Party Like It’s 1921
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Here’s Johnny. Give me the bat, Wendy. Redrum. Surely that’s enough lines for you to know what movie this is.
Stanley Kubrick is a man of many talents, with countless classics under his belt, but one that will always be special to me is The Shining. Is it a horror movie? A thriller? A psychological beat down from multiple angles? Yes. It is. Movies like The Shining require the audience to pay attention and get sucked into the movie. I know I put down most popular modern movies for playing to the low IQ moron audience that flocks to see the 15th marvel movie sequel, so if that’s you, you may not like movies like this one.
There’s a lot that can be said about The Shining, but something that always sticks with me is the final scene. The picture in the ballroom. Jack Torrence, center stage in a large group picture of a July 4th Ball in 1921. What does it mean? Some say Jack was absorbed by the hotel and is now part of its history. Others say that Jack was actually there in 1921, and he was a reincarnation of his prior self in the film. I’m sure there are more theories, but that’s what is so great about this movie. It’s open to interpretation, and it allows your mind to go places without being told what to think. Stanley is a master at this, subtly guiding the audience along the way.
I’m one of those weird people who would probably have fun in a haunted hotel over a long 5 month stretch of winter isolation. But I’m not really superstitious, so maybe I’d be immune. They only talk of one prior caretaker that killed his family in the movie (Grady), so there must’ve been plenty of other guys that made it through the winter just fine since the hotel had been around since the early 1900s.
I have actually been to the real hotel before. No, the ghosts didn’t get me. I survived.