Room 237, 2012.
Directed by Rodney Ascher.
SYNOPSIS:
An exploration into the numerous theories regarding the subtexts within Stanley Kubrick’s phenomenal horror The Shining.
Room 237, or Room 237: Being an Inquiry into The Shining in 9 Parts, begins with the voice of a man describing a ‘eureka’ moment upon viewing Stanley Kubrick’s film; noticing a can of Calumet baking powder, this interviewee happens to twig that this opens up the film’s subtexts. It’s about civil war, the colonisation of America and genocide of the natives. How does he come to notice this can and place upon it such importance? “I grew up near the Calumet river…was covering civil war…”. Another interviewee begins “since I’m trained as an historian” before exploring how the placement of symbolic eagles, the number 42, and a German typewriter tells us The Shining is Kubrick’s attempt to deal with the Holocaust.
Room 237 is a film essay rather than a documentary, a clarification of several theories concerning the meaning and subtexts of The Shining, using footage from Kubrick’s back catalogue, from historical archives, and other TV and film where relevant or elucidating. Throughout the film, each theorist’s evidence and ideas range from more to less plausible, but none are entirely unconvincing. It’s about hidden sexuality, the minotaur and his labyrinth, about Kubrick admitting he helped fake the 1969 moon landing. It might be in some way about all of these, or none of them. The fact that each theory cross-pollinates with others is perhaps what is most revealing about the film. What you bring to it and choose to find in it, it will or won’t give back in relative measure.
Room 237 will clearly be of most interest to those who have not only seen The Shining, but who are willing to be introduced to the joys – and near-ridiculousness – of intense film analysis. It would be churlish to deny outright that all ideas explored are entirely without proof in the film, but it is equally silly to credit this all to Stanley Kubrick. Indeed, if there was ever a film to be made about obsessive, conspiracy-theory-like meaning-hunting in film it would have to be about Kubrick, who was known for his scrupulous attention to detail and preparation. Yet while the film does perpetuate the image of Kubrick the magnificent sponge-minded genius, it is best to watch it as a viewer of any and all films. The theories here seem extreme and absurd at times, the attention to detail and codes perhaps unbelievable, but the process of study is transferable to any film.
This is a call to arms for better, more intelligent filmmaking, and for more demanding audiences. It is a study of everything that’s in the frame, a lesson in using all of cinema’s possibilities, about understanding better how the human mind can perceive imagery and sound and playing with this to best effect. One narrator tells us that a chair disappearing from the background between one shot and the next is not a continuity error but rather a tiny moment of subliminal messaging which we register – the framing being what it is, so static and centered on Jack Nicholson’s face, we are consciously focused only on him. But we notice the chair somehow. We know something is wrong in this hotel, but we can’t quite place what.
All of this praises but doesn’t state that Room 237 itself is a finely made film; clear and brief, its visual sources are well-chosen, highlighting the narration’s theories with both genuine interest, and often a sense of humour. Director Rodney Ascher shifts quietly from topic to topic and back again, suggesting they are interwoven, and the entire lack of talking heads perpetuates this further. In the end, there’s one film at the centre of this.
Kubrick may have been a genius, he may not. (I spoke to a contemporary and friend of Kubrick at a screening of Room 237 who told me the director would’ve “laughed his ass off”, that it was “all bullshit, very entertaining bullshit…Stanley was trying to make a commercial success, a horror movie”). Perhaps all, some, or none of Room 237’s symbols and codes were intended. But they are present, and even if their meanings are not watertight and followed-through to the end of the film, they are doorways for some viewers into exploring the film’s effects. Room 237 shows us how complex film form can be. Why not take full advantage of it?
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Stephen Glass
Originally published April 1, 2013. Updated April 11, 2018.
