Last night I welcomed in the month of October with renting a movie called The Shining. Nothing like a good classic horror movie to get the month started off right, right? There isn’t much more of a Classic than The Shining, or at least that’s what a lot of film students would say.
In the face of modern movie making the idea of watching a movie from the 80’s like this certainly shows an entirely different character to how movies are shot, edited and made. Kubrick is considered a master of film making, or rather was as he’s dead now. There’s a very stark difference in his style compared to that of what we see in current releases.
Kubrick, much like Hitchcock, was notorious for being a perfectionist in the takes it would take for him to get something out of the actors that he wanted. Apparently there’s a scene in the Shining that took one of the actresses 126 takes to get what Kubrick wanted. For film, that’s an awful lot of film on the floor. I have no idea what scene it is, that would be interesting to know. One particular scene apparently took a full year to film and get right.
Despite all that perfectionism, as I was watching the film it took me a while to get into the flow with it. The initial scenes are extremely wooden in terms of the actors and their performances. Which is often the case with Hitchcock. Somehow Kubrick is so heavy handed that the actor becomes a puppet rather than a character. Fortunately the story still works, and can still be scary. I owe that to the power of King’s writing and to the soundtrack.
There aren’t many themes that are much more ominous than what you’re hearing now. Which is why I’ve decided to kick off October with it. I’m wanting to get into the spirit of the month this year. Maybe I’ll be able to find a good deal of horror music this time around that can really spice up Single of the Day. We’ll see how far I get with it.
If you’ve never rented The Shining, do so now. Don’t wait. See a master story done with master music. Hopefully ignore the 70’s/80’s garb and style, it’s a bit over the top. Get your buttered popcorn, and your main squeeze to sit next to ya and get ready to have some wits scared out of you. As Jack Nicholson portrays one of the best crazy roles ever (2nd only to Brad Pitt in 12 Monkeys).
Cause all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
Once you’ve seen it, you’ll want the soundtrack. Pick it up now!