolation, however, is what Jack needs to write his new novel, and at the same time, he will work as the hotel’s keeper. The hotel was built on a patch of land where an old Indian cemetery was located. During the film, Jack Torrance (Jack Nicolson), influenced by the evil spirits, gradually goes insane and attempts to kill his wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall) and son Danny (Danny Lloyd), but fails to do so and dies.
The first and foremost criterion to evaluate “The Shining” is the atmosphere that was reproduced in the film. Kubrick managed to convey a sense of isolation and detachment, as well as the mystical fear constantly increasing throughout the film. Despite the luxurious furnishing, the Overlook hotel looks like a cemetery. The tension is also delivered through scenes with ghosts and the depictions of how Jack gradually loses his mind. One of the most horrifying moments in the film is when Wendy takes a look at the manuscript Jack had been writing during the period of time their family spent in the hotel. She sees that all pages are scribbled with just one phrase: “All fun and no play makes Jack a dull boy,” and she
One of the most ambiguous movies shot by Stanley Kubrick is “The Shining” – a horror film, that tells a story of a family that has moved into a hotel called the Overlook, which was inhabited by ghosts. Throughout the film, the plot develops around the Torrance family: Jack, Wendy, and their son Danny. Kubrick based the film on a novel written by Steven King. The literary source is rather thrilling and intriguing, and the film can be basically given the same positive assessment.
According to the screenplay, Jack Torrance, a writer who had quit abusing alcohol, moves into a distant hotel in the mountains with his family. The winter weather conditions render the hotel fully isolated from the outer world. All roads leading to it are covered with snow, so no vehicles can pass. During this period, the hotel is closed. Isolation, however, is what Jack needs to write his new novel, and at the same time, he will work as the hotel’s keeper. The hotel was built on a patch of land where an old Indian cemetery was located. During the film, Jack Torrance (Jack Nicolson), influenced by the evil spirits, gradually goes insane and attempts to kill his wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall) and son Danny (Danny Lloyd), but fails to do so and dies.
The first and foremost criterion to evaluate “The Shining” is the atmosphere that was reproduced in the film. Kubrick managed to convey a sense of isolation and detachment, as well as the mystical fear constantly increasing throughout the film. Despite the luxurious furnishing, the Overlook hotel looks like a cemetery. The tension is also delivered through scenes with ghosts and the depictions of how Jack gradually loses his mind. One of the most horrifying moments in the film is when Wendy takes a look at the manuscript Jack had been writing during the period of time their family spent in the hotel. She sees that all pages are scribbled with just one phrase: “All fun and no play makes Jack a dull boy,” and she