Room 237

This film is an elaborate joke, a satire on those oh-so-earnest analyses of films one sometimes comes across. Tins of baking powder which show it is a movie about the American Indian? A German typewriter (a make which I also used to use), plus a supposed Hitler moustache in the final shot, shows it is a holocaust movie? Kubrick's face in a cloud formation? Significance in running the film backwards superimposed on running it forwards? A minor character played by an actor who also played Pontius Pilate? I would go so far as to say that The Shining itself is an elaborate joke. An enjoyable one all the same. As is Room 237. But don't take it seriously!

This film is essentially people who are obsessed with Stanley Kubrick's The Shining spinning out their theories about what the film means. It reveals little about Kubrick's vision or intent and everything about their specific and sometimes downright crazy views about the world as expressed through their interpretations of Kubrick's movie. Room 237 demonstrates the deep impact a film can have when something about it resonates with the particular psychology or beliefs of members of its audience. The real brilliance of The Shining is that it created an almost palpable atmosphere of dread while remaining enigmatic and opaque. It's a Rorschach test to be freely interpreted by its audience.

First of all, let me tell you that I've always found hidden messages, conspiracies, occult themes etc extremely interesting and it's something I love discussing about. I'm always very open minded when it comes to this kind of stuff and when i saw the trailer for this movie i just could not wait to watch it. The Shining is a masterpiece and just the thought of that it could have a much bigger meaning was just too good to be true.

Last night i finally watched it, and man was i ever disappointed. Like i said, I'm always opened minded when it comes to this kind of stuff, but the theories the creators of this film has come up with are so far- fetched it's almost embarrassing. They find a hidden meaning in every little thing and they never really seem to stop to question their own theories. Everything is taken for granted, and in my opinion, most of the claims are ridiculous; it holds no water.

To give you an example of just how ridiculous some of the theories are: If you watched Finding Nemo right now in the same state of mind as the creators of this movie watched The Shining, you too would find subliminal messages about everything from The Holocaust to the faked moon landing. It's just insane.

Also, all the different theories just turn into one big mess because there's so many of them, so it's hard to understand what they are actually trying to say.

However, big ups for making this type of movie. I just wish there were way more solid arguments and not all these extremely far-fetched ideas that don't really make sense. The creators might have some things correct (we'll never know) but for me it's just way too over ambitious and messy.

Being an avid Kubrick fan, I could not wait to see this film even though The Shining is one of my least favorite of his movies. I did enjoy Room 237; it's a fun movie. Like Kubrick himself you never know whether it's being serious or poking fun at the viewer. Some of the "hidden messages" that Kubrich is supposed to have put into The Shining are patently ridiculous but some others will make you want to go & watch The Shining again, and again! The masterstroke here is when someone states that Kubrick was meticulous about arranging every frame in his movies (which every Kubrick fan knows to be true) and no object appears in any frame by accident. Of course the film makers then take this to an extreme but it does make for a quite funny and entertaining time.

Just got done watching it. My initial reaction: "Wow. These people are nuts."

Don't get me wrong - this is a fun watch as long as you don't take any of it too seriously. I know the film pretty well, but these "analysts" go out of their way to ignore the obvious in order to drive on to their wacky conclusions.

Thanks to the infinite paranoia pool that we call the Internet, the mythology about The Shining is outstripping the history of the film itself. This is less about the movie but more about people who look for conspiracies in every corner. Faked moon landings? Set geometry? Minotaurs? Absurd, sure, but how different are they from those people that deny birth certificates or imagine black UN helicopters or, most recently, those who say Sandy Hook was faked. These Deniers create their own logic, disallow any reality that doesn't fit and then warp the facts to fit their conclusions. I think this film really does a great job showing these people for what they are - delusional and and self-obsessed.

We can let them be entertaining, but we can never take any of what they say seriously.