He is unable to put his undivided attention towards detailing while writing the story or thinking about it, since his consciousness pertains to a limit of recollection. Note how the scene opens with a close-up shot of the beige typewriter and slowly zooms out. Kubricks mind is the limit to its extensiveness. The film within a film parallel is also hinted at by the television content initially filling up our entire view of the scene before zooming out to reveal Danny and Wendy in the lobby. Stanley Kubrick's iconic Stephen King adaptation is intentionally dense and even nonsensical at times. Shrouded in strange mystery, puzzling cinephiles for decades, one of the films darkest secrets is the curious meaning behind the bear who appears to Shelley Duvalls Wendy as she is desperately escaping Jacks grasp. This is typed inconsistently throughout , with typos and no punctuations highlighting Jacks own ever-growing trance or unstable mental health over the course. The core ofThe Shiningmoon landing theory posits that not only was the 1969 moon landing a hoax, but that Kubrick was the one who constructed the fake footage. When Jack walks from the reception to the room, the camera travels in a perpendicular fashion highlighting the angle of the room and the apparent absence of a wall behind Ullmans room. Danny cleverly retraces back his footsteps and makes a false trail to confuse an already transfixed Jack and audience (the high pitched score literally tears you apart with anxiety and the fact that Kubrick changed the whole story in favor of a more pessimistic theme leaves you wondering about the outcome), who follows the footprints to get nowhere. Her relationship with Jack seems to be totally lacking in intimacy. He also informs Jack about Danny involving an outside party (Halloran) in the situation and stresses on words like will, to upset Jack. He goes upto the bar and meets Lloyd who fixes him another drink and says the expense is on the house, indicating the effort of the Overlook to carry Jack down the hill of madness. Kubrick used a yellow car instead of a red one and used a red snowcar contrary to yellow in the novel. Starring Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall, Kubricks film was adapted from the novel by Stephen King, with the author famously opposed to the directors vision, despite it being considered an iconic movie of the genre. the scene really doesnt make sense in the movie and i've never read the book so idk if its explained there. Jacks manifestation as a rotten, naked old woman in the room 237 dream sequence parallels the horrific physical disgust Danny would have felt during his nightmarish ordeal. 'The Shining:' Who is the Man in the Bear Costume? Parents just don't understand. Beyond being one of the most incredible and beloved horror movies ever made, it's also a project . Breakfast food is life and coffee is what makes the world go round. This fan theory posits that Danny is Theseus and Jack is the minotaur in Kubricks extended metaphor. Rumor has it Kubrick himself typed those words. The puzzled look on Jacks face can be interpreted as an effort to get his mind straight, and notice him using slurs every time he talks to Wendy. Jack later speaks to a disappointed Grady through the door, who believes Jack doesnt have the stomach to carry out the task. But there are also plenty of ludicrously far-fetched The Shining conspiracy theories that made the cut as well. Its a new day, and Jack shows an increasing sense of depersonalization in a chilling conversation if you notice the details. Jack admits to having underestimated the task and promises to go to any length to finish it, and his door unseemingly gets unlocked. Theres an evil side to it. Learn More{{/message}}. . Please contact the developer of this form processor to improve this message. As for Jack, he does die but not in the snow: a malfunctioning boiler explodes and kills Jack while also destroying the hotel. King famously hated the adaptation in Kubricks film because it was such a far cry from his original story. The shot passes by within 13 seconds and is never referenced again which raises many unanswered questions. Here are some of the most obvious clues supporting this theory. Wendy too looks in the mirror, and overlap the two scenes and you find Jack holding Danny while the mirror shows the filthiness of his atrocities. Bullingdon bares a striking resemblance to Danny Torrance. Buy a book on film making from any part of the world, either Russia or Japan or Sweden, and youll find this name mentioned not once but in every chapter, ranging from minutely monumental details like breaking the 180 degree rule to establishing genres like science fiction and satirical comedy. When the psychiatrist asks Danny Who's Tony Wendy, stood defensively with her arms folded, quickly interjects, Tonys his imaginary friend, as if trying to gloss over the issue. The Overlooks cook, Dick Hallorann, arrives to help Wendy and Danny after the latter reaches out to him through the shining, but is ambushed and killed by Jack. Theres no doubt regarding his undisputed title of the greatest film maker in the history of cinema, and though people may point out Tarkovsky or Kurosawa or Bergman, none of them has influenced the art to such an extent. She is an Audiovisual Communication graduate who wanted to be a filmmaker, but life had other plans (and it turned out great). Some details supporting the latter is that Jack leers at other women several times in the film. The Shining Ending Explained: Why Jack Is In The Photo, The Shining Movie's Most Significant Difference From Stephen King's Book, IT Chapter Two's