Some documentaries - called "essays" - contradict the assumption that the world can be known in a definitive way. The "essay" film shifts the focus from the end product of the investigative effort to the process by which knowledge is created. To speak metaphorically, it is the movement, not the destination, that matters the most.
Consider this as you watch Rodney Ascher's fascinating 2012 film Room 237 on Netflix Instant. What specifically about the story - poetically or otherwise - resonated with you? Is the film dramatic? Is it poetic? One thing's for sure: Ascher's film draws attention not only to the various theories and hidden meanings in Stanley Kubrick's The Shining but goes further to reveal the subjectivity of the documentary maker and the subjective nature of knowledge and understanding itself.
I look forward to reading your answers to those questions, along with the rest of your comments, here (and on Moodle) by Tuesday morning at 9 am.
Coming from the point of view of someone who has never seen The Shining, the first 40 minutes or so of this documentary were just a little confusing. I had to catch up on the actual story line of the movie along with the hypothetical story lines being presented to me. After I got passed the confusion though, I found room 237 to be very fascinating and eye-opening.
ReplyDeleteIn particular the guy who made all the connections to the falsification of the moon landing footage really resonated with me because I have always heard conspiracy theories about the moon landing but never actually thought they had any substance to them. Another theory that stuck with me was the idea that The Shining should be watched backwards and forwards. When they showed how certain images and scenes lined up, my mouth kind of dropped open in awe. This documentary showed me a way of looking at films that I had never considered before.
I had never really heard of any double meanings in films that I took seriously but for some reason the people interviewed for this film had me thinking on such a deeper level about the movies I’ve seen through out my life. I have always been one to point out continuity errors but this doc had me thinking that maybe some of them were meant to be there and are trying to unconsciously tell us something. This doc was going way beyond simple symbolism of colors and double meanings of phallic symbols; it was showing us filmmakers can tell you a completely different story through the use of posters, branding on cans, and continuity errors.
Something that was interesting about this film was the use of actual movie footage as the backdrop instead of showing the interviewees’ faces. It was sometimes difficult to keep track of what movie they were using but I think the overall effect was definitely impactful. It made this more of a dramatic film rather than a documentary.
Directed by Rodney Ascher, “Room 237” is a documentary exploring subliminal messages in Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 film “The Shining.” Stanley Kubrick’s film and Stephen King’s Novel both terrified people. In Colorado, Stephen King got the idea of the Shining by spending time at the Stanley Hotel. I do not like how director Stanley Kubrick switched certain details of scenes from the Novel to the film. If Stanley Kubrick wrote his own Novel with an original idea, then it would not be ridiculous if he switched details for the film.
ReplyDeleteWhen “The Shining” was released in Europe, it terrified people. There was re-enactments in the film where Bill Blake is standing outside, watching an advertisement of “The Shining” through a window. From the calming background music at the beginning, the film favored my interest. What was pathetic to me, was Bill remembering the exact seat he sat in when he watched “The Shining” for the first time. He failed to read the Novel before the film, which takes away from the self-made imagination built by the author Stephen King. I thought that by Bill not reading the Novel before the movie was not a rational idea.
Bill was stunned when “The Shining ended, and was confused about what the film was entirely about. He figured that there were subliminal messages in the film, and studied the visual images on multiple occasions. Narrator, Bill spoke about how the genocide of American Indians were secretly placed in the films. A single “Calumet Baking Soda” can in “The Shining” showed an image of a red Indian. Another scene showed more of the same cans turned different directions and were placed behind the actor Jack Nicholson.
Objects, colors, and music were all an intentional choice for Stanley Kubrick to keep the audience watching. Characters were walking and communicating backwards in “The Shining.” The Shining would make people feel like they missed hidden messages that involves the Holocaust. It was interesting to see the opinions on subliminal messages in the film. Also, there was a German brand typewriter in the film. The number “42” was placed on the shirt of child star Danny Lloyd, which was explained to represent the Holocaust. In 1942, the Nazi’s made the unforgiving decision to exterminate as many Jews as they could.
