Reposted from Mtime.com —— Please come in for the rubbish bobbin of "The Shining", and teach you how to read this movie (I will share it if I think it’s well written)

Axel 2021-10-13 13:05:48

Jack Torrance is a writer, in order to get rid of frustration at work, he decided to take over a luxurious mountain restaurant. It was a large house in a remote area with a gloomy atmosphere everywhere. It is said that its former manager had lost his mind inexplicably and killed his whole family. But Jack did not follow the advice of his friend Danny, and moved into this hotel with his wife Wendy. They made new rules, and Jack set up a special lounge for his own creation. However, the strangeness gradually emerged from the calm surface. Jack began to frequent the hotel bar, looking for his past, recalling the bloody images in his mind; abnormal things finally happened inevitably...
Many people who have watched this movie accused it of being a "junk" "The audience was baffled.
Indeed, watching this film requires a lot of homework. Unlike "The Da Vinci Code", the latter has a complete logical reasoning from beginning to end. Even if the audience does not know anything about religious background, they can still think from this complete set of reasoning. Pass most. "The Shining" is a horror film whose suspense design is very obvious, but the answer is extremely secretive. It is precisely because of the secretiveness of its answer and meaning that it is innocently called "junk" notorious.
One word that appears most often in this film is "The Shining". It can be said that the storyline of the whole film revolves around this word. So, what exactly is "The Shining"?
The word "shining" is translated from the original "shining". Many film critics say that it means the sixth sense in this film. I don't fully agree with this point. After reviewing this film no less than ten times, I gave the term "The Shining" a more accurate definition-remote sensing capability. As we know, the sixth sense is usually used to sense what may happen in the future, or an ability to help people make the right choices in critical situations. It can be said to be more intuitive. The remote sensing capability can not only travel through the future, but also reproduce what has already happened. It is by no means equivalent to pure intuition. It is produced by the mutual stimulation of subjective ideas and the objective environment. To a certain extent, it is equivalent to the subconscious advance reaction.
After understanding the meaning of the Shining in general, let us review the details of this film from the beginning. It is worth mentioning that the flowing shooting angle is used many times in the film, and the effect of light and shadow is very good.
At the beginning of the film, the protagonist Jack comes to the outlook hotel to interview for the position of administrator. The person in charge told him about a tragedy that happened here in 1970: the former administrator Charles Grady hacked his wife and daughter to death one day in the winter and shot himself.
The camera switches, Jack's wife Wendy and son Danny appear. From the beginning, Danny knew in advance that Dad's interview would be successful. This was the first time Danny's Shining had been used.
When the person in charge led Jack's family to visit the hotel, Danny's Shining was activated for the second time. He saw the twin sisters who had appeared in his dream before at the door of the game room. With doubts and a hint of fear, Danny mentioned Room 237 in front of the black chef Dick who also had the shining.

Immediately afterwards, the director showed the development of the plot to the audience in the form of a diary.
1. A month later
Jack wakes up in the morning and tells Wendy that he knows this place before. In the afternoon, Wendy took Danny into the hedge maze to play, and Jack was outside, but he saw Wendy and Danny in the maze model on the table.
2. The Tuesday
weather forecast informs that Denver is about to face a blizzard. Wendy went to tell Jack the news to remind everyone to prepare early, but Jack said that she interrupted her writing ideas and furious. He also laid down the so-called "new rules" that he should not enter and disturb him casually in the future.
3.
The things on Thursday are particularly simple and profound. Except for the figures of Wendy and Danny playing in the snow, the camera is positioned on Jack's face for a long time. His eyes looked dull and weird, with a mysterious smile on his face.
4. Saturday
Wendy tried to communicate with the outside world by radio, but it succeeded. To prevent accidents, she kept the radio on. And Danny saw the twin sisters for the third time, and what's more, he saw the horror of blood splattering when the sisters died. Danny's Shining was activated for the third time, and it told Danny that nothing he saw was true.
5. Monday
Danny and Wendy watched TV, Danny offered to go to the room to get his fire truck. Wendy told him not to wake Dad. When Danny entered the room lightly, he found that Jack did not rest, but sat on the edge of the bed. Jack picked Danny up and said something to him. Jack repeatedly emphasized how much he loves Danny. This section may be the only scene in the whole film that makes people feel a little warm, although Jack's way of speaking and facial expressions are getting more and more weird and terrifying.
6. Wednesday
Danny was playing in the hotel corridor. Suddenly a ball rolled in front of him. He raised his head and saw that room 237, which he had been terrified of, had opened the door and didn't know who opened the door. Driven by curiosity, he still walked in.
Wendy, who was inspecting the boiler at this time, suddenly heard Jack yelling frantically. She ran over and woke up Jack who was struggling in the nightmare. Jack told her, "I just had the scariest dream in my life. I dreamt that I killed you and Danny, and, not only did I kill, I cut you into pieces..." At this time, Danny Walked in outside without saying a word. Wendy was confused, and approached him to find that Danny had a large bruise on his neck. Wendy thought of Jack's dislocation of Danny's arm because he was drunk a few years ago, and couldn't help but get angry from it and cursed Jack.
Jack walked into the hotel ballroom in trouble and irritability. At this time, he desperately needed alcohol to numb himself, "No matter what the price, even if I pay my damn soul", and when he raised his head, he saw the bartender Lloyd standing in front of him, drinking a few drinks, Jack The anger and grievance accumulated in the body finally broke out. He blamed Wendy and Danny for the impact on his life and future, and he was out of control.
At this moment, Wendy ran to him in a panic and told him that there was a mad woman in room 237, and she was the one who strangled Danny. Jack walked into room 237 and saw a naked woman coming out of the bathtub and kissing him. Jack began to kiss her, but in the mirror he found that the woman in his arms turned out to be a terrible carrion. He ran out desperately, but concealed everything from Wendy.

