Mise-en-scène, film language - analysis The Shining (1980)

I have chosen a clip from Stanley Kubrick's 1980 horror film The Shining starring Jack Nicholson and will now provide an analysis of the mise-en-scène, the clip that I am writing about is embedded above. 

Film: The Shining
Release: 1980
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Starring: Jack Nicholson
Length of clip: 2:41

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Costume: Jack Nicholson's character Jack Torrance is dressed in a reasonably smart manner; jacket, jeans, plaid shirt, nothing out of the ordinary. This is how writer/caretaker Jack Torrance is presented throughout much of the film, a down-on-his-luck "everyman". This is contrasted sharply with the Jack we see in the clip above, by the time this scene takes place in the film his descent into madness is complete and his everyday appearance is starkly contrasted by his dishevelled look, a cut on his head from being struck by a baseball bat, limping and hunched over from a fall down the hotels stairs and of course wielding an axe.

When it comes to Shelley Duvall's character Wendy Torrance she is seen in this clip wearing her dressing gown, you could argue that this highlights her vulnerability, she is at her new found home, the Overlook Hotel, holed up during an intense winter the environment is desolate and she is isolated, from other people in terms of geography and from her husband mentally. Despite all of the potential threats (running out of food, an avalanche, a medical crisis involving her son) the threat that actually presents itself comes from within, from her deranged husband and the dressing gown only stands to highlight how unprepared and vulnerable she truly is, meanwhile, the final character in the scene Danny Torrance played by Danny Lloyd is scene in a colourful woolly jumper this conveys not only how cold and windswept the location is but also emphasises his age; he is a young boy and young boys wear colourful jumpers, it could almost have been knitted by his grandmother. 

Setting (1): The set for the Overlook Hotel was then the largest ever built at EMI Elstree Studios in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, Britain. During production a life-size recreation of the exterior of the hotel was built at Elstree. Some of the interior designs of the Overlook Hotel set are notable for being based on those of the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yasemite National Park.

While most of the interior shots, and even some of the Overlook exterior shots were done on studio sets, a few exterior shots were done on location by a second-unit crew headed by Jan Harlan: Saint Mary Lake with its Wild Goose Island was the filming location for the aerial shots of the opening scene. The Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood in Oregon was filmed for a few of the exterior shots of the fictional Overlook Hotel, and notably absent in these shots is the hedge maze - a nonexistent feature at the Timberline Lodge. 

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Setting (2): The Overlook Hotel is perhaps the single most important characteristic of the Shining. Architecturally speaking it is an exceptionally large building, isolated and situated upon a windswept mountaintop; the drive up to the hotel is perilous, with the road leading to it winding around the cliff top. The Hotel is snowed in during the winter making the difficult journey to and from the building impossible during the winter months. The Hotel is closed from November to May and a caretaker is brought in to take care of the facilities. The site of the hotel is situated on a Native American burial ground, interestingly though despite this seeming like a staple of the horror genre it may not be as significant as it sounds. The isolation of the Overlook Hotel as a setting contributes far more to the horror that takes place during the film. For example, Jack's motivation for becoming the winter caretaker is due to the fact he thinks the hotels solitude will provide him with the appropriate setting to write in peace over a period of many months, what he does not realise is the ramifications of total isolation and the toll it will take on his mental health.

Film Psychology and the Spatial Layout of the Overlook Hotel:

