The film The Shining is a film adaptation of Stephen King's book and was directed by Stanley Kubrick in 1980. The plot accompanies Jack Torrance, a writer in search of inspiration who gets a job as a janitor at the Overlook Hotel during the winter, a period in which the hotel is closed. Jack moves in with his wife Wendy and their son Danny, who possesses psychic abilities known as The Shining One.
However, the isolation of the hotel and the presence of supernatural forces begin to affect Jack's sanity, which gradually becomes increasingly unstable and violent, putting the safety of his family at risk. Meanwhile, Danny begins to have frightening visions of the hotel's past and what could happen in the future.
This film marked me for its high complexity making the viewer pay attention to all the smallest details looking for answers, it is undoubtedly one of the classics of cinema. Below are five interesting facts about the film:
MOVIE SET
The Shining set was extremely cold: Kubrick wanted to create an authentic, frosty environment for the winter scenes, so the temperature on set was kept below zero degrees Celsius. The actors had to wear heavy clothing for the scenes, and the steam from their breath was real, not digitally added.
IMPROVISATION
The Shining has many improv scenes: Kubrick was known to be a very demanding and meticulous director, but he also allowed his actors to improvise. The iconic scene from “Here's Johnny!” was completely improvised by Jack Nicholson.
THE LABYRINTH
The maze in The Shining was real: the film's final scene takes place in a maze of bushes. The set was a real labyrinth, built especially for the film, with more than 1,500 square meters.
THE THEORIES
The Shining is known to have a number of conspiracy theories surrounding it: the most famous theory is that the film is a reference to the US government's experiments on mind control, as Kubrick would have been hired to film the landing of man on the moon , in 1969. There are also theories about the hidden meaning of various scenes and symbols.
THE AUTHOR DIDN'T LIKE
Stephen King, author of the book on which the film is based, did not like the adaptation: King felt that Kubrick's film was not faithful to his story and the characters' personalities, which led him to make his own film version of the story in 1997. However, Kubrick's film is considered a masterpiece and a benchmark in the horror genre.