At the same time, Dick, a black chef who also has the Shining, had a premonition that something bad would happen in the hotel, so he tried to get in touch with the Jack family through various channels.
Wendy asked Jack to take her and Danny down the mountain, and Jack became extremely angry. He walked away and went to the bar in the ballroom again to get drunk.
A grand party is being held in the ballroom at this time. Jack was holding a wine glass and was knocked over by a waiter, full of eggnog. The waiter carefully wiped Jack in the bathroom, and accidentally revealed to Jack that his name was Delbert Grady. Jack immediately realized that, he asked whether the waiter in front of him was the previous administrator who killed his wife and daughter. The waiter denied it at first, but finally admitted after Jack's insistence. And, he told Jack that Danny was trying to use his shining to lead a stranger to the hotel. Of course, this stranger was the black chef Dick who had been trying to contact them without success and decided to go up the mountain to investigate himself.
At this moment Danny suddenly called the word "redrum" weirdly. Jack cut off the radio and destroyed the snowmobile for going down the mountain.
7, 8:00am
Wendy couldn't stand the mental torture and decided to find Jack for a final showdown on whether to go down the mountain. Holding a baseball bat, she cautiously walked into the lobby of Jack’s daily work, only to find all of Jack’s work since this time-on a large stack of paper, repeating a sentence in a different format: all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. (It literally means: endless work makes Jack boring). At the same time, Danny in the other room once again saw the bright red "redrum" on the bathroom door. Wendy was shocked and frightened, and Jack suddenly appeared from behind her like a ghost. Jack began to press on Wendy step by step, asking why she never considered her future and career. During the dispute, Wendy knocked Jack out with a club and locked him in the storage room.
8. 4:00pm
Wendy found that both the radio and the snowmobile were damaged. Thinking hard about how to get out of the car, suddenly Danny yelled "redrum" again. Wendy woke up from his dream and found that Jack had run out of the storage room without knowing when he was smashing the bedroom door frantically. The scared Wendy rushed Danny out of the bathroom window, but she couldn't get through it herself. Jack finally smashed the bathroom door open, and Wendy cut Jack's hand with a knife in desperation. At this time Dick had arrived on the mountain, Jack turned his attention to attacking Dick, Wendy finally survived, and walked out of the bedroom and started looking for Danny. At this time Wendy saw all sorts of visions: a man dressed as a white KJ in a bare ass bear; skulls overwhelmed in the ballroom, and a waiter with a broken head and drinking blood. Wendy desperately ran out of the hotel. In front of the snowmobile that Dick drove, she saw Danny, who had already had a big circle with Jack and ran out of the hedge maze. The mother and son climbed on the snowmobile desperately, finally Before Jack found them, he escaped from this place of right and wrong. And Jack froze to death in the maze that night.