The hotel itself does not make sense architecturally speaking according to independent film theorists and analysts. The point is the Overlook Hotel is not just a place of isolation its a symbolic maze; a vast disorientating labyrinth of corridors and impossible windows and doors that lead nowhere. There are a vast array of examples that prove this hypothesis and I'm going to discuss just a few of them. One clear error in the hotel's layout is the window in Ullman's office, the surrounding hallway wraps around the office and so makes the window spatially impossible, this anomaly is so utterly blatant that it could not have gone unnoticed in the set design and construction phase. The hotel as a setting is full of impossible and illusory designs employed by Kubrick to disorientate the viewer and simultaneously communicate conflicting schools of thought, namely ghosts versus cabin fever. "It had been pointed out that there's a mirror in every scene in which Jack sees a ghost, causing us to wonder whether the spirits are reflections of a tortured psyche." The question as to whether the Overlook Hotel really is inhabited by a malign presence is never conclusively determined. Others have speculated that Kubrick tried to dramatize a methodical assault by the hotel (it in itself the real malign force) upon Jack. The deep sense of frustration and loneliness he feels is a weapon of sorts used to warp his sense of perspective and his feelings towards his family, eventually his mind is so twisted he can easily find justification for his actions, in the mind of Jack murdering his wife and child is a reasonable response because they are the reason for his failures, his drinking and his inability to write. Furthermore the fact that every time Jack "speaks" to the hotel and the supernatural forces that may or may not reside within it means, to some extent, that Kubrick implicates him directly into the hotel's "consciousness," because Jack is, in effect, talking to himself and the ghosts he meets are simply manufactured in his mind and explained by his psychopathy. On the other hand Kubrick scholar Michael Ciment has written on how Jack's escape from the locked storeroom can only be explained by ghosts:

It seemed to strike an extraordinary balance between the psychological and the supernatural in such a way as to lead you to think that the supernatural would eventually be explained by the psychological: 'Jack must be imagining these things because he's crazy.' This allowed you to suspend your doubt of the supernatural until you were so thoroughly into the story that you could accept it almost without noticing...It's not until Grady, the ghost of the former caretaker who axed to death his family, slides open the bolt of the larder door, allowing Jack to escape, that you are left with no other explanation but the supernatural.

Kubrick in an interview with Ciment commented that; "we wanted the hotel to look authentic rather than like a traditionally spooky movie hotel. The hotel's labyrinthine layout and huge rooms, I believed would alone provide an eerie enough atmosphere." Another example of a spatial defect is the Gold Room, we the viewer are never given an explanation as to how the Gold Room connects up to the rest of the hotel, it is flanked by a hallway that doesn't seem to spatially link up properly with the one in the hotel lobby, other sets are presented without any sense of apparent orientation to the rest of the hotel these include the games room, the basement boiler room and the river of blood hallway but for now I'm going to focus on the Gold Room. If we think of the Overlook Hotel in terms of major set pieces such as the large kitchen, the Colorado Lounge and the Gold Room it would be logical to assume Kubrick and his team of set designs would of at least come up with a rudimentary map as to how these pivotal locations relate to one another and the hotel at large, yet Kubrick plays even more spatial mind games with the audience, one of the most glaring contradictions in terms of layout and space is when Wendy is shown preparing meals in the Kitchen and she then wheels the prepared food through to the lobby of the hotel from the small Gold Room hallway area by the reception, on that basis we can assume the kitchen is near to or just beyond the Gold Room but later as Jack limps through the kitchen to kill Hallorann he enters the lobby on the opposite side to the Gold Room - the kitchen cannot be on both sides of the lobby it is an architectural impossibility. Another paradox involving the Gold Room comes when we see an exterior view of the Overlook Hotel which appears too small to contain the massive Gold Room with its high ceilings and grandeur. Another flaw is revealed through exterior aerial photography which shows extensive sections of the hotel built at odd angles to each other yet once inside another spatial contradiction reveals itself, all of the interior sets feature rooms and halls that contain perfect right angles, much like a maze. The end result of designing the hotel in the same manner as a maze only stands to increase the tension and heighten the audiences sense of terror, the feeling of being chased is intense enough but accompanied by the inescapable Steadicam and the sense of running in never ending circles as communicated by the tricycle scenes helps cement The Shining as a quintessential horror film. 

Finally, scale is also key to the Overlook Hotel. the imposing size of the building, its oversize and unnerving carpet patterns, the mountain ranges and especially the large Gold Room and Colorado Lounge make the characters look like small and defenseless child (which incidentally Danny is). Add this to the solitude and circumstances of the Torrance family (Jacks abusive parenting) the physiological brew as it were is potent, when coupled with deliberate spatial defects Danny's attempts to escape from his homicidal father are that much more vigorous and sinister as we the viewer do not understand the hotel's layout and are indeed not meant too, this leaves the viewer at loss as to whether Danny can really escape, we have seen him repeatedly making laps of the hotel on his tricycle and given the nonsensical layout its perfectly possible Jack could be lurking around the very next corner. The cat and mouse game that takes place between Danny, Jack and to a lesser extent Wendy and Hallorann foreshadows the final showdown between Jack and Danny in the hedge maze. Overall, these intentional and subliminal set designs are one of the key elements of the films setting and make The Shining unique in its ability to unsettle and disorientate the audience and it does this almost entirely without the clichéd cobwebs, dark shadows and haunted castles seen in other horror movies. 