Shining Reference Hints At Stephen King's Shared Universe, The Shining Has An Alternate Ending You Will NEVER See, What Jack Nicholson Was Really Like Filming The Shining, Lloyd the bartender was never a real person, The Shining: The True Story & Real-Life Hotel Behind The Movie. At the time, the film made modest profits and was met with lukewarm reviews ("Even the film's most startling images seem overbearing and perhaps even irrelevant," shrugged . Without Kubrick around to spell out his intentions, the answer is probably not. Make sure you come right back 'cause Im gonna make lunch soon. Instead of being inside, the young boy is out in the hedge maze being pursued by his father. These dates line up to the precise year that lightning strikes hit a monument a town wrought with countless Native American deaths. This scene has been interpreted many ways, and one of the most popular explanations is that it represents the hotel absorbing Jacks soul. "I love it so much, but I was afraid that once we brought him back, it evokes all the images from the original down to the open butt flap of the costume. A rotating shot followed by a hawk-eye shot of pine forests that point out of the screen like needles with the nerve-wracking high pitched background score. Kubrick deliberately left many things unexplained, including many details from the third act he did, however, explain why Jack Torrance appears in The Shining picture at the end. Danny escapes the maze and reunites with Wendy, and they escape in Hallorans snowcat. In an interview (via Huffington Post), Doctor Sleep director Mike Flanagan discussed why he didn't include this particular character, and his reasoning makes sense. Wendy parallels this in her last line of dialogue to Danny as he runs to get his fire engine: Make sure you come right back 'cause Im gonna make lunch soon. Adrienne is very into films and she enjoys a bit of everything: from superhero films to heartbreaking dramas, to low-budget horror films. Hedge animals and objects coming to life, Gradys ghost, generalized and plot favored characterization, the spirit of the Overlook Hotel and playing safe with the gore; stuff like this grows campy over time and Kubrick turned this into an atmospheric psychological horror. Why the bear costume? The scene seemed almost accidental but knowing Stanley Kubrick, every shot that made it to the final cut was necessary. Where the clear subtext and The Shining abuse theory diverge is on the type and extent of the abuse. We are given a tour of The Overlook, and in these long takes Kubrick covers every detail and clue that is crucial to the story, a prime example of his unparalleled intelligence, something that left me shell-shocked on a second watch. It was great. He also suggests that Kubrick dismissed the notion when King brought it up to him. There were many controversies regarding the adaptation taking its own course halfway down the line, and is still lambasted by King and many bookworms. Look carefully at this teddy pillow. Even when looked at more literally, The Shining's meaning is still up for debate, as some fans disagree on whether the ghosts in The Shining are even real. Perhaps the Overlook hotel is merely something of a mental prison for Danny, with his peculiar powers bringing in the consciousnesses of his mother and father in order to process his sexual abuse. But, to be perfectly honest, every other piece of evidence in support of this theory is beyond far-fetched and not to be taken seriously. The dog/sexual abuse interpretation hasnt been confirmed by those involved in the film, so its up to each viewer if they accept it or not. The final outcome was, as we all are aware of, one of the finest horror movies of all time. Funnily enough, director Stanley Kubrick had a couple different endings in mind for The Shining, each of them very different. The point of Horace's request was cruelty. Proponents of this theory also point to objects and furniture in the background moving and disappearing between takes as further evidence. The ball itself is featured in another scene with Jack throwing it against a wall in the hotel lobby. The Shining - (Clip) Man in Bear Suit SwordfromtheStone 101 subscribers Subscribe 2.7K Share Save 557K views 14 years ago This is a not often seen clip from Stanley Kubricks'The Shining. The last of our The Shiningmovie theories is the most cogent of the bunch:The Shining abuse theory. Its more than likely that Kubrick placed this article title in the scene to communicate that the psychiatrists dismissal of Dannys health problem is mistaken. The film Stanley Kubrick called "the best film I think I have ever seen" Shrouded in strange mystery, puzzling cinephiles for decades, one of the film's darkest secrets is the curious meaning behind the bear who appears to Shelley Duvall's Wendy as she is desperately escaping Jack's grasp. Here's The Shining bear scene explained. Super Dark The Shining Theory Reveals The Story Is All In Wendy's Head. Jack also mentions his wife being a horror movie addict and her character is typical of a scream queen/damsel in distress (something out of a conventional 40s horror flick). The aforementioned Room 237 doc covers this theory and the following video digs even deeper into this Native American genocide interpretation. Jack has clearly gone haywire and absent-mindedly proceeds to the Gold Room. The Bear in The Shining has a lasting legacy though an especially unsettling moment in an already unsettling film. Dick tells Danny that many people shine but arent aware of it and demands him to not explore Room 237. In the lobby Danny and Wendy watch a film called Summer of 