Even after you watch this film many times, I believe you still have a lot of questions. I said that the essential element of a good fear film is the suspense setting for success. Maybe you would say, but in this film, there are many questions that can't be solved? Hush! Don't say that, otherwise I believe that Kubrick, a cunning old fox, is secretly mocking us in heaven! I dare not say that I have understood every detail 100%, but at least the key part, I think I can answer your questions. In fact, it is not difficult to understand the film, as long as you master the three key links:
First, understand the historical background of the United States from the Westward Frontier Movement to the Indian Massacre. I searched roughly, and the two major events started and ended roughly in the early 19th century to the end of the 19th century. Through these two major campaigns, the United States has shed its poor and white hats and has since set foot on the ranks of the world's powers.
At the beginning of the film, the person in charge of the hotel mentioned that the foundation of the hotel was an Indian cemetery that year, and it was even attacked when it was built. In the 19th century, the western pioneering movement and the genocide policy were being carried out. By the beginning of the 20th century, when the hotel was completed, these two movements had basically ended. It is conceivable how many Indians were buried under this magnificent state. Of bones!
Some film critics believe that Jack was cursed by the dead Indians and retaliated against white Americans by killing his relatives. Of course, there is some truth to this statement, but my point is that Jack was actually in the West of the year. The miniature of the colonists who moved westward in the pioneering movement, and his wife and son can be regarded as a portrayal of the indigenous Indians who were slaughtered in those years. why? The most obvious reminder in the film: At the beginning of the film, Jack was driving his wife and children to the hotel. He talked about a group of "Dona, a colonial organization in the caravan era," who were buried in the snow in the mountains. I At the beginning, I was at a loss. I didn't understand what this "caravan era" meant? But in the end, when Jack went to the bar of the dance hall to buy drunk for the first time, he once said two sentences to the bartender Lloyd. One sentence was: "The white man’s mission is...", and the other sentence is: After 5 months of suffering, I came back..." Many people may not have paid attention to these two sentences at all, especially the latter one. At first, I was repeatedly puzzled and didn't understand why I was suddenly involved in the "truck"? And stayed on it for 5 months? Later, I tried to find the answer from the word "truck". I checked the English-Chinese dictionary and found that one of the solutions for truck is an open-top truck. At this point, I suddenly realized that this coincides with the "caravan era" mentioned in the opening, but the translator does not contact the context, and the front and back translations are not. Symmetry has caused a misunderstanding. Understand this, and then check the Internet, it is easy to find that the so-called "caravan era" is actually a synonym for the pioneering movement in the western United States. Since the pioneers who moved west in that era, most of them liked to use open-top trucks as a means of transportation. Have this to say.
At this time, I believe it is not difficult for the audience to understand why I said that Jack represents the colonists who moved westward. However, he himself was only a writer at first, and a writer with a miserable career. Why did he suddenly turn into the epitome of a colonialist? This is the second point I want to say.
Second, who in the film has the Shining?
Of course, many people think I’m an idiot. Of course, the film tells us clearly that Jack’s son Danny and the black chef Dick both have the Shining. This is certainly not bad. But what I want to talk about is the two shining characters who are hidden in the film.
First of all, if the audience has watched the film at least three times carefully, or carefully studied the details of the film I reviewed above, it is not difficult to find the following suspense: Why Jack can feel their mother and child from the model on the table Where is the maze? Why did Jack dream of killing his wife and children the day before the accident, but the next day he really started to hunt them down? Why can Jack see the bartender when he goes to the dance hall to get drunk, but Wendy can't? Why would Jack see the naked girl who is actually a carrion when he approached Room 237? And why would Jack meet Grady the second time he goes to the ballroom? right! Jack has the shinning too! And his shining is the most frequently and intensely used in this film. As mentioned above, the Shining is a product of interactive stimulation between subjective consciousness and objective environment. As the name implies, the strength of the Shining is directly proportional to the degree of influence of the two. Now, based on this understanding, let us analyze the whole process of Jack from moving in to going crazy. It is quite logical:
Jack was a low-income teacher at first, and he had to switch careers and become a writer because of the financial situation. Forced to be hired as a hotel administrator. He is eager to find inspiration in these five months of isolation and quiet life, and write a good work. In life, it seems that no matter how hard Jack works, he still cannot be a good father, as he complained to the bartender Lloyd: "As long as I'm still alive, that bitch...she won't let me forget it happened. It’s clear that, due to the accidental injury to his son Danny a few years ago after drinking, his wife Wendy has always kept it in her heart, and often used this to discourage his sense of responsibility and self-confidence as a father. On the surface, Jack tried his best to abstain from drinking in order to maintain the harmony of the family and the trust of his son. He has not touched a drop of alcohol for 5 months. However, in fact, Wendy has continuously exposed his scars, which has deeply hurt his self-esteem. Coupled with his career unwillingness, his psychology is actually extremely fragile. It is worth mentioning that he emphasized that he had not been exposed to alcohol for "5 months", and said that "5 months of suffering on the truck", you can feel it when you contact the top and bottom, in fact, Jack has gradually been in Having accepted in advance the two objective prompts of "Dona Organization" and "The foundation of the hotel is an Indian cemetery", it gradually became imperceptible.

