Gottschalk 1
Lauren Hope Gottschalk
Mrs. Robbins
Critical Analysis of Film and Literature
18 November 2014
The Shining
It is easy to say that thus far all parts of The Shining are scary in their own way, yet one scene seems
more frightening than the others. It is understandable that young Danny Torrance will do anything to
keep his mind occupied. Staying in a ginormous hotel, without playmates, without getting to leave
the premises is maddening enough. It has been seen so far that he enjoys playing outside with
his mother and bike riding down the long hallways of the Overlook Hotel. There is a scene in
the film where Torrance is biking down these hallways one after the other. Part of what makes this
part of the scene scary is that it is shot so the viewers seem like they are with Torrance. Also,
Torrance keeps riding the bike on carpet then on wood which is loud and adds to the suspense of the
scene. There is also low and eerie music playing, and no one knows what the next hallway will
bring Stanley Kubrick seems to be playing with the audiences emotions because in the end there is
nothing in each hallway that Torrance visits. The fear of the unknown as was also seen in Psycho
when Detective Milton Arbogast begins to ascend the stairs of the mansion. Another part that makes
this scene scary is that Torrance abruptly stops in the middle of the hallway when he sees room 237.
There is a rack focus and a over the shoulder shot of Danny who is not in focus and room 237 which
is in focus. In a previous part of the film Dick Hallorann had told Torrance that he should never enter
room 237. This may leave the audience feeling curious and a little afraid of what lies in room 237.
Torrance continues to remove himself from his bike and tries to enter room 237. This is frightening
because there could be something dangerous and terrifying in that room. Yet the door is locked and
Torrance cannot enter. The door being locked resembles another idea of fear of the unknown.
Why did Kubrick lock room 237?
I also blogged about this scene because I agree it was very suspenseful. I believe Kubrick locked the door of room 237 because it creates even more suspense as to whats in it and of it effects Danny in relation to the hotel. By not giving the audience all the answers so fast allows them to think for themselves of what could possibly be in there. The unknown is what is feared most because then audience subconsciously thinks of every possible outcome for the scene which can have many scary things.
ReplyDeleteClearly this was a popular scene to write about, and for good reason. It is one of the most memorable scenes in the film because it shows that now that the Torrance family is alone in the hotel, anything can happen. This scene could have gone many different ways, and I feel as though the audience was definitely on the edge of their seats for this one. Something I found interesting as I watched the scenes with Danny on his tricycle was that Danny is always shot from behind, instead of the camera showing him approach his destination from the front. I just thought this was ominous because, what if something was behind him and he didn't know? The audience wouldn't know either.
ReplyDeleteAnother scene I found to be suspenseful was when Danny was riding through the kitchen into one of the hallways, the music escalating and noises popping out of nowhere, and he comes across one of his worst nightmares. Two innocent looking little girls stand at the end of the hall, ominously saying, "come play with us, Danny, forever, and ever, and ever." This gets me every time, mostly because of the "boom" that comes when he turns that corner, and just the way the girls say that line. The close ups on the girls' and Danny's faces are important (and also scary) in this scene because you can see their expressions clearly and you don't know what the camera is going to cut to, which is suspense in itself.