Year of Release: 1980
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd, Scatman Crothers, Barry Nelson, Philip Stone, Joe Turkel, Anne Jackson, Tony Burton
Genre: Drama, Horror
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 9
Watch it on Amazon
Synopsis and Review:
Director Stanley Kubrick followed both the iconic and critically acclaimed features of the 70s, "A Clockwork Orange" and "Barry Lyndon", with what turned out to be another of his classic films, one that has since been widely discussed, parodied and ultimately hailed as one of the best of the horror genre. "The Shining" is an adaptation of the book by Stephen King, and focuses on the story of Danny Torrance and his family. Danny's father Jack, has had his fair share of problems with alcohol, but has been sober for a while, while he's been doing all sorts of odd jobs to make ends meet, with the ultimate goal of launching a writing career. Danny's mom, Wendy, has always been of a sunny disposition is a full time mom, taking care of Danny and of the home where they live. The family lives in Boulder, and as the narrative begins, Jack is up for a caretaker position with a massive hotel in the Denver area. The hotel closes during the winter due to the merciless temperatures and amounts of snow it gets, and Jack is being hired to maintain the structure functional, preventing the elements from causing too much damage. As he selected for the job, Danny who is gifted with special abilities, fears there's something about the hotel that is menacing. And as the family gets familiar and comfortable in the space, odd things start happening.
Even if at the time of its premiere "The Shining" divided opinions, it has since become a staple of the Horror genre, much like John Carpenter's "Halloween", Wes Craven's "A Nightmare on Elm Street" and the classics "Cat People" from Jacques Tourneur or Don Siegel's "The Invasion of the Body Snatchers", to name but a few. The film loosely adapts the Stephen King narrative, and builds a claustrophobic horror exercise around a family, whose patriarch loses touch with reality, due to the influence of supernatural entities. It's a film that works on many levels, and one that is rewarding to watch every time, since from a narrative perspective, there's themes of abuse, of mental health, of broken relationships to digest and reflect upon, not to mention, it's a film that is technically flawless, with fantastic cinematography, editing, production design and score. Stanley Kubrick manages to create a perfect progression of the dissolution of the relationship of Jack towards his family, something that is echoed by nature itself, particularly demonstrating how cold it is outside. As the narrative unfolds and the supernatural elements appear, they never show up gratuitously, but always through this progressive unveiling tactic. If something can be said for this film, is the fact that the characters could have benefited from extra nuance and dimension, but they're still constructed enough to resonate and feel more than cliches. Jack Nicholson is great in the central role, even if he cedes into over-acting at times, but Shelley Duvall is superb, the same going for Danny Lloyd and Scatman Crothers. The cinematography from John Alcott is fantastic, as is the score from Wendy Carlos and Rachel Elkind. It's an iconic film from a genius film maker, always worth revisiting.
0 comments:
Post a Comment