If you look closely at the movie, people who “Shine” have the ability to move things and change the color of surroundings and personal items. Stanley Kubrick masterfully hides this, along with the fact that Jack has this very same ability. The pictures don’t lie. It’s quite obvious if you look closely that Jack “Shines” and lets himself out of the storeroom. He also rolls his yellow ball toward Danny, luring him to room 237. And the proof is in the pictures. This is after all what this movie is about, people with the special ability to “Shine”. There’s no law that says Stanley Kubrick can’t change, or hide from the audience, which cast members have this special ability. Just look at the unmistakable similarities in these two pictures.
It’s obvious, they're both "Shining" and the Red Indian moves each time. We know that Dick Hallorann has this ability and a red Calumet can appears out of nowhere right next to his head when he telepathically talks to Danny, and disappears in the very next shot when he stops. When Jack “Shines” and unlatches the storeroom door there are now six (even more unseen) red Calumet cans near his head, and they weren’t there when Wendy dragged him in. The increase in the number of cans may indicate how much more of this power he has over that of Dick Hallorann. I believe Jack not only rolls the ball to Danny luring him to room 237 but also is the cause of the other items that move in The Overlook. The “ghosts” of Grady and Lloyd that Jack sees and talks to are from his own imagination alone and not a product of the hotel as is commonly believed by some. Looking at these 2 pictures (along with the others shown) it’s obvious that Stanley Kubrick is purposely moving things between shots in the movie. Please remember that the red Calumet cans appear out of nowhere. They weren’t there in previous shots, and this is very important.
Many use this quote from Stanley Kubrick’s interview with Michel Ciment as proof that Grady, a ghost, let Jack out of the storeroom. But if you read closely you’ll see he’s talking about what happened in the novel and not the movie.
"…What I found so particularly clever about the way the novel was written. As the supernatural events occurred you searched for an explanation, and the most likely one seemed to be that the strange things that were happening would finally be explained as the products of Jack's imagination. 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."
He cleverly keeps his secret as he tells Michel Ciment exactly what everyone expects to hear; a ghost lets Jack out of the storeroom.
The problem is that if you read the novel there is undeniable proof that Stanley Kubrick has reversed and altered every major aspect of it except the names of the characters and the hotel, and there’s no proof that he stopped doing it in the storeroom scene. Stanley Kubrick simply reverses the novel here. “The strange things that were happening would finally be explained as the products of Jack's imagination” and that’s exactly what he did. In the novel there is no question that a ghost opens the door. In the movie the ghosts are all in Jack’s head. If you have preconceived ideas the reversals I’ve noted that he made to the novel are shocking. Especially when you think of how he was able to hide all this in plain site. But if you “go check it out” what I’ve noted is quite correct. It’s not only correct but it can’t be debated, discussed, altered or most importantly dismissed. It is what it is. Red is yellow and yellow is red, and it’s also quite obvious that in the movie Jack “Shines.”
It’s a very controversial statement to say that cast members in “The Shining” are able to move things telepathically but not only is this obvious to anyone that looks, the proof of this statement can be found if you read Stephen King’s novel. As I showed you before in the movie there’s not one major aspect of the novel that has been left out. Some things just have to be searched for then you’ll say ‘I never noticed that’ when they’re pointed out to you. For me one of the best parts of the novel was when The Overlook animates certain objects for its guests. It’s absurd to think that Stanley Kubrick would leave out such a great plot point from the novel, and if you look closely; he doesn’t. Even though it’s impossible to prove which movements in the movie are deliberate and which aren’t, the proof that there are deliberate movements, is in the novel itself. The three items I’m referring to from the novel were all out in the open and obvious. The Hedge Animals, the fire hose, and the elevators all moved on their own, but what Stanley Kubrick did to these three items in the movie just cannot be ignored and should be explained by anyone who thinks there’s no such thing as a deliberate continuity error. Stanley Kubrick has totally reversed what happens in Stephen King’s novel again, and no one can dispute that these three items that were animated by The Overlook in the novel, glaringly, remain motionless throughout the entire movie.