It was said that Stanley read the book, “The Destruction of the European Jews,” as said by the narrator. Stanley Kubrick used his intelligence in order to secretly place self-desired symbolisms in his film. I eventually grew tired from hearing the subliminal talks about objects disappearing during scenes and a characters traveling on the movie set in the form of various shapes. At the beginning of “The Shining,” what appears like a face can be seen in the clouds, but it was incredibly hard to see. In the scene where the day Thursday shows, Jack has an expression, which looks like a minotaur. Stanley changed the room number “217” from the Novel to “237” because the moon distance from the Earth is 237,000 miles. It is believed that Stanley read a book on “Subliminal Seduction,” which is like poetry if some people are willing to “hypnotize" their audience.
This documentary had no right or wrong, nor any start to finish idea. It covered a few different ideas and theories, but there was none that was deemed the most factual or the “right one”. It left you with a lot to think about and a decision that you have to make on your own. I suppose that aspect in itself is a bit poetic. It wasn’t like a documentary where this is the idea presented, and this is the feeling and opinion it wants to leave you with. You got to make choices in what you believe and what seems untrue to you. Not all these theories could be true, so what theory makes the most sense to you, if any at all? There is the possibility that it all sounds improbable to you, so there are lots of different things that you can get out of this film. Some people might find it a joke, other’s enlightening, and there are many different reasons why it could be enlightening to you.
ReplyDeleteThe film is absolutely dramatic. There were many times where the movie had me thinking “are you kidding me?” but it had me thinking because it was so dramatic. It’s interesting to think about what is done in a film to get a point across and what is done to possessive a possible deeper meaning to the viewer? I think it’s truly artistic to be able to convey ideas and thoughts in nonliteral ways. So all these different ideas presented in this film, though most seem improbable to me, make me view the movie in a more artistic way and think about what other deeper meanings I can get from other films. This also ties into my love for experimental film, which I suppose this documentary would be considered. I love the artistic value that comes from things when they carry an idea that is thought provoking and emotional.
Unlike the documentaries thus far, this one was subjective in that it wasn’t trying to necessarily convince you of anything other than the fact that Kubrick is a genius and that any art form, in this case film, is open to the viewer’s interpretation. I thought it was poetic in this aspect. I like the ways people really dove into the movie, in some cases even when they didn’t particularly like the film. The experimental side, playing the projection in reverse over the original was really awesome and spoke to the overall theme of the movie. The theme that I picked up on is that we all take our own knowledge and ideas to works of art and get slightly different reactions and conclusions to it.
ReplyDeleteI did enjoy this film. I like that the director was subjective and relatively uninvolved, and he chose characters who clearly had a passion for film and the knowledge to back up their Shining theories. Someone somewhere in the film said there is probably countless other hidden meanings that someone will find while watching the Shining, and whether or not Kubrick intentionally put all these things into place doesn’t matter, they are there.
It was a weird coincidence that I was also assigned to watch Room 237 for my production design class. I had to watch it twice, once with this assignment in mind and again to catch more details dealing with the set and production. I can’t believe how many conversations have been opened about the Shining. Stanley Kubrick is clearly a genius, and I think the filmmaker of Room 237 really captured this without talking directly about Kubrick all that much. I loved this film.
Wow, alright. This was my favorite documentary we have watched so far, and simultaneously one I have the hardest time taking seriously. The music, the transitions, it’s the same set up of The Shinning. A movie which I saw years ago at a Halloween party. Released in the 80’s and supported by much popularity, we knew it was a classic horror, so we put it in the video player. However, the “horror” movie was anything but to the group of teenagers in the dark basemented home theatre. It was just stupid. Slight build-up then an hour and a half of mundane suspense and a weird naked lady, which was neither scary or haunting, and then finally, an over-drawn chase sequence. The last 10ish minutes of the movie, with Jack chasing his son, and then, nothing. The little hope that we had for the movie redeeming itself was gone in our eyes and we turned it off, disappointed. Now, six or seven years later, on assignment, I am given to watch this documentary, a critical analysis of The Shinning.
