Runtime: 144 minutes
We all know the rest of the stats, don't we?
In short, I got to watch this on the big screen last night. You can read all about it in my Letterboxd review below:
This is not my first viewing of this classic movie. Heck, this wasn't the first time I got to see it on the big screen. But the last viewing was a long while ago and it was perfect for this time of year so thanks to the Cinepolis chain I got to see this again, and for only 8 bucks.
I presume that everyone is familiar with the plot, but then again I ended up sitting by some British people including one who had never seen this before. But considering this sort of site I am sure that everyone knows the story of Jack Torrance and how he goes mad in a haunted hotel and his family has to deal with that. I've never read the Stephen King novel but I know a lot was changed from page to screen and King did not approve of the different material.
If you really wanted to, you could nitpick some things, note that the script changing all the time during filming was dangerous as that is usually a bad sign and I certainly do not approve of how Shelley Duvall was treated on set-not to mention making kind old man Scatman Crothers cry-but with all that said, Kubrick did do a magnificent job directing this, and it is a great film. A popular criticism is that Jack seems a little unhinged even before the family moves into the hotel for the winter. I say that's true,, but it was the idea that an alcoholic with job troubles is destined for disaster in a secluded area for months; once things go south it is clear that he's lost his mind, and it was an iconic performance from him. Even that person who had never seen it before knew of the “Here's Johnny!” scene. To think that the moment which got the biggest reaction from her in that virgin experience... the moment I'll simply call “the guy in the bear suit”! Although that is understandable as it's so unexpected and turns out, unexplained.
Anyhow, while the methods used were questionable at the very best, the performance from Duvall was also great as Wendy, even if by the final act she's a hysterical mess and does some unwise things. There's someone who has vanished from the spotlights years ago and has never returned, and maybe because of that there were or are rumors about her mental health, which I hope are not true. I wish there were more ladies around Hollywood who had the sort of unique talents that she did. At least Kubrick knew that when it came to young child actor Danny Lloyd that he had to be careful, so the kid at the time thought he was making a drama and was shielded from the actual horror material and never saw it in its R-rated form until he was in his upper teens. He did a swell job, too.
The movie initially saddled with middling reviews but since then has become wildly popular and even today people are coming up with all sorts of theories about the alleged symbolism present throughout, from the movie being about the genocide of Native Americans or how allegedly Kubrick helped fake the moon landings and somehow he put subtle messages about this in the movie for who knows what reason. To me all that does disguise the fact that the movie is greatly effective at being creepy and terrifying, and in a film that was done expertly with a note-perfect use of the then new Steadicam.
It starts off right away with the opening credits song from Wendy Carlos and Rachel Elkind (while only a small part of their score was used for the movie, it freaks me out, to be honest; the music you hear overall-mainly older classical ditties-was nicely put together and hearing it in a theatre will make you appreciate that) and what the story is about is greatly disturbing, an evil force driving someone to madness, all the unnerving sights you see while in the Overlook Hotel, and how things get worse and worse until it reaches a breaking point. The setting of the hotel being designed in a way that doesn't make logical sense and there being doors and windows where there shouldn't be... that helps add to the nightmare feeling of it all. Believe me, the movie worked on those British fellows, even if most of them had seen it before.
With all that said, I am glad I got to see this on the big screen for a second time. Its pace being deliberate and building up suspense and terror does work oh so well in such a setting. What an incredible motion picture experience, filled with a panoply of great moments that work perfectly together.
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