Dunkey: The Shining is one of cinema's most mysterious and haunting experiences.
It's a film that plays so well to wild, speculative theories
because it never shows its full hand.
Many horror movies feature these seemingly unstoppable monsters
but then there always comes that scene where they explain what it is-
You know, why it's killing people, how do you beat it?
and once they become this tangible thing-
They're never as scary anymore.
Though The Shining is meticulously littered with hints and clues towards the true nature of its intentions,
It can never be fully explained or understood.
"And you always fear, what you don't understand."
Dunkey: On the surface level, this film is about a writer and his family who move into this remote hotel
located in the mountains to take care of it over the winter.
Except-! Some time during their stay, he snaps and he tries to kill them.
Oh boy! Sounds simple, but it's not at all presented in such a clear-cut manner.
Did Jack Torrance plan to murder his family all along?
Or was he possessed by some evil force within the hotel?
When does he actually snap?
Is this movie about European settlers, slaughtering the Native Americans?
Is this movie about how Kubrick faked the moon landing?
Is this movie about Hitler's final solution?
Are the events witnessed in the film actually the events of Jack's novel that he successfully publishes?
There are so many paths and threads to follow-
that you've just become lost in this hypnotic maze of thoughts and ideas.
[Haunting, melodic music plays]
One of the most terrifying elements of this movie is how it so realistically envelops
the viewer into this scenario of domestic abuse.
Wendy and Danny are snowbound in this isolated location with Jack-
just as many women and children are trapped in these horrible abusive relationships.
As a spectator, of course you say, "What are you doing?"
You know, "Get out of there! Get out!", but in real life things are never that simple.
"You've had your whole FUCKING LIFE to think things over!"
"What good's a few minutes more gonna do you now!?"
Dunkey: The Holocaust. The Native American genocide. Slavery.
All of this wickedness is in the past,
Yet we still feel its reverberations today.
"White man's burden, Lloyd my man, white man's burden."
Just as horror movies provide this thrill-ride sense of escapism,
Perhaps the apparitions Danny sees in the hotel are simply figments of his imagination
To distract him from the very real things happening all around him.
This concept of an invisible, looming evil is deeply disturbing.
You have the scene where he's typing his novel, which is unbearably tense,
when you actually know what Jack is typing there and you see Wendy walking towards him.
And she's so sweet in this movie, and so oblivious to what's happening right in front of her.
Jack: "Hi."
The Shining is more interested in concepts and images than flimsy jump scares.
The camera sticks to Danny, as he explores the Overlook Hotel's labyrinthine design.
Allowing your mind to wander as you gaze into this impenetrable, supernatural place.
You start building this familiarity with the hotel's cryptic layout,
while your imagination fills its empty rooms with dark foreboding thoughts.
Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd, Scatman Crothers, Barry Nelson, Joe Terkel, Phillip Stone.
Every single role, it's just perfectly casted here.
"You don't try and photograph the reality."
"You try and photograph the photograph of the reality."
Dunkey: Everything the characters are going through is internalized.
You know, it's psychological,
So to balance this, you have this maniacally expressive performance by Jack Nicholson.
He's able to convey so much with his face alone,
that you can't take your eyes off him for a second.
We can't always see this faceless evil manipulating Jack,
but... maybe, we can hear it.
[Droning organ music]
Right from the opening scene, this creepy electronic organ suggests a sinister force
lurking above us microscopic humans who are helpless to fight back,
almost as if the trees themselves are scheming against us.
Kubrick, having been a huge fan of David Lynch's "Eraserhead"
employs a similar technique of a droning, ominous soundtrack.
Filling the air with dread, never allowing the audience to breathe.
The hotel seduces Jack with a relieving melody, while transforming the image of his loving family
into this horrible oppressive noise.
Then, this fucking avant-garde nightmare orchestra starts stabbing at you with violins.
Jus-
J-Just get out!
WHAT'RE YOU DOING!?
GET OUTTA HERE!
C'MON
GET OUT!
Dunkey: And then it's over.
You're left with this final lingering shot of the hallway leading to the Gold Room,
which we've gone past so many times in the film.
and you see a wall, populated with black and white photographs from a different time.
and in the center of them...
A lively party.
And in the front of a sea of people...
Jack Torrance, inviting us in. Dated July 4th, 1921.
The answer to the riddle, hidden in plain sight.
[Outro music]