ReplyDeleteThe whole film had a rather “literature analysis” feel. As if this movie was one of Shakespeare’s plays full of hidden meaning and purposeful description and metaphor. I always enjoyed english classes for that exact reason. Finding meaning in art— interpreting it. However, what I always hated was those folks who said, oh, good ol’ Shaky he used RED roses to signify death because red is the color of hate and Hamlet hates blah blah blah. Sure, sometimes I agree, things are purposeful on purpose, but sometimes red is just red. It’s just a color. It’s not love or hate or death or Elmo.
This Documentary, which at first presents just what an english class does, an essayed overview of a piece of art. And films are just that, as one of the Doc’s interviewees stated, Some films are supposed to stimulate you mentally, be intellectually challenging, and even poetic. But, to me at least, this doc strayed from that purpose with all the possible explanations. The explanations that were put forward so confidently. The ideas that this movie was not a horror movie. It was so much more, the theatrics were just an excusable cover. The Shining was about the Holocaust, the massacre of the american Indians, greek mythology, the director’s evolvement in the Moon Landing forgery. My general interest which was at first peaked— especially at mention of subliminal messages, and the bit about our acceptance as movie goers of the visual information presented to us along side our oblivious ignorance— turned to hysterical amusement as the list of ridiculous accusations accumulated. The movie turned into a slide show of conspiracy theories, all more outlandish than the next. As a Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy fan I ran my own faux conspiracy up against the Holocaust advocates. The number 42 appearing so many times through out the film, well that wasn’t reference to the year 1942, no, it was a reference to 42 the answer, the meaning of life!
This film is very dramatic, with its suspense sound track playing in the back. However, more over, since the film never truly distinguishes one true explanation of what The Shinning meant, the whole movie becomes poetic. No one knows what The Shinning meant, or if it meant anything at all, but as Human beings we desire meaning, and when we are not presented with the answers to our questions we create some for ourselves. Beautifully put by a woman in the Doc, “things start to mean something to you after continued viewings”. That line made me think of a quote I read awhile back, which funnily enough was about the nature of quotations. “Maybe our favorite quotations say more about us than about the stories and people we're quoting,” and to me, that’s what this Doc’s point really was. We define what things mean, we define what message The Shinning communicates just as we define what this Doc was about.
After watching “Room 237” and observing what I saw and heard, I have come to a conclusion that, just like a poem, “The Shining” is like a labyrinth; once you pick a way to go, it only leads you to another. With poems, there is usually always more than one theme or inference that readers make upon finishing. It is the same with “The Shining.” The more you look into the movie to try and decode it, you find another clue or reference to something else. All of this is very subjective. Someone who has studied the Holocaust could pick up on things in the movie that point towards this idea compared to someone who hasn’t studied it. It’s all about our past experiences, which is what “The Shining” is really about. Like one of the men who is being interviewed in “Room 237” about “The Shining” said, “this is a movie about how the past impinges and how not be a victim of history.” My main argument stands, though, that “The Shining” is indeed similar to a labyrinth, like the one in the film. It seems that no matter how hard you try to understand or figure out something, it only leads you deeper. That, I believe, is what made “Room 237” poetic. It showed “The Shining” in all it’s glory in a way that read like a poem. You can pick and choose what inferences resonate with you, or you can simply create theories based on your observations alone. “Room 237” and “The Shining” itself, along with most great poems, leave you guessing; they leave you wanting to explore more.
ReplyDeleteRoom 237
ReplyDeleteThis was by far one of the most unique documentaries I have ever seen. When I began to watch, and the filmmaker began to use clips from other films with the audio of the interviewees, I was immediately thrown off. It was definitely an artistic way to convey the opinions of the people that were interviewed.
