Written by Esther Williams, Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Studios
What makes man really, truly afraid? Writer and Director Stanley Kubrick takes a crack at answering the question, and in the opinion of many, succeeds. His book-to-movie adaptation of “The Shining” is a stellar knockout, a well-known masterpiece generally considered in both horror and filmmaking circles to be one of the best.
“The Shining” is an ominous, heavily psychological film, leaning on color symbolism, sound and camera work to do most of the scaring. The fantastic, slightly charactered acting somehow seems just the right amount of over the top.
Jack Nicholson plays reformed drinker and debatably abusive father, Jack Torrance, who takes a job as a caretaker for the Overlook Hotel during the off-season. He brings his family with him. As both the mountains around the hotel and the roads back to civilization fill with snow, his wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall) and son Danny (Danny Lloyd) suffer the consequences of isolation at the hands of the hotel and Jack himself.
The horror of a man going slowly and inevitably insane as he’s locked up in a snowed-in hotel is underscored by the brilliant and deeply disturbing score of Wendy Carlos. Minimalist violins unabashedly shriek and whirl at just the right times, accompanying jarringly centered shots that track various characters for long passages of time down the endless hallways of the Overlook Hotel. The sheer deliberation of the shots which seem to take forever only increases the feeling of isolation and imminence.
Sound plays its own soundtrack in the piece: a ball hitting the wall, a clicking typewriter or an injured foot thudding on the ground keeps tempo to the inevitable end.
Color is another large player in the film. Symbolistic colors of yellow, red, blue, white, peach, orange and beige dot the film, often in groupings. Red and blue frequently decorate Wendy and Danny, while members of the Overlook, including Jack, wear deep reds, beiges or greens. The hotel itself is outfitted in outstanding greens, golds, browns, whites and peaches. These colors are often shown all at once, filling entire rooms and the character’s backgrounds as they torment and suffer.
Evenly paced to place a sense of incredible suspense and dread in the viewers’ hearts, Kubrick expertly guides his audience through the heart and mind of Jack as he morphs with the hotel, Danny, strange visions and Wendy, simply trying to do what’s best for her son.
Ultimately, the story is one of abuse, addiction and the need to be a better man. Jack comes back to himself a few rare times in the film, desperately fearing for his family’s life. At last, though, as the hotel takes control, Jack is left clutching his heart in one hand and his ax in the other, howling out a final guttural cry of agony and despair.
With a few outdated exceptions, Kubrick’s adaptation of Writer Stephen King’s chilling classic stands the test of time and, hopefully, will continue to do so for generations to come.
