Cinema might be a visual medium, but that doesn’t mean a film’s meaning is always crystal clear. Ambiguous images and dialogue often perplex audiences, prompting them to revisit a film in hopes of uncovering new interpretations.
There are certain directors whose work seems to welcome this more than others, like surrealist master David Lynch or the legendary Stanley Kubrick. For many fans of the latter, figuring out alternative meanings, discovering secret messages or noticing minor background details is all part and parcel when watching his films. Of course, many people watch Kubrick’s films without thinking too deeply about the most ridiculous and outlandish theories you can think of, but the phenomenon certainly exists, and Room 237 proves it.
The documentary, released in 2012, is dedicated to analysing Kubrick’s horror masterpiece, The Shining, with contributions coming from various enthusiasts who posit several incredibly far-fetched, albeit interesting, theories. The original film was released in 1980, with Jack Nicholson starring as Jack Torrance, a struggling writer who takes up a job as a caretaker in a hotel while it’s closed for the snowy winter season.
It doesn’t take long for Jack’s abusive tendencies to come out in full force, resulting in his wife, Wendy (Shelley Duvall) and son, Danny (Danny Lloyd), facing the brunt of his wrath. As Jack descends into madness, it becomes apparent that Danny has supernatural powers, as does the caretaker, Dick Halloran. The film devolves into chaos as the lines between reality and the supernatural blur, and violence is unleashed. In the end, we’re left with an image of Jack partying at the hotel in 1921, leaving audiences wondering whether he is a reincarnation of a previous guest or if there’s some other mysterious explanation.
In Rodney Ascher’s documentary, many strange theories about the film are suggested, such as one relating to Kubrick’s supposed involvement in the moon landing. Based on the theory that the director helped to fake the momentous 1969 event, Room 237 suggests that the guilt that Kubrick felt is explored through The Shining.
However, to Jan Harlan, one of Kubrick’s closest collaborators and brother-in-law, the filmmaker would not have been happy to hear one theory explored in Room 237. Discussing his distaste for the film, Harlan told the BFI, “I think it’s the silliest film ever. A complete rip-off.”
He continued: “To say that hotel employees on the last day before closing – waiting with luggage for transport – is a reference to the Holocaust, is an insult to both Stanley and the victims of this greatest crime in human history.”
The film also suggests that when Nicholson pretends to be the Big Bad Wolf, he is reflecting the antisemitic character in Disney’s Three Little Pigs. There are other tenuous links made between The Shining and the Holocaust, relating to themes of guilt and hope, which Harlan strictly disapproved of.
“To go to the length of making drawings to prove that the large interiors of the hotel could never fit into the smallish place we see from the outside is a joke. Any schoolboy can see that! It’s a ghost film! Nothing [in Room 237] makes any logical sense,” he concluded.