The meaning and topics addressed in the novel are very different than those in the film, given Kubrick’s many changes to the story in order to fit his vision. Stay out! For some, it's a secret admission and apology for Kubrick's supposed faking of the moon landing in 1969. Of course, there are some more convincing (and coherent) than others, but The Shining is, at its core, a story about violence and abuse and how these are often cyclical. Because the Overlook Hotel (in the film, at least) was built on an Indian burial ground, the blood coming out from the elevator has been interpreted as that of the Indians buried there. And Stanley's explanation was, 'It's a ghost film! This is all covered in King's novel Doctor Sleep, the official sequel to The Shining (which will be getting a film of its own in 2020). On the screen, a naked, bloated hag of … But there are other folks who don't know it or don't believe it. Are people with this ability simply drawn to places with innate supernatural presences, or are they able to sense the spirits present wherever they are? Many of these theories rose out of Kubrick's famous filmmaking precision. Wendy finally finds enough strength to survive Jack's physical attacks and escape with Danny (Danny Lloyd) in the snowcat at the end of the film. She called it "shining." The Shining is considered one of the greatest psychological horror films ever made. And if he's there, it stands to reason that Grady would be there too, proving he was also a victim of the cycle of reincarnation and violence. NEXT: How Doctor Sleep Is A (VERY) Different Movie To The Shining. The novel ends with Danny and Wendy spending the summer at a resort in Maine where Hallorann works as head chef. Over the years, The Shining has spawned some of the most elaborate and bizarre fan theories you'll ever hear about any film. Does he know that the place needs to let its demons run free every once in a while, and that the caretaker will go crazy and murder his family? And yet, by the end of the film, only Dick — who wasn't supposed to be there — and Jack himself are dead. T he first time I had ever heard of The Shining, it was because my older brother, who was 12 years old at the time, came to me in a breathless panic. Danny was warned by the Grady twins that something terrible was going to happen, and “REDRUM” was the warning passed on to Danny and Wendy through Danny. But also Caps and Leafs), or wondering what life would have been like had Pushing Daisies, Firefly, and Limitless not been cancelled. "The Shining" came to a close with Jack freezing to death after getting lost in a maze outside the hotel, while Wendy and Danny were able to make their escape in a snow cat. You know what I'm talking about, don't you? As mentioned above, the film ends with Wendy and Danny escaping during a snowstorm thanks to the snowcat Hallorann arrived in. David Cronenberg Says Stanley Kubrick Didn’t Understand Horror And That ‘The Shining’ Is Not “A Great Film” | IndieWire. After being freed from the kitchen pantry by Grady’s ghost, Jack (whose sanity was already shattered by that point) goes after Wendy and Danny, axe in hand. okayokay. One reason the Overlook's management will likely have to make changes is the shifting media landscape in 1980, the in which the film was released and (presumably) is set. Based on the novel of the same name by Stephen King, The Shining follows Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson), an aspiring writer and recovering alcoholic who takes a job as the off-season caretaker of the Overlook Hotel. Thank you! Finally, I don't believe it was terribly scary, not the way Pet Semetary is (to me at least). The hotel makes one last attempt to possess Hallorann but he successfully manages to avoid it. "Very often, crew members asked him, 'Can you explain that to me?'" The Shining was inspired by an episode of Omnibus. I’ve pulled 170 times, even with the free tries in the beginning, that’s still well over 16k, and I still haven’t even finished 1 of the suits. There are even some people who think the true meaning of the film is unlocked by watching it backwards. N. Best The Shining Quotes. That's what makes the … Among those is the ending and some of the scenes that come moments before that final shot of the photo. "Vänligheten är ett språk som de döva kan höra och de blinda kan se". scared me..a LOT. Caretaker murders, Indian burial grounds, and all the cycles and mirror images in the film suggest that the Overlook is a place where history repeats itself, and Jack was always meant to be a part of that. How long have you been able to do it? The Shining novel, however, has a very different ending, and one that even made way for a sequel: Doctor Sleep. I just don't understand what happened. In the novel, Jack manages to fight the hotel’s possession long enough for him to tell Danny to run for his life. Danny has visions about the hotel right after Jack gets the job and during his time at the hotel, and has a traumatizing experience when drawn into the “forbidden” room 237. Dick Hallorann: Do you know how I knew your name was Doc? Wendy defends herself with a knife and