The Shining

The Shining never forgets it’s a horror film. It’s meticulous, relentless, and also lives in a world where horror stories exist. There’s an amazing sense of space in every shot. The opening is sky blue titles flying over wide open mountain air. The Overlook is immaculately framed between pillars and windows as Jack (Nicholson) walks through to the office for the interview promised on an opening title card. The office is cramped and tight compared to the earlier open air and hotel lobby. The focus shrinks visually, now focusing in on Jack as we learn about him for the first time.

Or was the opening title referring to Wendy’s interview with the doctor? In addition to the cabin fever murders revealed to Jack, Wendy has her own horrors with which to deal. The iconic blood elevator shot shows up first very early in the movie as their son Danny has his first dramatic shining vision. Wendy also admits to being a “horror film nut” here as well. Jack hasn’t even accepted the job yet, and things are already very tense and strained. The family can’t even get through the car ride to the Overlook without going into the Donner Party story. In other movies, this foreshadowing could stick out like a sore thumb. But Kubrick keeps the entire world so off-kilter and terrifying in the first few sequences, that it’s just part of the world’s fabric.

Back to that space. The Overlook is gloriously explored through these opening shots, both in the tour and the first few scenes after winter begins. Kubrick does a great job of laying out the different locations before they’re turned into gruesome scenes later. One in particular is the family’s cramped apartment. It sits in contrast to the huge lobbies, kitchens, and hallways elsewhere in the hotel. It’s in these small, cramped areas and shots that the most intimate terror takes place. Jack kills the poor cook in a huge entryway. He sees the ghosts in the party, the former caretaker, and the bartender in the large ballroom. But when he attacks Wendy, he’s chopping down a small door to a small bathroom with a small window as the only escape. And finally, Danny is able to outsmart his father in the claustrophobic hedge maze.

I watched The Shining earlier this year and didn’t finish it. It’s a polarizing film. Maybe I wasn’t in the right mood, or just wasn’t paying that much attention, but it all felt completely false and phony to me then. Shelley Duvall and Kubrick were nominated for the Razzie Awards. This time through, I really was able to notice the depth and tension of almost every scene. The care in framing every shot also stood out. There are a dozen things to love about The Shining. Jack Nicholson is great. The effects on things like the blood elevators, the frantic parade of ghouls near the end, and the lady in Room 237 all look amazing. But this time through, I kept coming back to the way everything is seen and explored. No one makes a movie like Stanley Kubrick.