The Shining, the scariest horror movie of all time? Every growing generation of moviegoers is faced with this question again, which arises above all because the film adaptation of Stephen King’s novel happens to be so dominant, some would say: so important. However, it’s not a thrill and unexpectedly there are very few scary scenes. Rather, the film, with its labyrinthine storytelling and crushing presence of space, sound, light and entangled characters, proceeds in the same way as Jack Torrance – as if he were swinging an ax at the screen in a frenzy.
Let’s agree on something else: Stanley Kubrick’s idiosyncratic take on the subject is perhaps one of the greatest horror films. Because he has produced his own myth about himself, because he doesn’t fill the genre with life by using his mechanisms, but by mercilessly revealing them.
Anyone who has not already gone on a scavenger hunt for the countless levels of meaning (after the first or tenth viewing, there is a bouquet of interpretations on the Internet, but also in the so-called specialist literature that can hardly be grasped anymore), will at the latest with Rodney Aschers Find what you are looking for in the indie documentary “Room 237” and perhaps only get a glimpse of why “Shining” is something of a playground for nerds, film scholars and amateur semiotics.
You don’t have to follow the confused reflections of the smallest details in the certainly somewhat endless work to realize that there is simply a lot hidden in this film, maybe even consciously hidden. Whether that has to do with the meticulousness of the director, with the attraction of the uncanny, which also characterizes most of Stephen King’s stories, remains to be seen. Maybe it’s just a coincidence. Or some things happened as if by magic during the difficult shoot (ask Shelly Duvall!).
The Shining defies its many interpretations
It’s actually difficult to commemorate “Shining”, the film has been revolving around itself for a long time. But the luxury book box “Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining”, developed by “Toy Story 3” director Lee Unkrich (who as a big fan, here we are again with the addicts of this attractive film material, collected every snippet over the years and exhibited it here), refined with the help of the Stanley Kubrick Archive, still sets once an exclamation mark. The three-volume set includes “hundreds of unpublished set and backstage photographs, rare original documents, Kubrick’s private correspondence, and draft sets from the Stanley Kubrick Archive and the private archives of the cast and crew.” Also included is a facsimile set of ephemera from the film.
In addition to the show value and the accumulation of previously unknown material from the estate, this collection is above all an amazing making-of that eludes a simple classification and lets the film speak for itself in its entirety. In the foreword Steven Spielberg, who was a friend of Kubrick’s, promises that after reading it you will look at “The Shining” with completely different eyes. Without anticipating much: That is indeed the case! There is probably no other film in recent cinema history with such an inexhaustible supply of stored images, writings, excerpts, explanatory texts and sketches. The question of whether the film is one of the most important works in the canon of Kubrick’s many special films is almost no longer an issue.
However, the noble reading also has its price: “Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining” is limited to 1000 copies and costs 1500 euros. But the fresh look at this great work of annoying cinema is of course worth every penny. And few films can withstand the greedy gaze of several curious generations trying to squeeze every last drop of meaning out of it without fading. “Shining” succeeded in doing this. He continues to appear in a new light.
BAGS
Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining
Lee Unkrich, JW Rinzler
Box containing 2 volumes and an ephemera set with facsimile reproductions and original artwork books, 36.5 x 42.4 cm, 19.9 kg, 2198 pages
Collector’s Edition of 1,000 numbered copies.
€1,500
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