SethDLH

Agreed.

Love this film though

benh911

Why does everyone seem to think he went insane in a number of days? Did you all miss the "One Month Later" that was put on the screen? And then even after that, it took a bit.

BradWinter

I think I did

Kermakoff

Well, I think everybody I have ever spoken to about this film seems to remember that Jack actually sells his soul before he goes mad. Where he does that? Well just before he meets the bartender he says: I could sell my soul for a drink (or something like that). So yeah, he sells his soul to the hotel.

mhg83

Spoilers

On the weekend I watched The Shining. This was the third time seeing it but my dad and I had a debate on the ending "twist"

Jack Torrence freezes to death at the end and is shown in a group photo of the overlook. Since one of the Ghosts says that Jack has been here forever and is in the old photo, my dad believes that the twist is that he was a former guest at the overlook and was reincarnated. At the beginning of the film Jack even says he feels comfortable here which may allude to his former self living at the overlook.

I just think he died and became a ghost at the Hotel. It was just the ghosts telling him this stuff to further break him down. I had just finished reading the novel for the first time so it was weird how much they changed (an indian burial ground )

What do you guys think?

FinkPish

Already lengthy threads here and here

bunkaroo

^^^^

I love how you were the one to point people in the second thread to the first thread. Must have a good thread memory!

FinkPish

Well, I had remembered that first one and then when I went into it I noticed the previous one, so I added that one too. I must be a savant when it comes to remembering what has been discussed before.

And I bet you $10 that this thread continues to grow even with that reminder in the first response, like the last thread did.

leacha

Maybe it will, maybe it won't. Sorry to add to the thread.

Meglos

Easy bet.

Kurt D

I want in, what's the over/under?

Elpresidentepez

I saw it back when Warner Bros. was celebrating their 75th anniversary (1998, I believe), with a traveling film festival. Each day they showed the best of a particular decade. For their 1980's day they closed the festival with The Shining and Blade Runner, and your right; you have not seen The Shining until you've experienced it on the big screen. I don't know why studios don't do more screenings like that.

lamphorn

This is interesting, but why do you think he died? He went there with his family and they were also seeing things in the hotel.

BuddhaWake

I don't know but I love what they did here with the groundhog and their take on the shining of sorts.

http://www.groundhog202.com/

DthRdrX

Can't go wrong with this qoute from the man himself!

ReduxGuy

They're too busy whoring out Blu-Ray like a $2 hooker on discount night instead of focusing on the beauty of actual movie-going.

OutRun2

The Shining is over 75 years old?

rufnrdy1311

Also if you remember back to when Jack is talking to Danny in the bedroom he tells him "I want you to like it here, I want us to stay here forever and ever and ever..." I did not put that together with them "belonging" to the hotel after they died until after watching the movie again. I think this also goes to show that Jack knew that if they were killed that they would become part of the hotel for eternity which is why he was wanting Danny to like it there, due to Danny's great sense of "the shining".

bullseyetrevor

I'm not sure if I'm right or not, but I think that He was the father of the two daughters which means that he killed them, killed his wife, then killed himself. That would make sense of his deja vu, and his making out with the dead wife chick. His current self may have been a gost. The more I think about it, the more I think its one of those purposefully unsolvable paradoxes. It's funny watching people puzzle over this.

heavymetal

This film is so oddly fascinating and part of that comes from the open interpretations of how all the pieces fall together correctly. In order to fully understand the film, in the way that I have, at least, I did a lot of thinking about it. Honestly, it drove me nuts to the point where I couldn't STOP thinking about it. I went to sleep that night and I dreamed about how it all fit together. No doubt that scared me beyond belief, but it fully opened my eyes.

So here goes:

First off, to anyone thinking that the two Grady names is a mistake (I'm talking to you, deputydave, haha), I assure you, it is NOT a mistake. They're two different men. Re-incarnations of the same spirit in two different men, however. Honestly. One was a butler in 1921 at the time of the July 4th Ball; and one was Caretaker in 1970. Surely if they were the same man, he'd be between 70 and 100 years of age (given he were not a pile of bones) by 1970. And in that regard, the little girls that Danny continuously sees (and that were hacked to bits in 1970) would not be little in 1970, and surely not as young as the ones that we see.

Jack Torrance (poor soul ... bad pun, sorry) is a re-incarnation as well. He is a re-incarnation of a man who may or may not have also been named Jack Torrance, or at least Jack; who was the Caretaker of the Overlook in 1921, and likely had been the Caretaker since the Overlook opened in 1909 (hence Delbert Grady telling him he'd always been the caretaker). However ... is he bound to the fate of murder and insanity looming over him? NO. He had a choice. A choice to turn his life around or succumb to the madness threatening to take him over.