The thought that kept running through my mind about the interviewees were they were so similar to the Mel Gibson character in Conspiracy Theory, that they all had so many different conspiracies about this film that were quite compelling but they were just that, conspiracies. Although I do agree that Stanley Kubrick has a very unique way of telling a story and it seems he has a very specific thought process to everything that is included in his films, I’m not sure about all of the ideas that the interviewees brought up were potentially what Kubrick was trying to convey. Some of them back stories I could totally get behind, but some were so far fetched they seemed unbelievable.
The aesthetics of this film were confusing at times, as the multiple different clips from all the various films that were put with the dialogue that didn’t always match, but it definitely was poetic. Despite it’s artistic form of storytelling, there were some compelling parts of Room 237 that were interesting, like the various discrepancies with the missing chair from the two cuts, the color of the typewriter, and Dopey on the door. All in all, this documentary is a great example of artistic poetic expression in documentary.
I tend to be very skeptic about conspiracy theories like the ones that are presented in this doc. One that I could really grab on to for some reason is the Apollo 11 filming interpretation. I have always been suspicious about how the filming of the first moon landing and the information helped affirm my suspicion. I feel like for anyone to be that intentional you would have to be a genius and have spent so much time reshaping the original story to fit your themes. I think many of the claims made by the interviewees were them reaching, especially the woman interviewee. Her rant about the Minotaur, and her son’s drawing really left me feeling as if she was not credible.
ReplyDeleteI think the film is very dramatic. Even in the way it was produced was full of drama for me. The use of stock footage, the use of Kubrick’s footage, and the fact that they repeated footage over was quite exquisite. Every interviewee went through a similar visual narrative while they explained the experience of the first time they saw, “The Shining”.
I haven’t checked online but I feel as if the claims in this movie could be a farce, all for nothing, or just for the sake of giving people something to talk about. It only takes a few people to spearhead something like this then it goes viral. I think when interpretations are presented like this many people will take it as truth because they are looking for things to believe in. I think it’s a part of our make up to want something to believe in. This gives people an option to join a, “secret society” almost.
Poetic would not necessarily be a word I use to describe this film. Not because it’s not a poem, because I think “2001: A Space Odyssey” is poetic. I think the research, and attention to detail is admirable. The critique of, “The Shining” was one I particularly enjoyed. The metaphoric presence that was enough to make Stephen King become upset is something I admire.
I had Room 237 queued up on my Netflix already, so when it was this weeks documentary I was very excited to finally getting around to watching it. I had written a paper once on the hidden meanings through set design in The Shinning, so this topic very much already sparked my interest. It was nice having the information laid out for me in one spot instead of researching because you can see the examples being played before you instead of just still photos. It was more impactful with this approach.
ReplyDeleteI only began to realize half way through the documentary that they weren’t showing the typical “talking head” interviewees, and I wondered if I was lacking anything by not getting to see them presented before me. I then decided that it would take me out of the steady flow of information, and that was the point of having an essay style documentary.
I wouldn’t say Room 237 was poetic. I’ve seen documentaries that I believed to be straight poems, but this didn’t strike me as such. Do I think The Shinning is poetic? Yes and no. I think there is truth and reason and substance behind everything in the production design. I think consciously the design was meticulously thought through, because after all, great directors are exploring ideas and messages artistically, rather than just purely entertaining. Kubrick is a genius and whether some of these things were accidental or purposeful there is still a strong intuitive backing to this film intended or not.
People will always find meaning even where there was no meaning intended, but that’s the wonder and beauty of art. We find messages that speak to something bigger than maybe the original intent, just like they said in the film, the meaning of the a film doesn’t end at what the director was trying to convey. I do think The Shinning speaks to all things brought up in Room 237 if not more. Nothing in production design is ever just put in arbitrarily.
