Mesmerizing

Rating: 7/10 (25 November 2004)

I just watched the Shining again after not having seen it for several years. and what do you know? I got chills. It's a bizarre film, filled with off-kilter touches, but it sure is a Kubrick film--with genuinely haunting images. The melding together of all the various elements--Shelly Duval's unusual acting style, Jack
Nicholson's,...well...Jack Nicholson persona, gorgeous cinematography with
that breathtaking opening and a classic 20th century film score adds up to a
really nifty experience. Seen in context of Kubrick's other masterpieces--it is fascinating to see how he weaves his absolutely distinctive style and
obsessions into this film. Seeing it in its first run years ago--I remember the audience getting a real jolt, simply by having the word "Tuesday" appear on the screen. A wonderful moment! And the audience roared with laughter at that.
But then there were moments such as the ending that you wished would give
you one final scare a la "Carrie" but instead just seems to end. This is not your average horror movie. The way the characters talk, and their sort of insipid dialogue feels sometimes mundane and even kind of ordinary. But then those
mesmerizing images take hold, and the very ordinariness of the dialogue makes the horror that much creepier. We know Kubrick calculated every single instant of his film--and this one is certainly no exception. With this film he remained a master manipulator, and a master artist.