Sadly, he makes the wrong choice. He literally "gives his soul" to the hotel. He did say he'd give his soul for a beer, which is then offered to him and he drinks it. By taking it, he seemingly effectively gives himself to the hotel and therefore "gains access" to the Hotel's haunted past. Notice he hadn't had anything out of the ordinary happen to him until this moment. However, the hotel gave him a second chance. The woman in the bathroom was a second chance. It's as though the hotel is asking him, 'do you really want this?'. By kissing the woman, he effectively seals his fate as part of the hotel. Honestly, he was given a second chance. Just like Grady later gives him a second chance to 'correct' his family, by letting him out of the pantry.

In that sense, Jack talking to the ghosts and seeing them has endless possibilities. This may simply be part of him joining the hotel. It could be him talking to himself and seeing the ghosts in his mind. Notice anytime he talks with the paranormal, there is a mirror present. Also, we only see him in the deep conversations and never the paranormal.

But obviously, the most interesting theory is that Jack SHINES.

Of course he does, for everything to fall together right. Think about it for a second. The title of the novel in the first place came from the central theme of shining. And in the novel, Danny is a more central force and the hotel seeks to claim him before going after Jack. In the film, with Jack being a re-incarnation, Jack HAS to shine as well for the central theme to remain around the shining ability. In that sense, Wendy also shines. It's passed on through generations. Simply put, Jack and Wendy shine to a lesser extent to that of Danny. Henceforth, Danny can see spirits right away, but Jack and Wendy have to 'commit' to the hotel before they can interact with it. Which leaves the inevitable ... the hotel. Halloran himself says that the Overlook has 'something like' the shining. He hit the nail on the head. The hotel shines its past to anyone who has the shining ability.

Back to Jack being able to shine. It's been pointed out but I'll re-emphasize. It's evident when he looks down at the model of the maze and can see Danny and Wendy, and can tell exactly where they are in the maze. Wendy can obviously shine, which is noted in the novel. It's also very obvious when she can see all the apparitions at the end. But neither of them KNOW they can shine, nor are their abilities to the extent of Danny's. However, Jack seems to have a good control on his ability since he's able to hold extended conversations. There isn't just one thing the shining is limited to. Like Halloran said, it's a lot of things. Communication, vision, the whole package.

As far as Jack talking to the spirits, he's committed to the hotel when Wendy interrupts his conversation. She hasn't, so she can't see the spirits and therefore had she been around for the conversation, it would have appeared to her that Jack was talking to himself through the mirror. Later, when Wendy and Danny have a chance to get out after locking Jack in the pantry, (even without the snowcat), she instead goes and lays down in the bed and sleeps. The hotel could easily take this as a commitment, and hence, she is now able to see the spirits. However, she never got to the second commitment like Jack did, and the one room appears to her as they would in their present form.

At least, that's what I get out of it, and it makes sense to me, so I'm not changing my tune. Hope someone finds this all useful, it sure is a fascinating film and I now enjoy thinking about the endless possibilities and even what more could be added to my already present opinion.

Until next time, cheers.

heavymetal

Thank you, VERY much, kind sir.

I may only be 19 years old, but I use every bit of intellect I've earned over the years to try and analyze things such as the ending and all the puzzle pieces to this film. As far as politics, haha, I could really care less either way. Haha, whoever has a better chance at fixing this country ... I like THAT guy.

But I am glad you enjoyed my interpretation of the film, because I could NOT stop thinking about it that day after I watched it for the 3rd and 4th times. I watched it back to back after being up all night and the pieces started falling together. It's rather creepy when something like that comes to you in your sleep, but meh.

Hopefully others are able to make sense out of it the way that I have.

Swins

Some thoughts and questions.
1. maybe Danny's mother could see the spirits because she was either at the edge of a mental breakdown, the hotel didn't "care" anymore if it's intentions stayed hidden, the hotel was trying to aid in her death and was trying to push her over the edge or she had the shining as well but it was repressed and in her state, it was more attuned.

2. Can someone explain he got out of the walk in pantry? It was obviously locked...was this another physical manifestation of the power of the hotel? Like when Danny got choked ( assuming it was the hotel ). Did he have the shining and was he able to let himself out? Did Danny in his trance state actually unlock the door and the scene was only played out in his head?

Boba Fett

Uh, it was blatantly shown/heard Grady let Jack out of the pantry.

wm lopez

I saw this in 1980 and I sat close to the screen and was not frighten one bit.
I was surprised over the years how this movie ranks in the top 10 of horror films lists. I only enjoy watching Jack and like the t.v. mini series better.

Swins

What I am getting at is you "hear" them talking, but you don't see it nor do you see Grady open the door. Further, as you point out if the ghost of Grady could manipulate real objects like the lock, then he could have just as easily killed the whole family, no need for Jack, no need for a long drawn out movie.
First night the family shows up, lock all the doors to their room, start an electrical fire in the room or manipulate a gas line, gas them to death. taking a shower, scald them to death, ground electric to the water line...dead again.

It seems to me that all the interactions with the ghosts were either in jacks mind or part of some dimetional shift, either their world reaching us or their "time" merging with ours but only observable by certain people or under very limited conditions.