The Mind Plays Us Nasty Games

Rating: 10/10 (23 November 2007)

Jack Nicholson seems like he was born for roles like these. His face will immediately tell you that the character is mad, but he is mad as well. It explains us so convincingly the performance. He is quite mad to play so good as such, said Martin Landau.
Besides Jack Nicholson riveting, unworldly acting that transposes madness slowly in the most subtle, cleverly professional way I've ever seen, the movie is the Grandfather of suspense films. Technically, it innovates on the standard of the "backwards camera" that makes you feel that you are actually in the scene, following the characters in their solitude like we were omnipotent watchers. But we are just witnesses in the upcoming Odyssey.
The setting is a vast, isolated hotel that is settled on the snowed valley of Colorado. We can almost feel our skin wrinkle, our hair freeze. The atmosphere is cold, giving a great sense of loneliness. The snow will act as a curtain of natural power that will cover the scene from others and seclude them from the outer world.
The movie's pace is fantastic, while you long for some heart braking scary moments, you will find that the movie will twist your mind not ultimately with the supernatural but with the deviation of the Human psyche on the film. It's men who you have to fear, mostly.
Did I feel the change on Jack Torrance's mind. The transformation is bitching, moving us restless while introducing us in the most hideous basement of the human Mind.
"The Shining" will not disappoint you, Im sure. It's tricky all over, and will manipulate you with fear, suspense and at the same time, will hold you tight to the chair sensing that in any moment you will get a heart attack. But trust me, your heart won't get an attack. Your brain will.