Room 237: 'Room 237' tries to unravel the myriad of mysteries, embedded by genius filmmaker Stanley Kubrick within his masterful horror classic 'The Shinning'.
Made using various clips from Kubrick’s cinematic endeavors and an assortment of other filmic sources, as diverse as lamberto bava's flesh munching 'Demons', and mainstream Hollywood fare like 'Schindler's List'. Hobbling these clips together director Rodney Ascher assembles a patchwork of images to plead his speculative case that is dived into 9 parts. In these sections a whole host of wild and woolly concepts smash, mixing fact and fiction in an explosion of speculations, rants and sheer paranoia, in this wondrous deluge of rambling debate.
In his unorthodox approach Ascher allows a number of individuals to theorise their ideas, from 'The Shinning’ being a thinly veiled damnation about the holocaust horrors of World War 2, to the mass genocide of Native Americans. In the most thought provoking argument, one narrator suggests 'The Shinning' is in fact just one long cathartic confessional by Kubrick, about his involvement with the US government in faking the 1969 Apollo moon landing. Laid out nice and thick, this head spinning tale is accompanied by a number of spine tingling facts.
If you look at the scene where Danny is playing with his toys around the oddly patterned carpet you can see a hexagonal shape. The same shape as the launch pad area of Apollo 11. The scene continues with Danny rising from his game, to reveal emblazoned across his jumper a rocket with the lettering Apollo 11. Next Danny makes his way to room 237, which according to text books of that period was thought to be the exact distance from the Earth to the Moon, 237,000 miles. Is this a hidden visual confession by Kubrick? or is it merely a series of strange coincidences?
Like few other directors Kubrick and his films attracts fevered amounts of speculation from fans. While you may have others who draw similar wild theories, like the mind bending cinema of David lynch, there’s just something about Kubrick's method. His sense of pre-planned sneakiness, of adding layers and meaning into frames and sequences that appear to have none. While Lynch floods your brain with backwards speaking dwarfs and cryptic blue boxes, Kubrick just gives you an image, sometime static, like there’s no mystery, no intent. It's only when you stare at it long enough does the true meaning shine forth. The equivalent of a cinematic magic eye.
While I was taken aback by the unconventional narrative storytelling presented in this doc, its ideas are so rich, so wonderfully expansive that whatever short comings it may have are easily forgiven. It now stands as an essential partner both for furthering the very movie it exams and cinematic analysis as a whole. For once you delve into the delicious delights of 'Room 237', you will never watch be able to watch 'The Shinning' as you have before. Instead your head will now swim with objects transforming into phallic appendages, Nazi type writers, Minotaur’s and moon landings. 'Room 237' gloriously twists your perceptions, making it a must see for movie and Kubrick fans alike.