Favorite Scene Friday! The Shining: An Ominous Beginning

Sun-Ray Cinema here in Jacksonville is playing The Shining tonight at 7:00, followed by the Kubrick/Shining documentary Room 237. Kubrick's film about a family isolated at a Colorado hotel is one of our favorite movies. We've written multiple posts about the film in the past, including a previous FSF, a Music Video Monday!, and a review (that we wrote after going a little crazy).

Sun-Ray Cinema

To mark the occasion, I've highlighted the opening scene of the film, which is essentially Jack Torrance's (Jack Nicholson) initial trip to the Overlook Hotel. It's surely not the most thrilling scene from the movie, but, if you're like me, it fills you with a heavy sense of dread. The camera glides across still-as-death water, twisting roads, and beautiful, green trees, all to the sounds of a foreboding score ANDITCREEPSMEOUT.

The Steadicam shots later in the film are often singled out but I really think the camerawork in this opening scene is great. Sure, it's just scenic shots filmed from a helicopter but it's still pretty awesome, especially around 1:10 when the helicopter zooms up to the car and past it. This scene is a reminder that The Shining isn't just a great horror film, it's a work of art as well.



What's funny about this scene is that outtakes were supposedly re-used by Ridley Scott for the happy ending of Blade Runner. I can't imagine this scene being used to convey anything happy.

If you're going to Sun-Ray tonight I hope you enjoy the film and Room 237. I've heard a lot about the latter recently and any documentary about Kubrick craziness has to be worth a watch. Happy Friday!