slashes Jack’s arm, causing him to retreat. Having to trap his own father in a freezing hedge maze to escape murder, and then flee a haunted hotel where he'd just seen so many terrible things, is obviously going to have a massive impact on him. Johnson recalled to Entertainment Weekly. It could also mean that Jack was fulfilling some kind of twisted destiny by being at the Overlook, and the hotel is reflecting that. Does this mean the Overlook's evil sway is at least somewhat lessened? If you want to go with Stephen King's version of events, Danny's future is at least partially written. So fascinating, in fact, that its obsessive fans and their continued analysis spawned an entirely separate film — the documentary Room 237 — that's just about picking apart its many details and apparent hidden meanings. He will be looking for others who can shine, whether consciously or not, and he will eventually try to find out how many of them have had similar experiences to his own. Dan is ultimately able to resist his father, and by the end of the film, the hotel is destroyed for good. But to really understand Danny, I feel you would have to know what exactly he went through at the Overlook Hotel the way Stephen King wrote it- not the movies adaptation of what it was like. The main concern of black people right now isn’t whether they’re standing three or six feet apart, but whether their sons, husbands, brothers and fathers will be murdered by cops. Wendy and Danny escape relatively unscathed. If you watch The Shining all the way through, get to that final shot of Jack in the photo, and then rewatch it, you will notice something that particularly stands out about the Overlook. Especially during Christmas when so many people don’t even have warm food on their table and therefore find it so hard to feel any kind of Christmas spirit. I don't understand. Of course, an explanation from the filmmaker himself hasn’t been enough for many viewers who have since come up with their own interpretations (some good, some not so much). It also fits with the role of both Grady characters mentioned in the film: the past caretaker and the ghost. Would someone be willing to sort of give me a full explanation, please? Most road signs will reflect long before you can read them. Does this mean that, through their survival, they've somehow broken the cycle? Still, even if he never finds anyone else who can shine, he'll definitely be searching for the rest of his life. Just like you probably thought you was the only one. The hotel itself also has a history of cyclical violence: it was built over an Indian burial ground, and a lot of blood was surely spilled in the process. When the hotel’s forces get a hold of Jack, Danny starts chanting and drawing the word “REDRUM”, which Wendy later sees reversed in the mirror, revealing the word “MURDER”. In fact, when I first arrived in London … Jack Nicholson introduced me to his friends and said, ‘My man’s the hero of the movie.’ I just don’t understand what happened. She was also a contributor for FanSided's BamSmackPow and 1428 Elm. Whatever the case, the hotel's management has to enact some kind of change now that a pattern is emerging. I certainly can and I also understand why your people in Denver left it for you to tell me. He had fallen asleep on the couch while watching Die Hard, and as luck would have it, The Shining was the next movie to play. It's not a movie with a serious message.". Though she may not always seem it at first glance because she spends much of the film in a state of dread or outright terror, Wendy Torrance (Shelley Duvall) is the heart of The Shining. Kubrick deliberately left many things unexplained, including many details from the third act – he did, however, explain why Jack Torrance appears in the photo at the end. It’s unknown if it will address specific details from the ending of the first film or if it will just casually reference them, but it does acknowledge the events from the film. Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining is regarded by many as one of the greatest films ever made, and one that to this day continues to be the subject of many analyses and discussions. The abuse part of the story is both physical and psychological: both Wendy and Danny are clearly scared of Jack, even before the hotel’s influence took control of him, and yet they stayed with him. For nearly 40 years now, The Shining has reigned as one of the most acclaimed and terrifying horror films ever made. This leaves the question of what to do about the caretaker job, now that two of the men who've held the position have lost their minds and murdered people in the span of just a decade. As mentioned above, Kubrick left many details open to interpretation, whether for viewers to come up with their own explanations or just to mess with them. lets him out. Is there something about this event that I don’t understand? Kubrick shot things all kinds of ways, but he never shot a version of the ending like in his script or the book. There's no way of knowing how long or how intense the media blast would be, but it's hard to imagine Jack Torrance's crimes going ignored