Film essays

Film essays 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 Jac k 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 beginning, 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 ...