Four out of Four Stars
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When you think of The Shining, what first comes to mind? Is
it the mass genocide of Native Americans, the Apollo Moon landing, or Jack
Nicholson smashing in a door shouting “Here’s Johnny”? Most of you would think
of the third example, but to the commentators/die-hard fans of The Shining,
there is more to the picture than meets the eye in the documentary Room 237. Directed by Rodney Ascher, the
film is a series of clips of The Shining narrated by five fans of the film and
talk about their first time seeing the film, as well as dissect Stanley Kubrick’s
horror classic.
The
theories posed by the five commentators, who we do not see throughout the documentary,
are wild and unique since Kubrick was infamous for his obsessive compulsive eye
for detail and did not reflect the details over his films during interviews
leaving many forms of speculation. One
of the commentators shows two copies of the film; a copy being played from beginning
to end and another copy being played from the end of the film to the beginning
to point out the connection between Hitler and Jack Nicholson’s character. Another
commentator discusses how The Shining is an overarching metaphor over the
slaughter of Native Americans based on the décor of the Overlook Hotel, its
history of being built during an attack by Native Americans, and how native American
symbols can be seen during the shining sequence between Danny (Danny Lloyd) and
Dick Halloran (Scatman Crothers).
Some
of the theories go beyond the pale of rational fact, yet the speculation into a
film that Kubrick rarely commented on makes the documentary a worthwhile watch
for anyone who loves The Shining, or is fascinated in film studies as BBC film
critic Mark Kermode gave Room 237 its
subtitle, “How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Film Studies.”
