Sunday, February 04, 2007

The shining and the genius of Stanley Kubrick

I had heard a lot about Stanley Kubrick's movies before. I had read about his movies in magazines and other articles on the internet. He is regarded as one of 'THE' best directors of the 20th century. Unfortunately, I had not actually seen any of his movies! Partly because most of his movies were made before I was even born, and partly because I had not seen much Hollywood fare from the 1970s and 1980s. I really started following Hollywood movies only from the 1990s.

So this post by Roger Von Oech was just the trigger I needed to start watching Stanley Kubrick movies. I went to a local DVD rental store and took home 'The Shining' last weekend. The movie starring Jack Nicholson is a real epic horror movie. It is one of the best horror movies I've ever seen. The movie has some great performances from Jack Nicholson and the kid who plays his son, haunting background musical scores, great cinematography, and overall great production values. Its really amazing to know that this movie was made in 1980.

The impact of the movie was so much that I couldn't think anything else for the next 2-3 days. Wow! I really liked the way tension was built up throughout the movie. There was this sense of 'anything can happen now' sort of feeling throughout the movie.

Favorite scenes from this movie:

1. The typing scene where Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson's character) warns his wife about interrupting him.
2. The scene where Wendy finds out that all along Jack has been typing "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy"
3. The famous 'Heeere's Johny" scene.
4. Whenever the girl twins are shown.
5. When Delbert Grady says 'corrected' - the cold manner in which he says corrected is enough to send down shivers down your spine.
6. The Helicopter shots at the start were wonderful. The accompanying music was great too.
7. When Danny sits on the lap of his father and the cold manner in which Jack says that he loves him and will do anything for him. The conversation is so slow and cold here that it actually has the desired effect.
8. The maze scene where Wendy and Danny playing.

Favorite quotes:

1. When the two girls say" Come and play with us Danny, foreever and ever ...."
2. Two scenes later Jack says to Danny ' I love you and will not hurt you. I will do anything to protect you forever and ever...'

The Shining has introduced me to the genius of Stanley Kubrick and I have decided to try and watch all of his movies. So the next movie on my watchlist is 'Eyes Wide Shut'

2 comments:

Reel Fanatic said...

This movie should be required viewing for all the hacks who claim to make "horror" movies nowadays ... What they've forgotten is that mounds of gore don't make up for the lack of suspense, something Kubrick excelled in .. If I may make a recommendation, his "Clockwork Orange" is also just fantastic, but very disturbing

Arun said...

thanks buddy, i will add Clockwork orange to my must-watch list!