None of them budges an inch and not only do they not move but the elevators don’t even change floors. It appears that what The Overlook moves in the novel doesn’t move in the movie, it’s obvious and it’s been reversed. What’s not so obvious is that reversing this leaves it open for Stanley Kubrick to move any other object that’s not one of the three from the novel; and as unbelievable as this sounds, it’s precisely what he did. The power that moves the objects has also been reversed and The Overlook does none of it in the movie. Just like the numbers Stanley Kubrick wants us to notice, the movements I’m speaking about are pretty obvious when someone points them out.
Noticed the sheet of paper that Jack pulls out of the typewriter. After he finishes scolding Wendy he “Shines” and another sheet appears right out of thin air, back in the typewriter again, without him touching it and without the audience hearing a thing.
Look at how Stanley Kubrick hides this in the drive up to The Overlook. Here Jack "Shines" as he constantly looks in the rear view mirror of his yellow VW,
and an unnaturally large pile of luggage, that couldn't fit in a VW if the engine and passengers were removed, appears at the end of the journey (without any indication of any outside help, or luggage on the car).
Stanley Kubrick hid this brilliantly in the film. All cast members that have the “Shine” are able to move items and change the color of their possessions. The pictures can’t be denied.
As Danny "Shines" watch the yellow and red dwarf from Snow White (Dopey) as it disappears from his bedroom door.
Dick Hallorann "Shines" and the red painting above his headboard in Florida just disappears between shots.
Watch as Dick Hallorann’s pile of change at the airport payphone moves constantly without him touching it with either hand.
Wendy also has some ability to “Shine” as she has four visions of her own. When Danny had his vision of the bloody elevators it’s never questioned that he’s “Shining”, so why should it be any different when we watch Wendy have the exact same vision, frame for frame, at the end of the movie? Her ability is well hidden but nonetheless obvious when she telepathically moves the direction the knives are facing after dragging Jack into the storeroom.
Later in the bathroom, she telepathically moves the same knife again. She throws it in the sink with the handle to the right, yet watch as later when picking it back up she reverses the handle’s position to the left without ever touching it.
Magazines, mirrors and other items also move or disappear when she’s around. Wendy’s special power to “Shine” means she also has the ability to see visions of things that have happened in the past in The Overlook, just like Jack and Danny’s vision of the old woman that committed suicide in room 237. It explains what this shot is all about, that many believe is Horace Derwent with Dog Man who are both mentioned in the novel as people who were at The Overlook years before.
If you look closely in the end of the movie, Danny "Shines" and actually moves the entrance of the hedge maze closer to him before Jack chases him into it. Early on when we see this area there’s no entrance on the wall facing the hotel, later the entrance moves from it's original position to the wall 90 degrees to the left, now facing The Overlook. This can be seen best just before they escape the hotel as Danny walks straight into Wendy’s arms at the end of the movie. She’s standing right in front of the rear entrance of The Overlook where Dick Hallorann parked the Sno-cat. Earlier we see this same spot and there’s no entrance there.
We are witnessing the work of a craftsmen who is the best in the world at what he does, but what places Stanley Kubrick apart from other directors is the sheer magnitude of his deception and he must have chuckled till the day he died knowing that no one ever noticed all this. No one ever put it together and figured out what he was actually doing.
The Overlook may be a place that attracts people who posses this special power. Cast members who “Shine” have the ability to change what they’re wearing as Mr. Ullman and Bill Watson both have personal articles of clothing that change between shots. If you think these are mistakes, you’re wrong. A perfectionist like Stanley Kubrick would never let this happen by accident in a million years.
Watch as Mr. Ullman’s tie changes right before our eyes.
Watch as Bill Watson’s pants do the same thing changing from solid color to plaid between shots.
Not only do cast members who “Shine” have the ability to change the color of possessions and move things. Stanley Kubrick gave them something else in common; click here to find out.
Again, Jack is also able to “Shine” and it’s obvious that his ability to supernaturally move things is what unlatches the storeroom door, and not that of a ghost. In the novel people who “Shine” don’t have the ability to telekinetically move things but there’s no law that says Stanley Kubrick can’t change this in his version, and this is exactly what he did.
Pictures don’t lie.
Click here and go back to my blog with over 450 interesting pictures from the movie, and check out this section " Things That Move Around or Just Don’t Seem Right" for more on this subject.