As a man, when his career and family are unsatisfactory, what he needs most is the comfort from his relatives. But obviously, Wendy is not a competent wife in this regard. She didn't know how to protect Jack's shaky self-esteem, but hit him intentionally or unintentionally. After seeing the scar on Danny's neck, her first reaction was to scold Jack loudly regardless of the truth. At the same time, she didn't understand how stressful her husband was, and how she should help him to relieve him. After the accident, she repeatedly greeted Jack and asked Jack to take their mother and son down the mountain, as Jack said: "Have you considered even for a minute? Have you considered my responsibilities to my employer? Have you considered my future?" Of course, as a mother, Her behavior is understandable, but as a wife, her behavior is undoubtedly a catalyst for Jack's psychological breakdown.
Jack walked into the ballroom for the first time, on the premise that Wendy couldn't distinguish between misunderstandings. At this time, he was extremely angry and painful, unable to get the forgiveness of his family, and his future was bleak. In addition to the two tips he had already accepted before, he saw Lloyd. At this time, he was eager to use alcohol to numb himself, hoping that someone would share his helplessness. But there was still a glimmer of reason in his mind at this time, so Lloyd just gave him two glasses of wine as he wanted in his heart, and didn't mention the other to him. Jack still yearns for the support of his family and has illusions. The beauty he saw when he walked into Room 237 turned into a carrion. It was actually a process of hopelessness. Of course, another factor is that his subconscious mind has accepted the psychological suggestion that the former administrator mentioned to him about killing his wife and daughter here.
And when he walked into the ballroom for the second time, he had a big fight with Wendy about going down the mountain and slammed the door. At this time, he was completely desperate for his wife's understanding and comfort. In addition to anger, he was angry, so this time he saw Delbert Grady. This shows that at this time his feelings for his wife and children can no longer be compared with the long-standing dissatisfaction in his heart. Grady told him that his wife and children must be "corrected" for their attempts to escape from the hotel. Obviously, for Jack at this time, the more his wife and children have to flee the hotel, the more they want to ruin his future and the more they want to challenge his dignity as husband and father, so they must be stopped in time like Grady did.
Just as Wendy found the sentence in Jack's manuscript: all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. The excessive pressure kept Jack on the verge of collapse. However, it was too late. Jack's subconscious mind has transformed into a "Western colonizer" who wants to maintain his dignity and win his future and honor. His wife and son have become obstacles in his eyes, and his mind has been completely split and mutated.
In addition, Jack also constantly showed his shining in other places in the film. From the beginning, he felt that this place was "déjà vu". At this time, his shining was still very vague, not particularly strong, because he had not yet After being greatly stimulated, I saw the bartender, Delbert Grady, and naked women... As he was stimulated more and more, his shining became stronger and stronger.

Another concealed character with the Shining in the film is Jack's wife Wendy. In fact, Wendy's shining is very weak. Only at the last moment, she was greatly stimulated by her husband's madness, that she could see those weird sights.

Third, word games Kubrick
Kubrick really cunning enough, he played with several local word game in the movie, the plot becomes more complex mystery:
Charles Grady & Delbert Grady
did not know the audience has not noticed The former administrator mentioned by the person in charge of the hotel was called Charles Grady, and the one who appeared in front of Jack later was called Delbert Grady. This detail tells us that Delbert Grady, Lloyd, or a large group of people in the ballroom, they are not ghosts. , But Jack appears in the subconscious mind under countless psychological cues; ghosts can't get their name wrong, only the products of the subconscious have such uncertainty. So the first time Jack saw the bartender, he immediately called his name Lloyd.
2. Redrum
This word appeared three times in the movie, all of which appeared in Danny's mouth or mind. I think most viewers have not noticed this word, or even if they have noticed, they don't understand it? Because there is no subtitle translation for this word, it can only be explained by the audience based on their own understanding of the film. Judging from the number of occurrences and occasions of this word, it must have a special meaning. What is it?
At the beginning, I tried to use word splitting. There are two splitting methods, which can be split into red+rum or re+drum. Rum has the meaning of wine or weird, but it doesn't make sense literally, and the latter can be interpreted as "repeated beating", but this pronunciation does not match the movie. It wasn't until the fourth time I watched this film that I realized that I had fallen into Kubrick's text trap.
I don’t know if the audience pays attention, what appeared in Danny’s mind, and the "redrum" he wrote on the bathroom door, where the four letters "drum" at the back are reversed. What does this remind us? right! Turn the word "redrum" upside down! What is it? -Murder! murder! This way the meaning is quite clear. The two letters of "re" are not written upside down. It can be understood that these two letters need to be emphasized, so if they are linked together, it is "re-murder"! Murder again! Danny's shining is actually not particularly strong, because he was not stimulated much before the accident, but the long-term habit of talking with Tony made him spontaneously use the shining to remotely sense some dangerous things that are about to happen.
Interpretation of the caravans era of --truck & truck
before it has been elaborate, not repeat them.

