Film

A detailed Summary of Film

The Power of Illusion Isolation has a very powerful effect on some people, and an extreme case of this is shown in Stanley Kubrick's film The Shining. The name alone tends to scare me as scenes of Jack Torrence (Jack Nicholson) flash through my head. When the story of a prior family that served as winter overseers for the Overlook Hotel, during which time the husband became insane, is told we hear Jack reply, "You can rest assured Mr. Ulman, that's not going to happen to me." Kubrick uses many effective techniques to create this movie from Stephen King's novel, and at the same time intensify it on the screen. The only two characters that really understand the powers that the hotel hold are Jack's son Danny and Dick Hallorann, the cook. Flashback type images are used throughout when Danny has a shining experience. With so much beauty and peacefulness surrounding the hotel it is hard to imagine that seclusion could destroy your mind state. Enough time to think was not actually what Jack needed at the hotel since he happened to have too much time. The main issue this movie continuously throws in the audience's face is the question of truth and illusion, and trying to figure out exactly why things are happening. Right from the beginni

ng, the eerieness of this movie hits the audience with full force, as Kubrick uses the soundtrack to do an amazing job. The music along with the beautiful nature shots seemed to give me a lighter case of anxiety then that which was felt during Regio's Koyaanisqatsi. Towards the latter end of the movie when it's very obvious that Jack has lost his mind, the music becomes much louder and intense causing a tremendous effect on the audience. Kubrick capitalized wonderfully on using deep-focus photography to accentuate the vastness of the hallways throughout the hotel. In watching Danny ride his Big Wheel around, and observing Danny and his mother (Shelly DuVaul) walking in the shrubbery labyrinth we see excellent objective camera usage. In the maze the camera becomes human-like as it tends to wobble as though it were another person. One of the most amazing scenes occurs as we see Jack looking at a model of the maze and sees his family. Kubrick then gives a close up of the maze and the audience can hear the sounds of Danny and Wendy running around. This is a breath-taking display of Jack's power over his family. Just a bit after that we see a close-up of Jack encompassing the entire frame looking more crazy then ever. The first incident that the audience has to really deal with the truth of Jack's insanity is when Danny comes back from room 237 and has bruises on his neck. Instantly we want to blame Jack, who just had a dream about killing his family, but if he was asleep how could it be him? Is someone else

Some common words found in the essay are:
Alice Wonderland, Danny Wendy, Dick Hallorann, Jack Wendy, Koyaanisqatsi Towards, Shelly DuVaul, Torrence Kubrick, Overlook Hotel, Kubrick Jack, Delbert Grady, truth illusion, jack torrence, shining house, former overseer, final scene,

Approximate Word count = 1019
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Arts