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Aspect Ratio/Cinematography

One of the first things I was interested in about this movie was the aspect ratio. The movie was shot full-frame and then matted (1.85:1) for the theatrical release (IIRC). On the DVD it was presented in the un-matted format (1.37:1) as was Kubrick’s intent (according to the back of the DVD case). So, being intrigued by this I immediately began to take note of the picture on the very top and bottom of the screen to see what Kubrick put there (and try to ascertain for myself if it seemed like he really intended it to be full-frame).

So, what’s one of the initial things I notice in the bottom right hand corner of the frame? The shadow of the helicopter filming the car as it drives up to the resort. “Hmmm,” I think, “Kubrick didn’t intend us to see that did he?” [snicker, snicker].

But, then it became abundantly clear that this movie was intended to be shot and shown full-frame. The composition is well done throughout. Very balanced, symmetrical shots when needed, unbalanced shots to add to the suspense when appropriate (although, interestingly, more balanced than not).

Some shots were clearly made for the full frame. The blood coming out of the elevator would be severely cramped without the extra information on the top and bottom of the frame. You wouldn’t be able to even see the floor of the hallway in this shot without the bottom of the frame.

Also, nearly all the shots of people would be far too tight. The heads would be right against the top of the screen and their hands—often giving significant gestures, would be partially cut off.

Finally, some of the shots of the maze would also look horrendous if matted to 1.85:1.

Acting

The next thing I noticed was the acting—or lack there of. The opening scenes, IMHO, were awful. Shelley Duvall seemed to be just reading her lines with Danny Lloyd and with the doctor. The men interviewing Jack also were emotionless and flat in their presentation. It was fairly horrific.

But, as the movie gets going, so does the level of acting. Danny Lloyd puts in some great performances near the end. His “Redrum, redrum, redrum, redrum.” is simply chilling. Duvall also picks up as she does a much better job being terrified at the end of the movie than the happy homemaker at the beginning.

Jack Nicholson is great throughout. Although acting like he’s crazy seems to come rather naturally to him.

The one person who seemed to struggle from beginning to end was the chef. He just was never very real to me and was a constant distration whenever he was on the screen.

Alternatively, the bartender, I thought, was great! Just his complete blank look was perfect for a delusionally based character who was just there to pour drinks. Yet, he still had a wonderful screen presence.

Score

The music was simply amazing. It took the most ordinary scenes and turned them into nail-biting suspense. How boring much of this movie would’ve been without the score. What was really great about it, was that these score-induced suspenses rarely came to fruition in the first half of the movie. This created a overwhelming sense of unending dread.

Plot

Great story! I absolutely loved it! I liked the set-up of Jack having fairly severely hurt Danny accidentally (but intoxicated) before. I also liked the ambiguity of his end of his teaching career. It made his careen into violent madness much more believable for me. Danny having the psychic abilities worked well to build the suspense and add to the horror as he sees the dead girls and the blood shooting out of the elevator.

I also thought it was great that the boy—essentially on his own—was able to beat the monster, formally his father. Even had they not escaped on the snow cat, Jack would’ve froze in the maze anyway, and they could’ve been safe—if not terrified—in the hotel until help arrived.

Jack’s decent into madness is well scripted and in nicely laid out steps that gradually added to the suspense without ever taking too great of leaps to leave credibility behind.

Questions, other random thoughts

So, I’m wondering if you think Jack has some of the Shining too? This would explain him seeing the dead guests from the 20s and the bartender, as well as his conversation with the previous caretaker and the dead woman in the bathtub. Perhaps it is genetically passed, which is why Danny has it too (also it was the chef and his grandmother—again in the family). Part of this includes his own reluctance to admit that he has it, which would explain some of what Danny said about not being allowed to talk about the things he sees—Jack is just trying to be in denial about the whole thing. But, the denial is impossible in the hotel that also “Shines” and this, in part, leads to his decent into a homicidal rage.

The other alternative is that he is going crazy? This doesn’t follow as well for me—probably just because I’m familiar with psychotic hallucinations, and what he had doesn’t work as such.

Of course, neither theory accounts for when Wendy sees the skeletons and the blood coming out of the elevator. Perhaps, it’s just that the hotel “Shines” so much that even she could see those things when in the proper state of terror?

One draw-back for me in this movie is that they used Timberline Lodge in all the establishing shots for the hotel—which were plentiful. So, every time I saw it, I was reminded that they weren’t really in Colorado in a deserted hotel—since Timberline Lodge is off a busy highway that passes over Mt. Hood in Oregon.

All in all, a great movie, that I enjoyed immensely.