May Not Be Kubrick's Masterpiece, But It's Still a Masterpiece

Rating: 10/10 (19 October 2016)

Kubrick spent his 40+ year career proving that no matter what the genre he will, not only do it well, but will dominate it. The Shining is no exception. A filmed nightmare, it's a naturalistically still and insistently surreal mixture of thick mood and rich story. A maze of surprises even after multiple viewings, its terror hovers right under the surface before exploding onto our brains. A masterpiece of hypnotic horror that's as insidiously, mind-bogglingly creepy as ever. At the center is the ever-menacing presence of Nicholson. Presenting a sobering lesson in how to not be a husband / father (and not just because of the violent climax), his dementia begins unraveling from moment one. Despite his iconically villainous turn, I'm not sure he's even the best of the bunch. Crothers brings beautiful lightness when needed, and his darker moments that much more powerful; and Lloyd walks a brilliant tightrope between creepy-horror-kid, average boyhood, and haunting sadness. Above all, Duvall's compelling and deeply broken turn as forlorn wife / mother is beyond perfect. These performers are given a directorial assuredness to play in rarely matched outside of Kubrick. The plight of these characters is captured with such empathy, we're given a personal view of what could easily have been a cold experience. Every detail is so intentionally and perfectly placed to draw us into the growing madness of the Overlook Hotel: The blood-flood, the dead-eyed stares, the symmetry of the twins, the normally-calm camera ferociously following the swinging axe. Meticulously crafted, intellectually provocative, emotionally penetrating, and dementedly entertaining, though Shining may not be Kubrick's best, it would be most filmmakers magnum opus.