Why I Love “The Shining”
A Halloween Movie Review by Victor DeBonis
The past few years have been a whirlwind and a time for many truths. One of the biggest truths I learned has been this: Prolonged isolation affects people in very unexpected ways. The world we all live in is a completely different one from before 2020 began, and we’re still having to cope with the numerous drastic side effects from being alone for so long.
I’m an introvert, and even I hold similar shock from observing what has happened as a result of everyone being by themselves for too long.
Similar to others, I find experiences of art as a way of attempting to grapple with all that has happened since the wild events from a few years ago and even those of the recent days in which I am writing this review.
In terms of isolation, specific films that I already loved take on a new level of appreciation and eeriness if they express the idea of being alone from others.
Within the realm of horror, John Carpenter’s version of “The Thing” holds a deeper sense of dread in addition to the scares and the sickly essence it upholds.
Stanley Kubrick’s cinematic version of “The Shining” also has a heightened sense of terror via embodying the presence of prolonged isolation, but it is meaningful to me in other ways as well.
I love the film because it is a prime example of breathtaking cinematography. John Alcott, a frequent collaborator with Kubrick, does stunning work here with widened areas of emptiness filling the void as lonesome characters type away or flock in terror in the middle of the screen. The cold colors, familiar in the director’s filmography, match perfectly with the uneasy atmosphere often portrayed in the director’s work. The steadily moving camerawork adds to the tension of what’s displayed, too, as though something haunting is moving along within the center of this terrifying place. Alcott’s work thickens the feelings of loneliness and vulnerability by providing a deep image trapping the characters at the center of this empty place, and it leads to one of the best looking horror movies ever made.
I love this movie because it is a home for two of the best performances in all of horror.
Jack Nicholson naturally established himself as a bigger name following his craft with this movie as he plays Jack Torrance. He is probably one of the prominent actors I have the most respect for in the craft. He can be bitter and playful in “The Last Detail” or sympathetic and humorously grumpy in “About Schmidt.” I try for the life of me to think of a role in which I didn’t see Nicholson as complex with what he was trying to convey and eager to see what he would do with his character, even in a movie lesser deserving of his talents.
While I still personally find his greatest performance to come from “Five Easy Pieces,” his other area of his finest work probably comes from “The Shining” in my view. As terrifying as he gets as the movie progresses, Nicholson wins the audience’s interest at the start with his calmness and his signature grin of his. I think Ebert once said that there was something about Nicholson that always made someone smile, and I believe there is truth to that. Consider how Nicholson leans forward in attention as the owner of the hotel shares the tragic story of the Overlook Hotel and maintains an assured tone and relaxed grin after everything he overhears. He understands the sheer terror of what he has learned about, but he maintains his sense of coolness without missing a beat. His arching eyebrows, almost raised to the height of a cartoon character, and increasingly smarmy attitude provide subtle bits of humor in this film slowly but surely increasing its petrifying feel.
By the time Nicholson embraces the murderous lunatic fully corrupted by the spell of the hotel (Or, maybe, it was there from the beginning, but it was only enhanced by being here for too long), he is seething with rage and a disturbing urge to destroy, but I find him fascinating. His widening eyes and disturbing way of moving around and swinging that ax leads to the creation of a movie monster who looks human, and, yet, there is still something humorous about him in the final images of this film.
Much like the animated Joker in various versions retelling Batman, particularly Hamill’s version, I find the humor and the horror of Nicholson’s character buried heavily within him and still making me eager to see every step of what happens next with him. Nicholson is part human, part cartoon, with his presence, and he gives plenty of entertainment and monstrosity to go around by merely being here and through his acting.
Shelley Duvall deserves as much recognition as Nicholson does, partly due to the difficult places she needs to emotionally navigate. As soft-spoken and terrified as she is, Duvall is smart about handling the monstrous person her husband becomes and loving with her son as she looks after him and protects him. And, as much credit as Nicholson receives for playing someone brimming with menace in the last act of the film, Duvall helps sell the terror with her stammers and the curling of her lips as she grapples with the immense horror of what her once-beloved has become. For all of her fright, she drives her ax and knife with defensive purpose and manages just enough speed to escape what is surrounding her.
In a year that has been back and forth, personally and on a greater scale, one of the hugest losses for the entertaining world for me was undoubtedly Shelley Duvall.
She was a lovely and talented presence who conveyed humanity and real character from her work with Robert Altman and other filmmakers.
Duvall helped lend magic to the live-action version of “Popeye,” made me believe how much she loved the titular hero, and made me want to see with great hope that she turned out fine by the end.
Her short yet heartfelt singing of “He Needs Me” is still one of the most romantic things I’ve ever seen in cinema.
And, Duvall’s devotion to the loving, frightened, quiet, steely nature of her character only feels more real and gripping for every time I return to this picture.
I love the movie for Kubrick’s direction. His powerful vision and his strong sense of atmosphere leaves an impressive mark with the visual wonder and sheer terror on display. It is even more impressive when considering the troubled production and the experiences taking place in what could’ve resulted in an uneven film. The well-known writer of the tome from which this movie was adapted, Stephen King (my favorite novelist of all time) has not held back from voicing his disdain for this adaptation. While I wouldn’t say that Kubrick’s movie necessarily does justice in translating the most important ideas of the book and can concur that it doesn’t quite succeed as an adaptation, I find the movie to stand alone more than well enough on its own as a simultaneously marvelous and chilling presence on its own terms.
And, Iastly, I love this movie for the themes brimming from it on its own. Before the events of 2020, the theme of intense isolation was already represented to an anxiety-inducing degree. Yet, living beyond it, seeing the madness and death and horror from what has happened in the year and following it, has only heightened the significance and eeriness of everything happening. That steady zoom in to Nicholson gaping wordlessly, those shots of the son pedaling for miles down that carpet, carry an additional feeling of impending doom because it has been realized what can happen in the world outside the screen from the extended sense of being alone from everyone for too long.
Fighting through the darkness, however, is the theme of motherhood. Again, Duvall’s passing led me to seek out this film again, and it is moving to witness her as Wendy Torrance, hugging her son close, providing words of comfort, speaking to her son’s psychiatrist with concern and hopefulness as she visits him for appointments. Scatman Crothers is charming and funny as the grandfatherly cook of the movie, but the real heart and soul of “The Shining” in my opinion, traces from Duvall as Wendy. For all of her fear and shyness in this film, Duvall looks after her son with undying love and is willing to battle the monster her husband has transformed into — despite her vivid terror — to escape with her life and protect her son.
Her moment of telling her son, Danny, to be calm and hugging and planting a kiss on his forehead before she goes down to check on her husband before the madness truly begins is a nice moment of peace and a moving moment displaying how much she loves him and wants him to be safe and survive this haunting place.
Seeing this moment caused me to miss this incredible talent all the more.
“The Shining” remains one of the great masterpieces in horror and in cinema, in general, and I love it for how strange, scary, and oddly moving and funny it is without missing a beat.
Its darkness and its power shines more as time passes not unlike any other great work of art.
Happy Halloween, everyone!
A+