Favourite Stanley Kubrick Movie

I like the idea of the film really being a representation of Jacks novel which is likely to be a horror ghost story cos he had writers block. When Ullman mentions the Grady tragedy, notice the look on Jacks face as if a light has gone on he has been enlightened! - he at last has the idea for his novel! Rob Ager (Collaborative Learning website) looks at some of this in his analysis. But I would like to think the whole movie is relatively Jacks novel unravelling pience by piece. the black titles in the film are chapters. Each chapter features a new plot line with Danny becoming more and more awakened.

It makes sense then that Kubrick chose the most eccentric takes of the acting of his players. Jack really overacts in the -'gimme the bat' scenes. (Simpsons made fun of this beautifully) - Wendy overacts terribly in the scene where she is roaming the hotel at the end, looking catatonic - like characters in a badly written novel. Lets assume that Jack is a failed author therefore his novels are badly writtenand we are seieng this in some of the banal dialogue and 'acting'. There are times when the acting is realistic and the scenes are straight forward and these could be the 'reality' in between the novels scenes.

 

 

 

 

---

Could I also put forward some ideas of Danny and the Maze.

Rob Ager again has touched on this but I had thought that Danny had inside info on the maze. He knew the maze and therefore had been there before.

Evidence?
1. He led his mother straight to the centre. it took no time for Danny to find the centre and his mother simply had to chase him ('to keep America clean'). She says its so beautiful and she didnt know it was so big. But Danny doesnt have any dialogue to indicate he is surprised by this, though he does agree with his mother.

2. Danny knew the maze to such an extent that even late at night in the freezing snow he easily was able to trap his father. He led Jack to a dead end and then backtracked his footsteps and once again easily found his way out of the maze to his mothers arms. How could he so easily find his way out? He must have memorised it. But ow could he memorise it unless he had been there before?

There are some explanations as to Dannys knowledge of the maze:

1. Tony supernaturally led him there to the centre and out again. This would only work if Tony really was a force talking to Tony with foreknowledge of events and would indicate preternatural intervention.

2. Danny simply fluked it. He got to the centre after some trial and error dead ends and therefore eventually found the centre simply by logical process of elimination. This of course would mean he flukes it again at the end when he finds his way out of the maze so easily yet his father is trapped.

3. He is led through the maze by his mother - she follows him but is kind of chasing him to the centre. This means that she knew somehow where the centre is. And it does not explain how danny at the end was able to navigate the maze so easily.

One may assume that the maze was easy anyway and not a challenge. However when looking at the maze carefully in the aerial shot, it is not an easy maze rather is quite a challenge, so how does Danny navigate it so easily? Is there another explanation? At this point you may hypothesize that the maze is not real and does not exist. Rob suggests the Overlook and the maze are one and the same by design and this may be true in light of the logic of the situation.

Fascinating film!

AtomicCrimsonRush wrote: Could I also put forward some ideas of Danny and the Maze. Rob Ager again has touched on this but I had thought that Danny had inside info on the maze. He knew the maze and therefore had been there before. One may assume that the maze was easy anyway and not a challenge. However when looking at the maze carefully in the aerial shot, it is not an easy maze rather is quite a challenge, so how does Danny navigate it so easily? Is there another explanation? At this point you may hypothesize that the maze is not real and does not exist. Rob suggests the Overlook and the maze are one and the same by design and this may be true in light of the logic of the situation. Fascinating film!

My feeling on this - having never read the book - is that Danny is able to see the same aerial shot we see through a kind of self-projection, piece of cake for a gifted one like him 





Edited by Atavachron - July 31 2011 at 20:05