Yeah, that's right. I said comedy, and this isn't a review for the wrong film. Like most people, I went into ROOM 237 expecting a documentary on Kubrick's THE SHINING, containing various theories exploring the movie's subtext and the like. What I got was an increasingly deranged collection of ramblings and outlandish conspiracy theories from a team of crackpots and wackos.
Because ROOM 237 isn't about THE SHINING at all. Instead, it's a documentary about obsession, and how ANYTHING can be interpreted as ANYTHING given the right frame of mind. So in the course of this documentary we learn that Kubrick faked the Moon landings, that a poster of skier is in fact a minotaur, and plenty more besides.
It's all complete hogwash, of course. Yes, Kubrick added in subtle, almost subliminal things to mess with the viewer's mind; changing the carpet pattern or removing a sticker from a door. But he did that to further unsettle the viewer in what after all is a horror film. There's no more to it than that. However, the nonsense spouted in this film is actually very funny, hence my comment that this makes a great comedy indeed.
Because ROOM 237 isn't about THE SHINING at all. Instead, it's a documentary about obsession, and how ANYTHING can be interpreted as ANYTHING given the right frame of mind. So in the course of this documentary we learn that Kubrick faked the Moon landings, that a poster of skier is in fact a minotaur, and plenty more besides.
It's all complete hogwash, of course. Yes, Kubrick added in subtle, almost subliminal things to mess with the viewer's mind; changing the carpet pattern or removing a sticker from a door. But he did that to further unsettle the viewer in what after all is a horror film. There's no more to it than that. However, the nonsense spouted in this film is actually very funny, hence my comment that this makes a great comedy indeed.