The first is being an effervescent Kubrick fan. There are few masters of the art like him, auteurs who’s understanding of the language transcends simple on-screen storytelling; some spiritual part of his soul settles on the celluloid like emulsion itself. His films are not just a treat -- they are religious experiences. Without fail, since turning twenty, I have watched Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb on my birthday. And each year, I see new things.
My second is conspiracies. Just to be clear - I am not the guy in the dark green fatigue jacket with towering stacks of newspaper clips, video tape machines and photos with yarn connecting them to maps strung throughout my room. It’s a personal fascination I have with the nature of people who ascribe alternative realities to well-documented events; and how they can find these justifiable connections between imagined theories.
Some of my favorite theories involve movies.
My first Kubrick conspiracy was during the “Dark Side of the Wizard of Oz” phenom in the late 80s. Near the end of some article, the author mentioned that the last act of Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey synched up with the Pink Floyd’s song Echoes (from the album Meddle). With my video gear I made a copy, and was subsequently blown away. Some online pages told of mythical meetings between Kubrick and the band to negotiate and soundtrack, and the song was put together in spite when Kubrick passed. It is a much better soundtrack in my opinion, and the copy I made may be found here.
Room 237, by director Rodney Ascher, should be the ultimate, tailor-made documentary for my discriminating taste; it’s a special dark room in a special dark place. The Shining, Stephen King’s novel, was purchased by Kubrick and then heavily edited from its original story, to the point that King disavowed his participation. In the end, the two were similar only in name, location, characters, and a few story points. In the novel, Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) had sexual trysts with witches or ghosts in room 217. Kubrick changed the number. Bring in the conspiracy theorists!
In one segment, Room 237 claims The Shining is about the Holocaust through allegory; another, Kubricks secret apology to the world for purportedly being the mastermind behind faked Apollo 11 footage; a third, a story of European’s near extinction of Native Americans; and one an expose on how the layout of the hotel was physically impossible.
Each suggestion is plausible, backed up by quotes and scenes from the movie. Other imagery from Kubrick films are brought in to emphasize style points -- in one notable case, demonstrating a Minotaur-like expression shared through Kubrick’s antagonists through the years, before dropping the clue that his production company name from his early film noir masterpiece The Killing was ‘Minotaur’. The threads are woven smartly, to the point the director needed to attach an ardent disclaimer at the head of the film.
Most of these ‘experts’ have their own cottage industry based on their theories – books, websites, and in at least one case, a documentary. As expected, many withhold the specific information in the confines of Room 237. In the end it makes it more interesting, almost a subversive study of these people – who are incidentally never seen, only heard as disembodied voice overs – than it is the study of The Shining itself.
The one piece that appealed to me the most had less to do with the meaning than the technical genius that was Kubrick. One web theorist, who declined to be interviewed for the film, makes a remark on his site that “The Shining is a film made to watched both forward and backward.” The director takes this to mean a compound projection of a forward and backward running film at the same time. The results, which he shows, go further to demonstrate the odd symmetry that is a hallmark of Kubrick’s style.
In the end, the film does little to enlighten us about the movie itself or the master who crafted it in a mysterious way. I found it interesting and thought-provoking, even though the soup was a little thin overall. But the stories it weaves and the very interesting importance that has attached itself to this classic film will certainly keep a few people up late at night. Again.
Rating: seven of ten Chairman Mao statuettes
Medication: 20 mg oxycodone, 300 mg gabapentin
Pain Level: 4
TO WATCH ROOM 237 ON NETFLIX, CLICK HERE
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