The Shining (1980)

Film: The Shining

Director: Stanley Kubrick

Country: UK / USA

Released: May 1980

Runtime: 144 minutes

Genre: Horror

Studio: Hawk Films / Warner Bros

Influenced: David Lynch, David Robert Mitchell, Ari Aster, Mike Flanagan, Jordan Peele

Based on the 1977 novel of the same name by Stephen King, The Shining is widely considered one of the greatest horror movies ever made and sits among Stanley Kubrick's finest works. The film follows the story of Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson), a writer and recovering alcoholic who takes a job as the winter caretaker of the isolated Overlook Hotel in Colorado. Kubrick makes more of the Indian burial ground theme than in the book, with various design motifs in the hotel, such as the wallpaper and carpets, evoking Native American art. Jack moves to the hotel with his wife, Wendy (Shelley Duvall), and their young son, Danny (Danny Lloyd), who possesses psychic abilities known as "the shining". In the early interview scene for the job, Jack appears urbane and agreeable, but we soon see that it’s all just a facade, and as the plot develops we observe Jack's slow descent into madness.

Kubrick collaborated with Diane Johnson on the screenplay, incorporating elements from the novel while adding his own distinctive touches. One of my favourite facts about the movie is that, because there really was a number 217 room in the Timberline Lodge in Colorado where some of the exterior hotel scenes were shot, the owners asked Kubrick to use a different number in the film to avoid spooking future guests. Instead, Kubrick went with number 237 as that was also the nuclear code in Dr Strangelove. The epic opening shots were filmed by using a helicopter that flew over the scenic Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park, Montana, using an ultra wide angle lens. Shooting, which mainly took place on interior sets in EMI Elstree Studios in England, was originally planned to last 100 days but actually took more like 250 days. What's incredible about the movie is that Kubrick didn't use any digital effects, nor any CGI or green screens; only one moment (the overhead zoom shot of Wendy and Danny in the maze) was filmed using special effects.

As the Torrance family settles into the hotel, supernatural forces begin to take hold of Jack's psyche, causing him to become increasingly unhinged. The Overlook Hotel's haunted past starts to seep into their lives, and the family is soon cut off from the outside world as the snow sets in. Many of the shots in the film are true virtuoso filmmaking, from the iconic zoom into Nicholson’s demonic face on Thursday to the lift doors gushing blood (one of the most horrific scenes in cinema history) and Danny's encounters with the Grady Twins. I love the incredible snaking shot through the kitchen as Wendy walks with Hallorann (Scatman Crothers) and Danny, and she describes the hotel as a maze, a precursor of the film’s finale. Hallorann and Danny bond over their shared skill of “shining” (communicating without words) and this exchange was meticulously filmed by Kubrick, using over 100+ takes to get the final, polished version.

The cinematography is top notch, and Kubrick's careful use of framing and his symmetrical compositions are evident throughout the film. Kubrick insisted that Steadicam inventor Garrett Brown placed characters exactly central in the crosshairs of the camera. Brown had been brought in for previous films like Bound For Glory (1976) and Rocky (1976) just to film certain key scenes, but Kubrick was first to hire him for the entirety of a shoot. The slow tracking shots, steady camera movements and meticulous set design contribute to the film's eerie ambiance, while the iconic score, composed by Wendy Carlos and Rachel Elkind, further amplifies the sense of dread. Rather than relying heavily on jump scares or overt violence, Kubrick focused on building a sense of psychological unease, tapping into the viewer's deepest fears and anxieties. After initial mixed reviews, and modest commercial success, The Shining has since become a cult classic, prompting numerous interpretations and theories about its deeper meanings. All I'd say is that the convolutions of the human brain do indeed resemble a maze.