The Shining review

For the past two, nearly three lessons we have been watching the film the shining. I thought that the film was very confusing and disturbing. At certain times in the film you think you have the gist of the narrative, but then something else weird, but creative happens witch throws you off and makes you think again.
I thought the actors performances were good but they were very dramatic and over enthusiastic. In a way though the way they were being dramatic could be dismissed because you could understand why they were being that way. I thought Wendy Torrence was an unusual choice of actress because she wasn't the typical horror/thriller actress. Normally people would expect a ditzy, attractive girl who can easily be tricked and killed. But then throughout the film you could begin to warm to Wendy and like her more because you would feel sorry for her because of how she was treated by jack. I thought that Jack Nicholson was extremely well suited for playing Jack Torrence because he had that creepy look in his eyes and he looks like he would be an intimidating kind of person. I imagine that it is hard to play a character who has mental health issues because if it is played well then it will seem too fake. But Nicholson did it very well. Danny was played well by Danny Lloyd especially as he is only a child.]

What did the critics think?

New York Times:

" Meticulously detailed and never less than fascinating, The Shining may be the first movie that ever made its audience jump with a title that simply says "Tuesday.""

The Guardian:

"Instead of the cramped darkness and panicky quick editing of the standard-issue scary movie, Kubrick gives us the eerie, colossal, brilliantly lit spaces of the Overlook Hotel (created in Elstree Studios, Hertfordshire), shot with amplitude and calm."

Film 4:
"One of the late 20th century's finest tales of the supernatural and a justly famous classic."


A good example of unusual camera shots is where Wendy is trying to get away from Jack and he is following her up the stairs but the camera is used from a high angle over Wendy's shoulder and a low angle from over Jack's shoulder. This is unusual for this kind of scene because jack is the one with the power over Wendy not the other way round so why has Kubrick done this? Is he trying to show that maybe Wendy is the one with power? I think he might be trying to show this because he could be using these camera shots to portray their mental power not physical power as Jack is loosing his mind and Wendy is in more of a healthy mental state than him.