Room 237 is a documentary unlike any I’ve seen in a theater. A movie based on “decoding” the hidden subtexts of Stanley Kubrick‘s 1980 horror film The Shining might seem like it belongs as a DVD extra rather than a theatrically released film on its own. However, Room 237 delves into The Shining so deeply and the questions that people have asked about it since its release that the resulting documentary is a post-modern work of art unto itself.
First, a major warning: your enjoyment of this documentary is predicated on not only having seen The Shining before, but having seen it multiple times and understanding that it is a movie with a significant amount of depth. You also need to be aware of Kubrick’s authoritative style of filmmaking — by the time The Shining was made he spent so many years working on his films that hardly anything in his films — from the clothing the characters wore to the placement of the objects in the background of his shots — was accidental. Therefore, unlike typical teen scream horror films The Shining has a psychological depth to it that cannot be ignored.
Several voices (we never meet the faces of the individuals the voices belong to) expose their theories on The Shining‘s subtext. One argues that the film is essentially about the genocide of the Native Americans, pointing out the Indian-related imagery in the movie. Another, film historian Geoffrey Cocks, argues that it’s Kubrick’s response to the horrors of Nazism. Yet another points out the film’s ties to Greek mythology, culminating in the labyrinth scene that was not in author Stephen King‘s original novel. Another version recalls the rumors of Kubrick’s involvement in the “fake” Apollo 11 footage and how The Shining serves as his public confession. A final voice points out the eerie parallels when The Shining is screened backward and forwards at the same time.
Some of the segments are remarkably funny, especially when the contributors’ theories seem just so out there. But Room 237 employs so much footage from The Shining (along with a generous helping of clips from all of Kubrick’s other films) that even the most ridiculous-seeming theories have visual proof to make their case. For example, I can’t say I buy into the fact that the Apollo 11 moon landing footage was faked (think of the hundreds, if not thousands, of people who would have had to be “in on it” to pull off that hoax — and nobody has written a tell-all book about it yet?), I can’t dispute that there’s something funny going on in The Shining as it relates to the moon. And it’s also indisputable that there are more than a half-dozen references to Native Americans in The Shining — so why did Kubrick include so many? Surely he noticed it, right?
Of course, while each contributor is convinced his or her interpretation is the correct one, Kubrick couldn’t have deliberately included all those subtexts. Or perhaps he could have, and made The Shining the ultimate exercise in subliminal messages by a master director? It would be impossible — especially since Kubrick died in 1999 — to ever know the absolute truth. However, I doubt that if Kubrick were alive today he would be willing to make an authoritative statement on it. In fact, I think he would be delighted that movie fans have spent over three decades dissecting one of his great films. One one hand, it’s unfortunate that we’ll never have definite answers. On the other, I think that makes it all the more fun.
I have a stack of movies at home that I’m supposed to review for Movie Buzzers, but I think because of Room 237 the next movie I’m going to watch is The Shining. I think it’s about time I had my own theory, right?
RATING: Though strictly for Kubrick fans, this documentary will likely make you question the unconscious subtext of movies for years to come (8.5/10).
Room 237 will have a limited theatrical release beginning March 29.
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