After having watched Room 237 once before by recommendation, I have to say that I enjoyed it even more the second time around. The first time I saw it, I was extremely skeptical of some of the filmmaker’s choices in utilizing film footage from Kubrick’s other works in delineating his analysis of The Shining. It came off as distracting, and felt that it would deviate from the initial focus of the film, itself. Plus, I personally wasn’t too familiar with most of Kubrick’s other films at the time, so it took me some time to discern the relevance of some of the footage. But after that clicked for me, and I began to get sucked in by the enthralled voices of the various interviewees, everything about The Shining, and more specifically Kubrick himself, came together for me in an exhilarating way. Aside from the fact that I am easily fascinated by conspiracy theories, and revel in finding hidden clues in the hopes of solving one great big puzzle, I appreciated the filmmaker’s tactics in blending archival footage with the artistic medium of the cinema in order to highlight the patterns of influence between art and life, itself. After all, so much of what is revealed about The Shining deals with our own suppressed acknowledgment of the many dark realities presented in human history, whether that be genocide, war, deceitful politics, and even our own repressed sexualities as human beings. This film challenges us, not only to think more critically about what we already know, but enlightens us to our ignorance by drawing direct comparison to familiar imagery linked to less equivocal sentiment. The director’s choice in obtaining sound from the film’s musical score, as well as omitting the faces of the interviewees only further serves to that effect of complete absorption to the cinematic world. This film irrefutably establishes, through its extensive analysis, that The Shining surpasses the magnitude of your average horror film, through its many possible references to much more significant subjects. And although the film never arrives at one definitive conclusion about the meaning behind The Shining, it almost bears no relevance to the film’s sense of authority because every one of these theories is exceptionally and thoroughly supported, that we accept them all as possible truths. If anything, the subjective nature of it all makes it all the more enticing, because you are left eager to search for more clues and perhaps discover yet another possible thematic link to this classic piece of horror cinema, all your own.
ReplyDeleteI love these sorts of films that explore deeper meanings and different interpretations. I was not disappointed to find a right answer to these Shining theories.
ReplyDeleteI think this is more of a dramatic film. The way the eerie music is used throughout and the shocking opinions the narrators reveal really struck me with interest and awe.
The documentary did a nice job shifting from opinion to opinion. I feel that each opinion was presented in a way to not overwhelm me as a viewer. Some theories were longer than others. I feel that none of the theories were too long and I wasn’t forced into believing any of them. This film brought out many interpretations of people and they were all fascinating to hear about. Although I wish the “Mastermind” did not decline to interview. That was the only let down. I can’t wait to see Ascher’s next film.
This film blew my mind, and Im not sure if it was good or bad. For the first half of the film I was very confused because I have never seen The Shining, and after watching this film Im not too sure I want to watch it. After hearing the different theories about this film and seeing the clips referenced from those different perspectives, I don't think I could watch the film without having those theories in mind.
ReplyDeleteThis doc was definitely one of the most interesting films we've watched this semester. I never thought I'd see a doc without talking heads or b-roll footage of the people being interviewed. I've always been fascinated with people who obsess over a certain thing whether it's a film like The Shining or a TV show like The Walking Dead, and those people have the ability to pick out the super tiny details, and easter eggs, then share those with their friends who also are obsessed. There are so many people like this, that by not including the talking heads the viewer can easily place themselves in the shoes of the interviewee.
In classes before we talked about how we expect (or at least hope) that a documentary will educate or inform us or try to persuade us to pick a side on the subject presented. In this doc we are given so many different theories and we never get an answer of which is the right theory or which one is complete crap, and because Kubrick was not interviewed in the film we will never know.
I was pretty disappointed by this film. A quarter of the way through the film I realized that I was no longer interested. When I heard the title and read a brief summary of “Room 237”, I was intrigued and became somewhat excited when the film was assigned in class, but as the film continued to drag on I began to lose focus. The concept of the film was still able to keep me interested but the use of footage from other films, mainly Stanley Kubrick’s own films, seemed to slow the pace of the documentary. However using this technique rather than showing the face of each person being interviewed kept an overall dramatic feel throughout the film that I’m not sure if I liked or not. I have no idea of what was going on with the music. At times the music seemed way more intense then necessary, and felt like it was out of place. It was kind of distracting while I was trying to hear what these mysterious commentators were saying about their opinions of the hidden meanings found within “The Shining”. It was also difficult to keep track of who was speaking at times and the audio was mixed in a way that made the direction of the film seem confusing.
