Room 237 (2013) review

(7/10)

This documentary wasn't particularly my cup of tea, but I enjoyed hearing the different perspectives from different film buffs as well as hearing the possible glorification of Kubrick's master brain.

SUBJECT:Stanley Kubrick's film The Shining deviates away from Stephen King's novel a great handful of times, but is it all for a good reason? A group of film buffs that have seen this film countless times have developed many arguments and theories about what the purpose of Kubrick's adaption of the film mean, deviations and all intact, including hidden messages, mistaken imagery, and subtle hints toward certain subjects. However, is this more a study of the film or critics' obsession with the film? It's great subject discussed fairly well.



PEOPLE:The people chosen to be interviewed for this subject aren't that widely known, from the names of Bill Blakemore to Juli Kearn, which gives the documentary an even more mysterious approach to the film and its possible messages. I believe the opinions of the interviewed persons were very well discussed and very well justified overall. However, I feel that some of their theories are the offspring to blind paranoia and tripped-out minds. The conclusions just seem a bit preposterous overall, but supported with excellent accuracy, along with the discussions of symbolism over the deviations in the film.

SCORE:The score of this documentary is mainly composed of previous themes from Kubrick's films, including this one alike, with a few interesting variations of the classical work Dies Irae by Jonathan Snipes and William Hutson, as well as other interesting themes by them.



OTHER CONTENT:This documentary is enlightening to those who enjoy it in more than one way. If the opinions of the many critics don't please or convince you, the hidden meaning in the whole film will. This documentary could also be seen as a raging cinephilic obsession with the subject film and the obsession of film buffs in general. I found the film to be a very stimulating documentary, but with opinions I don't agree with for the most part. It was enlightening to see the "carefully placed" items in the background I hadn't noticed before as well as hearing the discussion of symbols not included in the King novel. I also enjoyed watching the subject film overlapping itself near the end. The product was pretty shocking. However, I overall found this film to be an over-thought study of cinephiles general deriving mind.

OVERALL,a good documentary with great subject matter, obscure names with seemingly-true theories discussed, interesting original themes by Snipes and Hutson, intelligent hidden meaning, and enlightening opinions, but I don't fully agree with the opinions withheld in this documentary; I'd almost deem them preposterous if I didn't respect Kubrick's eye for detail so much.