The Shining (1980)

Director: Stanley Kubrick

Starring: Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd

A family heads to an isolated hotel for the winter where a sinister presence influences the father into violence, while his psychic son sees horrific forebodings from both past and future.

Aah, yes, the timeless classic based on Stephen King’s novel, ‘The Shining’. Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece…

Ahem, give me a moment while I clear my throat. I must confess to not being a Kubrick fan. His films are overlong and usually very slow moving. ‘The Shining’ is no different. So, shining – according to Stephen King – is the ability to have conversations without moving one’s lips. It is also the ability to see things, past or present. If this is the case then the film must revolve around the boy, Danny, who has this ability. The hotel chef, Hallorann, also has this ability, but he doesn’t bring much to the table at all, so let’s leave him be.

In the beginning, Jack (Jack Nicholson) is told of a caretaker who lived at the hotel many years ago, and slowly but surely he became insane, eventually butchering his wife and children. I don’t recall them mentioning what caused it, apart from the fact that it might have been contributed to “cabin fever”. As the film unfolds, we see Jack following the same pattern, but very rapidly without any indication whatsoever that something – mentally or demonic – happened to him. So, what actually caused Jack to go insane and wanting to kill his wife and child? While the character development is good, there’s too little information here. Did he become possessed? If so, when and how did this happen? Was it indeed cabin fever that drove him to the extreme of wanting to kill his loved ones? There’s also the credibility issues. The hotel is closed for 5 months for the winter season. Jack is the caretaker and his wife helps him. But this hotel is HUGE. Who does the cleaning and overall maintaining of the hotel? One man and his wife can’t possibly clean a place of this size, so it’s not believable that they are alone.

The film is a slow but sure descent into madness. Slow being the operative word here. Although there are creepy moments, they are few and far between, and the film is just too slow moving. Some scenes linger for too long. When the lines between hallucination and reality starts blurring, the film becomes weird. And I became bored. Yup, this “timeless masterpiece” actually bored me.

What I enjoyed very much, was the beautiful cinematography, and the film’s bright, colorful look despite a grim theme. Note the bright red, green, blue rooms. Jack Nicholson is also excellent as Jack. He is just perfect for the role. As for the film in general, no thanks…

Would I watch it again? No.