ReplyDeleteThe many theories that were presented in the film were very out there for the most part but I usually find most hidden meaning theories to be fascinating because I just like the idea of locating hidden messages that can be found by simply viewing an object, a photograph, or even a film. If there was one good thing that I took away from this film it was the information that the film included about Stanley Kubrick’s filmmaking and some of the things that really set him apart from other filmmakers like his incredible attention to detail. The title of the documentary doesn’t really fit now that I have seen the film in its entirety because they don’t even mention room 237 until the second half of the film which was kind of off-putting. The first half was kind of hard to understand because the descriptions of the various theories that have little to no correlation with one another leads the audience in no particular direction.
I absolutely loved this film! The way the story was told was entertaining. It was interesting and refreshing to view a documentary that wasn't in the same usual documentary format. I liked how in some parts, the interviewees voices were paired with other Kubrick films. It was also kind of funny to hear one of the subject's children crying and he had to go calm him down and then he came right back to talking.
ReplyDeleteAt first I was a little skeptical because I was going to be watching a film about a film and how fun could that be right? Well, from Room 237 it was! For one thing, I appreciated the fact that it wasn't trying to persuade me of anything. I could just really sit and enjoy a film. Two, the different opinions and views from the interviewees were so interesting and compelling I literally went to watch "The Shining" again so I could really see what they were talking about. Three, I realized how much of an artistic genius Stanley Kubrick rely was. His attention to the little things and his in depth research on a site and his reasons for setting a scene as he did was just magnificent!
Usually when I hear "critics" discuss little things about a film such as a blue chair and them saying it represents something like 1,000 oppressed cows, I'll just roll my eyes and think "it's not that deep." However, it was different with this film because they gave a little background of Kubrick and so when they would give their opinion on why they felt a chair placement was significant, it actually made sense.
This film, especially for it not to have any physical subjects presented, was pretty dramatic. The music score really help set the tone for "suspense" if the interviewees were talking about something really intense. Also the passion behind the voices of the subjects help portray the drama even more because what seems like a pretty simple matter was made into something bigger because of how the subjects expressed themselves.
All in all I really did like this film because it was just something different and while being different it was still interesting. I will definitely look at The Shining differently from now on.
"Room 237" has left me bewildered about perception, truths within truths, and conspiracy. This is my third time viewing the film and all I can think is these people have way too much time on their hands. A healthy obsession is good every once in awhile but to obsess over a "horror" film directed by Stanley Kubrick is where the edge of insanity falls.
ReplyDeleteI felt like all the people being interviewed had their perspectives woven carefully to craft a convincing portrayal of the theories being presented. The film does a fantastic job at pulling you into the insanity of mind games and illusions. "The Shining" starts to become this cryptic puzzle to the viewer. It's this thrill from wanting to solve the mystery which makes the film successful. The film feels very dramatic in this way and it heightens your senses to keep you on your toes for whats next.
I feel "Room 237" gets away with some more outlandish theories by presenting ones with more factual consensus. I had an easier time believing some theories more than others, but by the end of the film I'm left in a haze just wondering with a blank expression. I end up not really knowing what to think other than trusting what I know from "The Shining."
What I use to think of "The Shining" before watching "Room 237" was this odd horror masterpiece. Now the whole film is sort of this enigma. The things I thought I knew I didn't know, and the things I didn't know I knew. The whole experience made me feel like agent Moulder in an episode of the X-files, and like the end of each episode your left wondering if it was real or just coincidence.
I credit my lack film knowledge to my parents, I’m not sure why but they never showed me any movies that are stunningly artistic or different. I didn’t hear about Kubrick until I was about seventeen. So my knowledge on the shining or any of his other films was slim.