in the same year that CNN was launched. Meanwhile, Wendy runs through the hotel looking for her son. What happens to Wendy and Danny after that is unknown (in the film, at least), although a deleted scene featured them in a hospital, recovering both physically and mentally from everything they went through at the hotel. The most debated element of The Shining's ending is the revelation in the final shot that Jack is present in a photo of the Overlook's Fourth of July party in 1921. Unable to pass through that same window, Wendy is trapped when Jack arrives and breaks through the door with the axe – the famous “Here’s Johnny!” scene. "And he said, 'I never explain anything, I don't understand it myself. That doesn't mean the ghosts are gone, though, as the film also confirms that they can still find the people who visited them if given enough time. referencing The Shining (Complete Motion Picture Score By Wendy Carlos), 2xCD, Album, RE, Unofficial, LOOK-CD19802005 This version has everything, literally. Charles Grady killed his family with an axe, and Jack was on track to replicate that. and she's rotting and dead. This is backed up by the conversation in the red bathroom, when Grady tells him he's "always been the caretaker," and it seems the most likely explanation. Wendy sees Danny injured and immediately thinks it was Jack, because he's hurt their son before. A few clips from The Shining. Jack takes his wife, Wendy (Shelley Duvall), and their son, Danny (Danny Lloyd), with him, but little do they know, the Overlook has some dark secrets of its own, and triggered by Danny’s psychic abilities, the hotel releases some dangerous supernatural forces that mess with Jack’s sanity – and the safety of Wendy and Danny. At the hedge maze, Danny manages to escape by laying a false trail to mislead Jack. The latter is the one that Jack says he saw in the newspaper (and the one who killed his family in the hotel), and thus the reincarnation of Delbert Grady. Or am I just extremely unlucky. It's a ghost film!' Is it a kind of blood sacrifice to appease the ancient evils that roam the place, so they can have a happy and prosperous business season each year? Though it was adapted from Stephen King's novel of the same name, Flanagan knew he had to pay tribute to the cinematic version of the Torrance family story, as well as the literary one. RELATED: The Shining Has An Alternate Ending You Will NEVER See. ... Don't hurt me! But according to Kubrick's co-writer, Diane Johnson, that's really not the case. a ghost. Perhaps the hotel will invest in more snowcats and have people trade off the job throughout the off-season. Kubrick shot things all kinds of ways, but he never shot a version of the ending like in his script or the book. But there are other folks, though mostly they don't know it, or don't believe it." In truth, you don't need "daylight illumination". Dozens of them, all in identical frames, all covering the hotel's illustrious history as Ullman explains that "all the best people" stayed there in its heyday. like, okay, so johnny is locked in the cupbooard, but the DEAD butler lets him out? RELATED: The Shining: The Movie's Biggest Changes From The Book. RELATED: IT Chapter Two's Shining Reference Hints At Stephen King's Shared Universe. The ghost is Delbert Grady, and the past caretaker was Charles Grady. One of the most memorable scenes from The Shining is the blood coming out from the elevator. Jack Torrance is driven insane by an evil presence at the Overlook Hotel, which compels him to try to kill his innocent wife and child and to repeatedly ax an innocent door. Driving at 60 mph, you cover 88 ft/sec. Jack is left in the snow and freezes to death, and it’s implied that the Overlook continued with its cycle of murder by bringing in more reincarnations of past workers. The aforementioned sequel, Doctor Sleep, got a cinematic adaptation that serves as both a sequel to The Shining novel and Kubrick’s film, in a way. This gave the now-adult Dan Torrance a chance to go back and to see what had become of his old man. Perhaps the most analyzed part of the ending is the final shot of a photograph from 1921 that shows Jack with other guests in the hotel’s ballroom. Unlike the film, Hallorann doesn’t die, and helps Wendy and Danny escape. Jack was trapped in a cycle of violence and death that dominates the Overlook and many of its guests and residents, and he was a reincarnated soul who was always meant to come back to the hotel. He suffers from alcoholism, like his father, and ultimately gets a job at a hospital where he's able to help guide the dying into the next realm. The Overlook's mythology is simply kept too vague for us to be sure, but it's very possible that Ullman isn't telling Jack everything he really knows about the place. He later mentions the Indian burial ground upon which the hotel is built in a casual, almost showy way, while giving the tour. Now that Wendy has lived out her own horror film, perhaps she'd like to tell that story publicly? And for a long time, I thought it was just the two of us that had the shine to us. 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