After understanding the three points I said above, do you think this film is no longer so difficult to understand? Of course, some small questions can be explained accordingly:
The scars on Danny’s neck can be attributed to the combined effect of the three shinings of their family: Jack had already hinted at the "ex-administrative tragedy" in his heart, and Danny had been subjected to "Room 237" before. "Something bad happened" interference, and Wendy based on Jack's injury to Danny a few years earlier, so she saw the scar on Danny's neck.

Jack was locked in the storage room by Wendy. How did he get out? the shinning! Just as the conversation between the black chef and Danny at the beginning of the film: "There are many people who have the Shining, but they don't even know, let alone how powerful it is!" How powerful is the Shining? Again, it depends on the degree of stimulation of the subjective consciousness and the objective environment.
However, it is worth mentioning that for the explanation of Room 237, many film critics think. The number 237 represents the 237-day massacre of Indians by the United States. This claim is unfounded. According to historical records, the United States’ genocide policy lasted for about a century and in just 237 days. It is absolutely impossible to reduce the Indian population of more than 30 million to less than 800,000.
Since its publication, this film has been regarded as the most horror film in the world. The screenwriter’s conception is exquisite and exquisite, reaching an unprecedented level. At least it is not an exaggeration to say that so far, no other film of its kind has surpassed its achievements in this regard. At the same time, the filming technique of this film is also very brilliant. In the film, many follow-up shots and children's perspectives are used in the film. Especially when Danny rides through Room 237, the lens that looks up is quite good, which will make you nervous and nervous. The atmosphere was set off to a climax. In addition, the flowing effect of light and shadow in the surrounding environment also gives the audience a strange and cold atmosphere.
Some people say that watching this film is actually watching the destruction of a man. It is also said that it is a history of Indians in disguised form of blood and tears. As the saying goes, the benevolent see benevolence, and the wise see wisdom, a good film, its meaning will never stop at a certain level of superficiality. Even if you watch it 10,000 times, you can get new feelings. Why should it be necessary to weaken its original appeal?


Author: Movie Collector Jack
http://www.mtime.com/my/jianglihui5/blog/1810081/

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Extended Reading
  • Howell 2021-10-20 18:58:09

    Recently rewatched, I feel that this is a classic depicting modern anxiety, the core is in the sentence "All work and no play makes jack a dull boy". Jack is actually a good person. He cares too much about the responsibility of being a man. He wants to write a good work to prove himself. Finally, he drives himself crazy, raises his axe and hacks his family madly, because he doesn't know where the problem is and he doesn't want to. Acknowledging his limited talents, he blamed his family and regarded his wife and children as a burden, thinking that if he had not supported them and shouldered their expectations, he would not have to live so tired. I have experienced this kind of pressure, but when it reached a certain critical point, I finally decided to let myself go. Modern society has given us too many opportunities, and at the same time it has given us an increasingly heavier identity anxiety. Many people are trapped in a whirlpool and cannot escape. Perhaps the only real relief is to go back to the heart and ask yourself seriously, why did this life for decades come, and is it happy? does it worth? Does it really have to be so?

The Shining quotes

  • Jack Torrance: The most terrible nightmare I ever had. It's the most horrible dream I ever had.

    Wendy Torrance: It's okay, it's okay now. Really.

    Jack Torrance: I dreamed that I, that I killed you and Danny. But I didn't just kill ya. I cut you up in little pieces. Oh my God. I must be losing my mind.

  • Jack Torrance: [disappointed at finding the bar empty] God, I'd give anything for a drink. I'd give my goddamned soul for just a glass of beer.