ReplyDeleteI consider myself a very gullible person so when people say anything that logically makes sense I’m the first one to agree with them, I honestly think that may be why I’m so into documentaries. That is beside the point though. Since I believe pretty much everything I hear I LOVED room 237, maybe that’s naive of me to say but most all of the theories made sense to me. I considered the possibility that maybe Kubrick intentionally put ALL of those messages into the shining, which is scary to even begin to think about, but it could be true.
Room 237 was really good about using footage of the shining to help visually explain the different theories. Without that footage pretty much no one would have any idea what parts of the shining they were talking about. I felt that room 237 had a message in itself as a movie. Room 237 used all the hypotheses about the shining to explain not only peoples passions for the shining and Kubrick as an artist but the genius that is Stanley Kubrick. Even if you don’t agree with all of the individual theories you can see how they were fully thought through and you can see how they have potential to be true. Even if you’re a skeptical person room 237 makes you acknowledge that Kubrick has (had) the potential to have put that much thought into the shining. This movie is poetic to me because they don’t spoon feed you the message, or the message as I see it. You have to pay attention, you have to think about it. Just like everyone interviewed in that movie had to think about the shining.
I feel like Rm 237 has this consistent dream mystery element. This element is illustrated through the complex audio, voice-over, and narration choices. This dreamy feeling is perpetuated by the different tones, saturation levels, and intensities of color in the different types of scenes. The historical art scenes, flashback scenes, and vivid green bathroom scenes all tied tied together with this stale, dusty appearance to making cohesive imaging throughout, and being tied together with careful sound choices.
ReplyDeleteThe music in the beginning felt kind of "rockbandish" to me. I find it ironic that even his happy music had elements of mystery that kind of gave off creepy vibes.The happiest music of all was what played during the end credits where he let the last credit shots transition from top to bottom of the screen, instead of the more common bottom to top transition. I like the strong transition choices of this film and how he explains the the cinematography.
I liked the fictional looking shot of the mountain and the sky. The fact that this shot was intended to fool us into thinking it's real, makes it dramatic and poetic. After this shot, the director stated how he definitely did some airbrushing. This makes me feel that he foresaw that potential obstacle of viewer's abilities to tell it's not real, but still decided to leave it in because of the weight of it's significance.
Also interesting was the unique transition between several scenes going on simultaneously. There was a specific transitioning sequence between a scene of pyramids with a guy that appears to be working outdoors, then a chessboard image begins to fade into the frame, which later reveals the the same image of the same guy, working in like an office building lobby or something.
I liked how he compared the Shining as being a place from which to desire to venture out, and Rm 237 as being the place in which you'd want to travel through the walls to solve the feeling of mystery you get at this place. He sums up this comparison by touching on how he breaks his maze and gets his way out of things by retracing his steps...in other words......going back out in the same ways he came in.
I definitely watched a way longer version of this film then I was supposed to because I rented it from a movie store and it was two disks instead of just one.
ReplyDeleteI was so excited to watch this! I am a huge fan of The Shining and I’m also a big sucker for the hidden messages within films.
I thought this film was both dramatic and poetic. In some ways I thought this film was dramatic because in a way it almost mocks itself. I accidentally watched a version of this film that was twice as long. But the second disk was just more theories. The reason I say it almost mocks itself is because it's like here is a theory, and heres another one, oh and one more, and it just keeps going. It just throws them all at you. And then in the end the reality is that it could be any number of the possibilities , it could be one, or it could be none of them. Which as most good documentaries do raises more questions for me then answers again.
But I also say that it’s poetic because the nature of the film is hidden messages. There is always something poetic about the messages that lie underneath the surface. It is why so many people love to analyse film, books, music or poetry. It’s art within the art. It’s a more real exploration of the creator's mind than the surface art itself. No matter what theory you decided seems the most plausible to you , any way you turn you are deeper into the mind of Stanley Kubrick and that’s pretty poetic.