Stanley Kubrick
The Shining

Like the United States of America, the Overlook Hotel embodiment of evil, was built on violence, erected on an Indian cemetery and is perceived as the personification of sins that occurred in the past.

To regain the tranquility needed to write his new novel, Jack Torrance, a writer in a creative crisis, considers the idea of working as a caretaker in an uninhabited hotel during the winter months, in the mountains of Colorado. The hotel's manager explains the tasks he must perform, then feels obliged to inform him of an incident that happened in past years… the caretaker Charles Grady, massacred his family and killed himself by shooting himself in the head. Jack accepts the job and moves with his family into the luxurious hotel. His wife Wendy is enthusiastic, much less so his son Danny. The chef Dick shows Wendy and Danny the kitchen and pantry, then finds an excuse to remain alone with the child, to reveal to him that he too possesses the power of "Shining", a talent he has also recognized in Danny, a power that allows for insight into the past and the future, informing the child about the horrors already occurred in that place and the ones to come. Danny asks him what happened in room 237; disturbed, Dick absolutely forbids him from entering that room.

"The Shining" is not an action film, the film reexamines the rules of horror, with unprecedented narrative clarity. What initially seems like a typical psycho thriller gradually unveils the psychological changes in Jack and the horrific visions of Danny, depicted by large amounts of blood flooding the hotel's corridor, and continuous visions of two chilling girls. At a time when films with little substance, such as "Dressed to Kill," which is nothing but a poor imitation of Psycho, were successful, Kubrick rejects butcher-shop-like violence, but bets on our primal fears, which subtly infiltrate our consciousness. In this way, the tension never wanes, and the director manages to capture the audience's attention scene after scene, leading to the total and complete captivation of the viewer, who follows step by step the madness slowly creeping into the writer's mind.

The film reaches its true dimension of psycho horror only later, firstly when Jack goes to the hotel's hall, goes to the bar, and is served by an impeccable bartender, with whom he chats amiably. Even more so, when he returns to the crowded hall and a waiter stains his jacket. In the bathroom, as he's cleaning, Jack recognizes him as Charles Grady, the caretaker who exterminated his family. I noted a part of the conversation between the two which I find significant… Jack: Mr. Grady, I know that you were the caretaker of the hotel. Grady: I'm sorry to contradict you, but you are the caretaker of the hotel, you've always been the caretaker, I know because I've always been here. You must know, Mr. Torrance, that your son is doing everything possible to insert an external element into this situation, did you know? He further adds… Your son has secret powers, I believe you don’t know how many he has, but you see, he is trying to use these powers against you, do you understand? Jack: He is a very willful child. Grady: Indeed he is, Mr. Torrance, he is very willful, your son, and he is also, if I may say so, a bit of a mischief-maker. Jack: It's his mother, she's meddling. Grady: Perhaps a word with her is in order, if I might suggest, and maybe more than one. My daughters didn't like the Overlook Hotel initially, one of them even stole a box of matches and tried to set it on fire. But I corrected them both, and when my wife interfered with my duty, I corrected her too.

From this moment on, the events unfold at a frantic pace, reality and hallucination are no longer distinguishable. It's unclear whether Jack is a victim of a form of schizophrenia, which he couldn't control due to his failures and isolation in the hotel, leading him to fantasize and converse with imaginary people, gradually identifying with the murderous caretaker. Or are there spirits roaming the hotel, representations of an evil force pervading the hotel ever since it was built on the Indian cemetery? Souls that find no peace and were also responsible for the bloody massacre that occurred years earlier? The definitive proof that Jack is irretrievably lost comes when Wendy, looking through her husband's manuscripts, discovers hundreds of pages obsessively repeating a single phrase: "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." She shows unsuspected strength of mind when the man discovers her, and threatened, she manages to knock her husband out by hitting him with a baseball bat. She locks him in the pantry, and the fate of the woman and her son seems to turn in their favor, but a twist changes the course of the film, Grady frees the writer from the storeroom. This raises the question: Is Grady real, or a product of a deranged mind? In my opinion, it’s better to let the questions remain and enjoy the film, because to every thesis, an equally valid antithesis can be posed. The most famous scene of the film follows, with the furious Jack, played by a highly theatrical Nicholson, hacking with an axe to enter the room where Wendy has barricaded herself.

A breathtaking sequence that is already cinema history, Shelley Duvall, hidden behind the door, offers an exceptional portrayal of terror, then, despite everything, manages to wound Jack in the hand when he is about to enter. Meanwhile, the head cook, Dick, "called" by Danny, is arriving on a snow cat; we place our hopes in him to resolve the situation, but he is struck down with the axe by Jack, who, having heard him arrive, was waiting hidden behind a column. The film finds resolution in the labyrinth in front of the hotel, covered by a thick layer of snow. Wounded and limping, Jack tries to reach Danny, to "punish him, thus doing his duty." However, the boy manages to lose his tracks using a technique in which the Indians were masters. The following morning Jack is found dead from exposure. Accompanied by period music, the final shot gently zooms in on an old photo of a 1921 ballroom party, in which Jack Torrance can be seen smiling.