Props:

One of the most prominent props seen in The Shining is Jack's axe. In fact, the clip I selected above is properly the most iconic seen in the film specifically because of the sequence where Jack uses it to hack his way into the bathroom. In the film, the basic model used is a pick head American fire axe. Several different axes were used in the production, including a few hero axes, several fiberglass stunt axes and at least two "gag" axes which were used in Hallorann's death scene. 

The significance of the axe in The Shining is paramount; firstly the choice of axe is important, the decision to use a fire axe is symbolic. The fire department itself is often portrayed as heroic and as coming to the rescue in moments of despair; this idea is turned on its head in The Shining as that is precisely what is not going to happen. Wendy and Danny are totally isolated; nobody is going to save them, not even Hallorann. They must save themselves. In addition to that red is a symbolic colour of the fire service, their trucks are red, the hydrants are red and so on. But as we know from The Shining red is also symbolic, specifically it is the colour of blood. From the elevator full of blood to the crimson bathroom (which I will discuss in detail later), the blood we see foreshadows the eventual massacre that is destined to take place at the Overlook Hotel, it almost preordained. Moreover there is the rather perverse idea of a fire axe being used as a weapon, when the fire axe originally installed it would have been for safety and security, but instead it is used destructive purposes. This is interesting as Kubrick develops the idea of taking the mundane or even the positive and using it for evil and destructive purposes. While the intended use of the fire axe was positive and yet it ends up being used to kill Hallorann, the hotel itself is supposed to be positive; the Torrance’s stay there is meant to provide them with sanctuary and solace but rather pushes them to the brink of sanity. By taking the most benign object or environment and making it malign the ensuing horror is that little bit more unexpected and that is ultimately what any horror director’s intention is: to shock, frighten and confuse their audience.

Finally, I have already mentioned how the colour red is visible, either overtly or subtly, in nearly every shot of the film. This use of colour links into the props used in the film, namely the axe. The combination of the colour red or more specifically blood and the axe lead to some of the most iconic and dramatic imagery of the film. For example Danny’s vision in the corridor of the twins brutally hacked to death, blood drenched walls and the axe itself resting on the blood soaked carpet is very memorable, naturally the audience at this point should imagine this is what is going – history is going to repeat itself and like Grady the previous winter caretaker Jack will go insane and culminate in the murder of his family, however this scenario never materialises, there is no bloodbath and the other death besides Jack himself (that’s if you believe he died) is Hallorann. Even the one murder Jack does commit is less bloodbath and more of a well executed slaying. Therefore the blood drenched axe never really comes to fruition. It is likely Kubrick did this intentionally in order to deceive the audience as well as relieve them when Wendy and Danny do indeed escape.

As a side note when Jack uses his axe to break through the bathroom door, he shouts “Here’s Johnny”. Many consider this a probable reference to the catchphrase of chat-show legend Johnny Carson. However an alternative explanation is that it is a reference to an incident that occurred in the 1960s when Johnny Cash used a fire axe to break a connecting “doorway” between two motel rooms that he and his band members were using while on tour, the story goes that he then proceeded to break through one of the doors that lead into the corridor to make it look as if a thief had broken in and trashed the place. Either way the film’s most famous line and one of the most prominent involving the axe was improvised by Nicholson on set. 