42, which is about a young man who has an affair with an older woman. While some fans felt this missed an opportunity to add some meaning to The Shining bear suit, Flanagan felt trying to give the bear from The Shining a backstory would disrupt the rest of the movie. A hostile Jack threatens her and claims he has responsibilities to look after and will get rid of her if she bothered him. Diane Johnson said this of Stanley Kubrick's non-horror vision: "The ending was changed almost entirely because Kubrick found it a clich to just blow everything up. Stephen King's Doctor Sleep follows an adult Danny Torrance after the events at The Overlook Hotel and his endeavor to find closure. The scene dissolves and we can feel the frustration dripping out of Jack, which is brilliantly conveyed through the thumping rebounds of the tennis ball. Coming to Grady, who I think like Lloyd was a fragment of representation of the hotel that would explain his statement I have always been here and look how throughout the scene Jack looks right in the direction of the mirror, almost like envisioning himself. Last update on 2023-02-28 / Source: Amazon Affiliates. The horrific happenings, the fact that the Torrance family is trapped, and the suggestion that Jack has been in the hotel for decades support The Shining analysis that the Overlook represents hell. The bear man appears to be giving felatio to the man on the bed, just as the dog man in the book was carrying out a sexual submission role with his partner. About the Jack in the picture, Kubrick confirmed that it wasnt taken at The Overlook and doesnt serve as an evidence of Gradys claim that Jack had always been the caretaker. Your email address will not be published. In the scene, Wendy Torrance (Shelley Duvall) is roaming through the halls of The Overlook Hotel with a knife when she approaches a door at the end of a long hallway. Stanley Kubricks The Shining is regarded by many as one of the greatest films ever made, and one that to this day continues to be the subject of many debates and discussions. This interpretation suggests that the changing layout of the hotel and moving objects aremetaphorsto indicate that the Torrance family is suffering from hallucinations. Wendy Torrance, (played by Shelly Duvall) frantically roams the halls of the Overlook Hotel looking for her son Danny while her husband, Jack Torrence ( played by Jack Nicholson) goes on an axe rampage. I dont go for number interpretations generally, but here Ill make an exception. Jack as warned by Grady kills Halloran with a strike to the chest in the lobby. The similarities are intentional. In particular, we see Jack Nicholson and James Mason having a personal chat, while the rest of Masons family meet Kubrick himself. Prior to Screen Rant, she wrote for Pop Wrapped, 4 Your Excitement (4YE), and D20Crit, where she was also a regular guest at Netfreaks podcast. This documentary is an exhaustive cataloguing of allThe Shining fan theories big and small. Three minutes into the movie and we come face to face with the words, The Interview in block letters resembling the beginning of a chapter. Roger in his costume, jumping, running, barking, howling, and absolutely humiliating himself in front of an assortment of celebrators. #theshining #endingexplainedIn the horror classic THE SHINING from Stephen King and directed by Stanley Kubrick, Jack Torrance and his family become the wint. He also informs Danny about the hotels ability to shine owing to its tragic past from being built on an Indian burial site to the murders, discovered and undiscovered. One of the many mysteries of Stanley Kubrick's The Shining is why Jack appears in the photo at the end, and it actually has a semi-simple explanation. Additionally, lines of dialogue such as white mans burden further support this association. contain their own pieces of unique information. Kubrick thought topiary animals might be too goofy and cute, but he always liked the idea of a maze." Now starts a series of intentional continuity errors and weird set designs, that are prevalent throughout the movie. I've never read the book. Another tracking shot, where Danny finds Room 237 and is about to open it before changing his mind and quickly wheeling away. Kubrick replaced the hedge animals in the book with a hedge maze, which like the movie offers endless possibilities but barely any solution. Mr Ullmann converses with Jack regarding formal details and warns him about the history of the Overlook. Some believe this suggests Lloyd the bartender was never a real person, and instead just a role the Overlook assigns to one of the souls it owns. He came as the caretaker, but this hotel had its own guardians - who'd been there a long time. In attempting to answer "what is The Shining about?" The Shining Caretaker Explained, Every Shining Character Who Returns In Doctor Sleep. This provides a clear association between bears and Danny Torrance. This chapter will cover the first of those themes. Contents 1 Biography 2 Notes & Trivia 3 See also 4 External Links 5 Appearances 6 References The scene with the man in the dog costume and the man in a tuxedo is the one used to support this theory, which says the dog represents young Danny Torrance (who earlier in the film is shown to have a plush toy) and the man in the tuxedo represents Jack. Either way though, it's a haunting moment in The Shining, as the dynamic between the two men is uncomfortable, to say the least. The ghost is Delbert Grady, and the past caretaker was Charles Grady. ew films inspire as many diverse fan theories and interpretations as Stanley Kubricks, a film that can be definitively explained?