The shining (1980)_FILM REVIEW

The shining

The shining (1980) is an American film directed by Stanley Kubrick, based on the horror novel The Shining (1977) by Stephen king. It’s the psychological thriller film, a most rated horror film in the history. Shining film opens with a bird’s eye view helicopter shot, subjects being a mountainous background with the snowy region under the bed of the mighty river. Second frame is a yellow car on a highway road in-between the mountain is fixed as a main subject in order to create suspense, although the opening title music doesn’t make the audience to fear a lot. No close up shot is used and the suspense music is scored originally, the car on a wide shot reaches a snowy mountainous region far away from the town or the living residential place, which is not easily reached on any emergency situations .


The car is parked outside a hotel. Shining music score makes us fear continuously, even though the genre is psychological thriller .The film is treated as horror in all reviews but the film never exposed horror content in natural way, it caveats the horror in other dimensions. There are no intercut and fast cut between the shot and everything is expressed in the angles .No other film maker except Kubrick will taste success of the film within the rules and guidelines of the film ethics and he never cheated in music and never used ramps. The films inciting incident happens when Jack (protagonist) gets a job at the Overlook Hotel near.


The hostel will be no man’s land on every winter, due to the heavy drizzling snow. He is assigned as a caretaker in the hotel on the month April – May by paying huge amount with hospitality to his family. The Manager of a hostel reveals that the hostel’s last caretaker psychologically went wrong and killed his own daughters and wife ,Jack replied that the job could meet his novel writing idea and as well as his salary. He accompanied with his wife (Wendy) and his 7 year old son Danny who is a foreseer and a past predictor. Danny’s psychologically issues were not known to their parents, it was briefly explained in a sequence that Danny negotiates his father’s plan of taking up a job at hotel. This film was shot in a five places like Hotel, Jack’s house, Dick’s friends shop, Airport, Dick’s house.


In the first day at hotel everything looks fine for jack and his wife, they loved the place and since it is comfortable and luxurious .Danny sees the illusion image of two twin kids, who were the daughters of Mr. Grady, the overlook hotels -expired seasonal caretaker, it is noted that the own family members were assaulted by Mr.Grady and chopped them with axe till death. The every shot of the film is caveat in nature and creates thrilling experiences through camera movement with realistic Music. Kubrick threatens us not only with the no man’s land script., it’s also with his clear musical background and a camera angles .The fictional Redrum (Danny mumbles) is MURDER, the reverse of redrum .The redrum is a flow of blood which caveats the audience about the upcoming danger .Earliest death which is unfolded in the opening of the movie create curiousness among the viewers, since Grady is affected psychologically due to his isolation from outer world. Second day of his job, Jack dreamt of killing his whole family and it exactly resembles Mr. Grady’s earlier murders. Jack jeopardizes his wife by telling what he dreamt of.


A blood scar in Danny’s face received a negative impact from the room 237. The 360 degree shot in the veranda following Danny threatens the audience for upcoming scene. In 360 shot, trolley is used to follow Danny; In fact it is one of the greatest shot in this film. Jack visits the room 237 and finds women in bathroom and at last she becomes a ghost. Third day, Wendy frightened about her husband and son behavior. Danny confirms the foresee murder and mumbles REDRUM .Wendy is helpless and tries to call the forest officers, the phone connection is dropped down .She argues with her husband and explains her intention to leave the hotel. Now, jack is psychologically controlled by the illusion (Ghost) Mr. Grady and orders to finish the mission soon, Mr. Grady warn Mr. Jack that Wendy and Danny were extremely talented.

 This film travels in the point of view of Jack Torrance. This movie does not have a single unwanted shot which could affect the story line and the screenplay."All work and no play make Jack a dull boy" is the sentences which are repeatedly printed for 100 pages in the jack novel script; Mrs. Wendy Torrance came to know that Jack is running out of mind. When she plans to escape Dick Halloran comes direct to visit Torrance family after the loss of phone connectivity last night .Danny hides in the kitchen and Wendy hiding inside the toilet .Jack heard the noise of the snow cat and goes to the ground floor and smashes Mr.Dick with his axe.

Then Danny escapes to garden and Wendy chases jack .The garden portions were shot in a steady cam .At last Wendy and Danny escapes, Due to the injury in his leg, Jack can’t walk further and died in the freezing cold.


_Lingaraja Sivanaiah