Another notable prop is the lipstick Danny uses to write the word "redrum" (also stylized as REⱭЯUM) on the door In the film Danny is an ordinary child with a preternatural gift - it is clear that his apparent imaginary friend "Tony" is really a projection of the hidden parts of his own psyche. It is indicated that Danny's "shining" abilities may manifest themselves in the form of his imaginary friend, Tony. The reason many people think is because toward the end of the film Danny goes into a trance and begins calling out "redrum", once in the trance he begins referring to himself as Tony. Using Wendy's lipstick Danny begins scrawling across the bathroom door (the same one Jack will hack to pieces). The fact that Danny uses a crimson lipstick is yet another metaphor for the blood that will split, much like the death seen involving the Grady twins, which I mentioned earlier. The fact he writes his message on the bathroom door is extremely important, it can be considered as a warning to both the audience and his regarding the events that are about to transpire. When Wendy sees the reflection of his message in the mirror it becomes apparent that the letters spell out "murder". This is yet another use of a mirror - I have already mentioned how mirrors are present in any scene where Jack communicates with a ghost, thus raising the question as to whether he is really talking to himself. It could be argued that mirrors in the film on the whole act as a kind of window into the mind of the Torrance family. Mirrors help the audience understand Jacks crazed mind as well as unraveling Danny's premonition for Wendy and the viewer.

It is also worth mentioning the fact Danny repeats the word "redrum" so many times it begins to almost sound like "red room", this is interesting because the crimson bathroom is indeed a red room and may perhaps be a window into Jack's violent mind, but this is an idea I will develop in greater detail later.    

Hair/make-up:

Wendy Torrance is an almost ghoulish figure. Various film critics have described her as meek, submissive, passive and mousy. She defends her husband and engages in pathetic apologetics, she stays with him despite his abuse toward Danny and it is implied that she may have been abused by him as well, in fact judging from her demeanor this seems more than likely. Shelley Duvall's long dark straight hair complete with bangs frame her face, the darkness of her hair contrasts with her skin tone making her appear even more pale than she already is, in addition it is possible that make-up in the form of white powder was applied to Duvall's face to further dim her complexion. 

The idea of presenting Wendy Torrance as a gaunt, ghoulish figure is significant. Firstly it hearkens back to the central theme of family. Author and Historian John Baxter proposes a theory that puts family as a theme front and centre in every scene. He writes, "this is a story of a family going insane together. Jack is already unhinged - on the verge - gradually his wife and child are drawn in." This theory provides us with an explanation as to why Wendy appears ghoulish, she is vulnerable and frightened having married a man who is a lunatic but she herself is also somewhat unstable and this relates strongly to the idea of The Shining not having a reliable observer. If Wendy like Jack is also insane, Danny a child and Hallorann dead then whose perspective and relocation of events can we trust? Secondly, in the film the apparent motivation of the ghosts is to "reclaim" Jack, who seems to be a reincarnation of a previous caretaker of the hotel, as suggested by the 1920s photograph  at the end (although it should be noted there are other theories regarding this enigma) and Jacks repeated claims of déjà vu. "When I came up here for my interview, it was as though I had been here before. I mean, we all have moments of déjà vu, but this was ridiculous. It was almost as though I knew what was going to be around every corner." In the film Jack is told by Grady, "you've always been the caretaker," this idea of Jack being part of the hotel and the events of the film leading up to his reabsorption may also apply to Wendy as Jack may not be the only character with supernatural qualities be them ghostly in nature or otherwise. It may in fact apply to the entire Torrance clan, after all Jack is able to communicate with ghosts, ghouls and spirits with ease, while Danny is psychic and able to communicate using telepathy. Continuing with this line of thought it remains possible however remote that Wendy herself maybe deceased or trapped in some kind of purgatory and her ghoulish appearance conveyed through the intelligent use of subtle makeup techniques hint at this. Evidence for this theory could be hidden in a scene that was cut after the films premiere and a week into the general run. With a running time of 146 minutes Kubrick cut a scene at the end that took place in a hospital. The scene shows Wendy in bed talking with Ullman who explains that Jack's body could not be found. Legendary film critic Roger Ebert noted:

If Jack did indeed freeze to death in the labyrinth, of course his body was found – and sooner rather than later, since Dick Hallorann alerted the forest rangers to serious trouble at the hotel. If Jack's body was not found, what happened to it? Was it never there? Was it absorbed into the past and does that explain Jack's presence in that final photograph of a group of hotel party-goers in 1921? Did Jack's violent pursuit of his wife and child exist entirely in Wendy's imagination, or Danny's, or theirs?... Kubrick was wise to remove that epilogue. It pulled one rug too many out from under the story. At some level, it is necessary for us to believe the three members of the Torrance family are actually residents in the hotel during that winter, whatever happens or whatever they think happens.

