ROOM 237 (2012)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
"Room 237" features mostly clips from "The Shining" and other Kubrick films as we hear voiceovers from a group of obsessed fans (a history professor named Jay Weidner, a music blogger for starters, people whom we never see) discuss subliminal messages and or background elements by pausing individual scenes or moments from "The Shining," possibly alluding to one meaning or another. One fan feels the film is an examination of the Nazi Holocaust due to a German typewriter that Jack Torrance uses in the film, and the number 42 (meaning the year 1942 when the Final Solution took shape) as emblazoned in one of Danny Lloyd's sport shirts; It goes further by alluding to suitcases that dissolve to people and vice versa. Another fan sees the film as an examination of the genocide of Native Americans - this theory has credence since the Overlook Hotel in the film has Native American tapestries, framed artistic renderings of Native Americans, the iconic shot in the film of blood gushing from an elevator, and the single line of dialogue in the film that mentions how the hotel was built on a Native American burial site. Also consider how the film opens with a spectacular aerial view of the Colorado woods while we hear chanting and other ritualistic noises in the soundtrack that could come from a Native American tribe. Oh, yes, I must not forget the Calumet Baking Powder cans, though I am skeptical that they deal with broken American Indian treaties. My theory is that they evoke the ridicule of making Native Americans into an advertising icon (not unlike Land O' Lakes butter). We see...what we want to see.
Then there are theories that run into the extreme and ridiculous. One fan posits that the film proves the Moon landing was a hoax thanks to Danny Lloyd's sweater that reads: "Apollo 11." Interesting but hogwash - I am not sure when these rumors started that Kubrick directed the Moon landing in the middle of Death Valley but if that rumor existed while he shot "The Shining," he might have been tickled pink by it and purposely had Danny wearing the sweater as a joke (Mr. Kubrick did have a wry sense of humor). Then there's the supposed erection from the hotel manager Stuart in the opening interview scene, or the fact that Barry Dennen's character as Stuart's assistant is somehow indicative of a Native American-type. Or the supposed Minotaur from a poster of a skier. Or making silly allusions to the Three Little Pigs combined with Nazi Germany propaganda films based on a dialogue bit improvised by Jack Nicholson during the famous scene where he tears down the bathroom door with an ax (I don't dispute the Three Little Pigs reference since Jack improvised the lines, but a Nazi Germany allusion? I think not.) Then there's the climactic moment when someone figures out a way to watch "The Shining" backwards and forwards at the same time!
No matter how ridiculous some of the claims are (did you catch Kubrick's face in the clouds?), "Room 237" can be a tad tedious but it is often fascinating and will lead many to look at "The Shining" again, a film that not unlike other Kubrick films continues to change each time one views it. Missing from this documentary is an exploration of what is definitively in the film, and not just wild theories (though, as I mentioned, there are some theories I agree with). I would have liked someone to mention the tiny ax in a cup during the Interview scene, or how there is the repeated line, "I want to be here, forever, and ever." We see...what we want to see and hear what we want to hear. I see "The Shining" as the breaking down of marriage, family and civilization through violence that repeats itself every generation. Others will see something different.
