Cracking Kubrick's Code

 

Anything will give up its secrets if you love it enough.

George Washington Carver

 

 “The Shining” by Stanley Kubrick is considered by some to be the greatest and most influential horror films of all time. In fact, it is one of the most referenced, parodied, and analyzed films in history, with countless numbers of theories about everything from its overall meaning to even the smallest of details or mistakes in the film, growing with each passing year. Yet despite this, the truest face of the film has never been unmasked – until now. And here, we will begin to unpack an underlying face of the film which will finally reveal why Kubrick called it "a masterpiece of modern horror."

As we will see, that face is woven together with a thread of synchronicity that ties together every detail in every frame of the film. And even more than that, it also begins to tie together all of Kubrick's other films as well.

On its face, Kubrick’s "Shining" appears to be about a recovering alcoholic beset by cabin fever and forces of supernatural evil. As true as this face of the film is for the vast majority of fans, it is also a "false face" to the degree it convinces fans that there is no other face to be found. Behind that "false face," however, hides something far more insidious. Like those accused and executed as “witches” by "believers" claiming access to divine truth, our perceptions can often be colored by "beliefs" which mask a deeper more disturbing reality. But for those who shine, Kubrick provided clues to see behind such a mask.

With an insane attention to detail, "The Shining" is designed to illustrate the problem of human perception by operating as one of the most elaborate games ever created. That game illustrates not only how often we mask psychological attributes with supernatural labels, but worse, the savagery that can result from doing so. Using some of the greatest stories ever told, Kubrick's video-game invites us into the maze of history - a "nightmare" from which James Joyce said we were trying to awake - from which we can only escape by questioning our most cherished beliefs, especially about both ourselves and what we define as “evil.” For only by doing so can  we finally unmask what has been hiding in plain sight behind the veil of our own perceptions, in both the film and our own mind. 

As one of the most meticulous film directors in history, Stanley Kubrick revealed the nature of his "Shining" game in how he brought it to life. Filmed under a suspicious level of extreme secrecy, with Kubrick closing the set to outsiders and prohibiting interviews of the cast, the film has more scenes with record-setting numbers of retakes, for even the simplest of camera shots, than perhaps any other. Yet despite such attention to details, it also has more continuity errors than any other film in history.

All of this begs the question: Why? Why would the most meticulous film director in history impose such extreme secrecy around the making of a film with more continuity errors than any other film in history, let alone engage in the grueling number of retakes for so many error laden scenes, if it is just a ghost story about a recovering alcoholic beset by cabin fever and forces of supernatural evil? Was it simply because Kubrick was even crazier than Jack?

With evidence based answers to these and other questions, this blog will reveal the relationship between those grueling number of retakes and all those continuity errors, and why the filming of both required such secrecy. As bold as it may sound, it will show you a film you have never seen before, no matter how many times you've seen it. And if you are daring enough to "come and play" with Kubrick's Masquerade Ball on a whole new level, it also unmasks Kubrick's true genius as has never been seen before as well, and is unlikely to ever be seen again.

Most importantly of all, this book will reveal how and why "The Shining" by Stanley Kubrick may be the most important movie ever made, and why seeing its true faces is not only necessary for unlocking our own creative potential, but also why doing so is more important today than ever before in human history.