Facial expression/body language/movement:

Wendy Torrance:

While Wendy Torrance may appear as a fragile, damaged and relatively passive character in the early stages of the film she later becomes hysterical and unrestrained, totally unable to deal with the situation at hand. Earlier I discussed how in the clip above Wendy is seen in a dressing gown which symbolises her vulnerability and how ill equipped both physically and emotionally she is. When it comes to this scene it is also essential to discuss her facial expressions, body language and movements in detail in order to gain a greater understanding of the collection of elements that make up the characters in the film. In regard to facial expressions much of Shelley Duvall's performance rests on a melodramatic almost overacted scenes that show a petrified women, shrieking and overcome by a sense of horror and despair almost to the point of being incapacitated, Duvall's level of horror and ability to deal with her surroundings serves to heighten the tension and make what can already be described as bleak appear extraordinarily sinister. Wendy's body language early in the film mirrors her meek and mild personality - her small stature coupled with the fact she is often hunched up is a sign of her nervousness, anxiety and general defencelessness. In addition, the fact she is often accompanied by Danny makes her seem childlike and helpless, almost as if she needs to be taken care of herself. Later in the film as Jack descends into madness and his homicidal urges take over Wendy's body language just like her facial expressions change dramatically, the progression of her character over the course of the film starting out restrained and ending up unhinged almost mirrors how the family as a whole is gradually overwhelmed by the evil forces in the hotel, in one way or another every character has a part of their soul destroyed after staying in the Overlook Hotel, you could almost say Danny and Wendy are robbed of their innocence and good nature.

The final element to deal with is Wendy's movement - some writers and film pundits have criticised Duvall's performance as an "exaggerated portrayal of Wendy as Olive Oyl revisited: A simpering fatality of forces beyond her capacity to understand, much less surmount," (also in 1980 Duvall starred in Robert Altman's live-action adaptation of the Popeye comic strip). Co-screenwriter Diane Johnson stated that in her contributions to the script, Wendy had more dialogue, and that Kubrick cut many of her lines, possible due to his dissatisfaction with actress Shelley Duvall's delivery. Johnson believes the earlier draft of the script portrayed Wendy as a more-rounded character, rather than the hysterical screaming wreck she becomes. Throughout much of the latter half of the film as Jack rampages through the hotel Wendy collapses in a total frenzy, even when wielding a large kitchen knife she does not appear intimidating, rather reckless and perhaps more of a danger to herself. The way Wendy frantically slashes at Jacks hands as he tries to smash his way into the bathroom is another indication of how out of her depth she is, inexperienced in hand-to-hand combat, overwhelmed by the supernatural elements and only survives the ordeal as a whole due to her sons ingenuity and bravery. All the frantic arm-waving and wild movements we see Duvall perform make for a more dramatic climax and make Wendy into an archetypal damsel in distress.

Jack Torrance:

Initially Jack is seen as a reasonably likable and well a intentioned man, although there are elements of his personality that appear sinister and unsettling from the films inception. Even by this point in his character Jack Nicholson was known for taking on unique and challenging roles, many of which included dark portrayals of excitable and neurotic characters often with psychopathic tendencies. The sorts of characters he played indulged in black comedy and were often troubled, suffering from neurosis, alcoholism or some other form of addiction. See 1968's Psych-Out, 1969's Easy Rider and 1975's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Because of Nicholson's reputation for playing dark and mentally unstable characters author Stephen King tried to talk Kubrick out of casting him before filming even began, on the grounds that he seemed vaguely sinister from the very beginning of the film, Jon Voight was suggested by King as being more suitable for the role.

