ROOM 237: -+: 2012: DOC: What was really behind Kubrick's depiction of King's The Shining? Was subliminal imagery utilized? Were elements changed specifically by Kubrick from the novel to make a point? Was The Shining in many ways the rubric by which most Kubrick's films can be understood? Room 237 is the documentary that will answer these questions and will leave a few questions unanswered; the formula for an excellent documentary.
I want to be careful here and not give away many of the "Easter Eggs" that the many film historians and critics narrating this documentary detail. Actually, it would take too long to do so. I will say however, that I watched The Shining at least 7 times and I only knew about a few of them.
Unraveling The Shining...ROOM 237
Something that I took away from this documentary is that The Shining is as complicated as the maze that Kubrick inserted into the film. I emphasize that word because King hadn't put the maze in the novel. This is just one of the many elements Kubrick adds to the movie to make a point and to juxtapose his many demons and obsessions.
Kubrick finding subtexts..
Did you know that Kubrick wanted to make a movie based on the holocaust? Did you know that he focused on a German made typewriter with an eagle on it to hint at the holocaust? Just a coincidence? There are no coincidences in Kubrick land. Apparently, he had a 200 IQ. YES, 200. That's smarter than Picasso. Danny's shirt has the number 42 on it, as do many other elements in the movie. 42 of course referring to the year of the holocaust. These are only a few "coincidences".
Talking to Tony..the number 42. After this scene, he sees blood..
Kubrick was obsessed with the Apollo 11 landing and he should have been after directing the breakthrough 2001 A Space Odyssey. Apparently, he hadn't lost the obsession in The Shining because he constantly refers to it with clues. I won't give these away but there are many. The one that I have to include, is that the ROOM 237 corresponds to the exact distance of earth to the moon, 237,000 miles. Did he have something to do with the actual filming? Was it staged?
APOLLO 11 is a hidden theme in THE SHINING
Possibly the most fascinating breakthrough about this documentary is the mind shattering premise that the movie is "supposed" to be seen forward and backward, like a mirror. Mirrors, of course, are a huge symbol in this movie, as evidenced by REDRUM which has been lifted in many pop culture elements and even The Simpsons. In other words, if you watch it backwards while watching it forward, NEW elements arise.
MSTERMND http://www.mstrmnd.com/log/802 didn't want to be interviewed for this movie, which is unfortunate, because he really nails this part. It was included in this movie, but wasn't found by any of the narrators. Luckily, one was humble enough to include his name. The best way to describe this is that scenes are framed incredibly exact, so that they juxtapose themselves and create sometimes horrific NEW scenes..see below:
THESE IMAGES ARE AMAZING AND REAL!
These aren't "coincidences" because there are some that show televisions as mouths, faces that turn into angels, and so on. My favorite is this one but one of the most disturbing also:
The demon within..perfect juxtaposition
I'm going to stop here, because this review is not supposed to take the focus here. WATCH this documentary if you are a Kubrick fan, if you love The Shining, or if you just want to rediscover a classic movie. This is amazing and only shows how much of a genius Kubrick was::::96%
The QUESTion continues...
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