The Shining (1980)

*SPOILER FREE

A Stanley Kubrick film again? Yes, forever, and ever, and ever... HERE'S JOHNNY!

After I watched my first film of his '2001: A Space Oddessy' I knew it then (and I am sure of it today) that I have just discovered an exceptional filmmaker, a cinematic genius, Stanley Kubrick. And I needed to explore his entire filmography. I enlisted his 13 genre-diverse features on my watch-list chronologically, except for number 11. It had to, for some mysterious reason, go last.

The Shining is psychological horror following aspiring writer Jack, his wife, Wendy, and young son, Danny, as they go to and stay at the isolated Overlook Hotel where Jack is hired as an off-season (winter) caretaker. Jack's sanity and mental health start to break down, due to the supernatural presence, and haunting past events in the hotel.

Crafting each scene, each shot to keep you hooked from its opening scene until the closing credits. Setting up a tone of tension and creepiness for the entire runtime of the film. Using color and symmetry very spectacularly. Hypnotizing you with tracking shots, eerie soundtrack, and breathtaking ambiguity wherever you look. This is a masterwork of terror and beauty combined.

While giving extra attention to the well-being of the child actor, not informing him that he was making a horror movie, and making it a fun and safe experience during shooting. Kubrick showed no sympathy to the adult actors. Pushing them to their limits, so harshly that actor Shelley Duvall, during and after betraying emotionally fragile wife, Wendy, suffered nervous breakdown due to the poor treatment she was getting that she no longer needed to represent a hysterical, terrified woman, she was genuinely one. Jack Nicholson was fed only the food he hated the most for two weeks to get him in the right agitated mood. Demanding a ridiculous number of re-takes for certain scenes, which had exhausted the leading actors physically and emotionally, to achieve his desired results. I was, honestly, never satisfied with the reported cruelty and abuse my favorite filmmaker had shown on set, but whatever he was trying to do, Stanley Kubrick succeeded.

Whether or not you are a fan of the genre, this work of genius is a must watch. Grab a drink, make sure there's at least one person in the next room (like I did), and let cinema shine over you.

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Available to watch on HBO Max, and on Amazon Prime Video

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