In the early portion of the film Jack seems flamboyant, upon his arrival at the Overlook Hotel he meets with Ullman and proceeds to laugh almost manically at the slightest things, he eyebrows are often raised and his eyes wide giving the look of excitement, enthusiasm and surprise simultaneously. Much of Nicholson's facial expressions are exaggerated and he says many perplexing things in an enthusiastic fashion, but true to form Jack's personality changes on a knife-edge:

Have you ever had a single moment's thought about my responsibilities? Have you ever thought, for a single solitary moment about my responsibilities to my employers? Has it ever occurred to you that I have agreed to look after the Overlook Hotel until May the first. Does it matter to you at all that the owners have placed their complete confidence and trust in me, and that I have signed a letter of agreement, a contract, in which I have accepted that responsibility? Do you have the slightest idea what a moral and ethical principal is? Do you? Has it ever occurred to you what would happen to my future, if I were to fail to live up to my responsibilities? Has it ever occurred to you? Has it? 

In the quotation Jack reveals his true colours, he reacts ferociously, belittling his wife and talks about himself in a narcissistic manner when all his timid wife did was try an secure her sons safety. Even after he descends into madness Jack still manages to express his dark sense of humour, finding comedic material in the darkness and most sinister moments: "Wendy? Darling? Light, of my life. I'm not gonna hurt ya. You didn't let me finish my sentence. I said, I'm not gonna hurt ya. I'm just going to bash your brains in." The fact Jack maintains his exaggerated facial expressions even as he goes mad could on the one hand symbolise how he always insane and the isolation and the responsibility of the hotel simply exacerbated things, however it could also be a conscious decision on Jack's part. The idea that his "nice guy" exterior is just that, a thin exterior, an beneath he harbours deep-seated feelings of resentment and anger most of which is directed toward his family, in particular his wife. It remains possible that Jack brought his family to the Overlook Hotel to settle a score if you will, he is a failure as a father, husband and writer therefore his wife and child should suffer. What appears to be a descent into lunacy may just be Jack unable or unwilling to contain himself any longer, his psychopathy may not have progressed at all during his time at the Overlook Hotel, he may have just stopped pretending. This theory would explain why Jack conspiracies against his family with such glee, he even seems to enjoy the chase as evidenced in the clip below:

While many of Jack's mannerisms and facial expressions remain the same throughout the film, unlike Wendy for example, what you do see though is a stark change in movement and body language as the film progresses. In the early stages Jack has what can be described as an open body language, he talks with others without difficulty and is light on his feet, appearing more than up to the task of performing general maintenance on the hotel over the winter. However, once he is struck by Wendy and subsequently falls down the stairs, landing at the bottom as an unconscious heap, all this changes. He now moves in what can only be described as cross-between a hobble and a hop. He is hunched over, head slung low, because his chin is pressed downward it means he has to roll his eyes upward to make eye-contact. Jack's one neatly back-combed hair now drapes forward bathed in sweat, probably detoxing from his lack of alcohol. His once powerful stride with a hint of swagger is reduced to a mere shuffle. The sound of his staggering along the hotel corridors chasing Danny, combined with his teeth grinding and almost incomprehensible ramblings are all synonymous with the horror genre. By the end of the film Jack's body language and movements have changed such that he is almost a personification of destruction and decay, as his futile attempts to murder his family have only rendered him speechless, immobile and ultimately totally incapacitated.

Lighting and colour:

Does fall guilty to genre clichés.

5. Garrett Brown had “many, many arguments” with Kubrick over the camera’s crosshairs being in the middle of frame; if it hit on an actor’s left nostril, that’s exactly where it had to be. Framing had to be symmetrical. “Kubrick insisted every image be framed in 1.66:1 ratio, something between wide screen and cinemascope, (so that) people fill the frame.” Brown used an Arriflex-35BL and spoke of having to pace himself. There were “forty takes of nearly everything” and he had to learn to hold the camera absolutely still. “Half the time Stanley used his handheld to continue the scene.”

2. According to Steadicam Operator (and Inventor) Garrett Brown, the color of the opening titles were something Kubrick agonized over, changing the color until he got it exactly right. Brown also claimed the “rolling, brightly colored lettering stuck with Stanley since his earliest days,” but in fact, many Kubrick opening credits are done in white lettering and/or a non-rolling format; Killer’s Kiss, The Killing, Paths of Glory, Spartacus, Lolita, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Barry Lyndon, Eyes Wide Shut.