/* */ Hi Pal.. Film4thwall has been moved to PIXMONK - my new home :).: The Killing.. Shining.. Thrilling.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

The Killing.. Shining.. Thrilling.



Shining Stanley.. Killing Kubrick [ What a sensational title :) ]


If it can be written, or thought, it can be filmed. - Stanley Kubrick

The Killing/1956/Action-thriller
Photographed and directed by : Stanley Kubrick.


To introduce Stanley Kubrick [ SK ], Quentin Tarantino is a great fan of SK [ Suththam :) ]. The killing is a film about a big plan connected with a busy race-track on a specific day.. An ex criminal released from the jail plans for a big-time heist with picking up people of various occupations with one need in life - money. A group of different personalities are formed without revealing their exact part. An ex criminal, his old friend, a bar tender, a counter officer, corrupted policeman, shooter and a wrestler [ and a gravel-voiced narrator - may be thought as GOD ! ]. Confusing right ? Definitely not when you see the final outcome of their plan. They form a time-table for the heist and what happens exactly is the film is all about. Of course, fate and morality are to be considered. :)

The film begins from the very first scene and the intelligence n non-linear narration keeps the audience busy in who's doing what and why ? The narration is just like joining various jigsaw puzzles to form the complete picture. Somewhere I read that 35 different segments happen together to form the final act.

It starts slowly with a hose race and haunting theme music. The narration talks about different timings of the day and happenings with respect to the characters. The drawback in non-linear narration is that shots are overlapped and repeated [ remember Virumandi ! ] but the top intelligent director gives a different meaning every time he repeats or overlaps a shot/scene. The non-linear structure makes the film more interesting. The hidden element of the movie is fate.

A must watch thriller which is 53 years old. It's listed in AOL's top 25 thrillers [ that's how I selected this movie.]
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Shining/1980/Supernatural thriller [based on Stephen King's novel ]
Directed by : Stanley Kubrick.

"I am interested in giving my audience a real scare" - Stanley Kubrick

The psychology of horror film is not to show the ugly ghost, rather making the audience to anticipate it. The anxiety is the exact feeling about seeing a horror genre of films. I would simply say SHINING is the mother of all horror movies.


This movie is not the worst clichéd style of horror movies where in 4 pairs [ exactly :) ] go to a beach resort and getting killed one by one. Non-sense. Instead, an abandoned hotel with just 3 characters, is used as the centre point of the film.

Plot :

The film talks about the happenings of a story writer, Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson - his eye brows and vague smile adds value to his character ). He gets an offer to work as the winter caretaker at a hotel which gets almost abandoned by heavy snowfall in the winter season. Jack reaches the hotel with his wife and son Danny [ 6 yrs old ]. During the closing day [ beginning for the audience :) ], the psychic hotel chef identifies something unusual with Jack's son Danny. Danny has the ability to detect ghostly presences in the hotel. The chef calls this talent as "SHINING". Once the hotel becomes snowbound, Jack is occupied by the ghosts in the hotel and then the story begins :)

Brilliant story. Abandoned hotel.. Heavy snowfall.. [ No difference between day n nights ! ]. The film starts with an aerial shot of Jack driving in a small car to reach the hotel. The most important element in horror film is the music. The visual has to be backed up with appropriate n haunting score. Stanley Kubrick is the pioneer in using the steadicam in the film industry. A technology has to be used to enhance the story telling and improve the visuals. I couldn't resist recollecting the irritating time-slice cut used by Shankar in BOYS and 360 degree rotating shots in Vettaiyaadu vilayaadu [ Enna Kodumainga ! ].

Stanley Kubrick is an essential film maker in the film history. His other works are

2001 : A space odyssey
Spartacus
Clockwork orange
Eyes wide shut


I am yet to watch the above list.


-Toto.

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