I emailed the producers about this Shining conspiracy theory documentary in January of this year to inquire about screenings. Allegedly being ahead of the game doesn’t get one anywhere at all. Note to self. Well, it appears that it premiered at this year’s New York Film Festival, and won’t be out until March 2013, and even then only in small release. The film’s website says it’s about the below:
ROOM 237 is a subjective documentary feature which explores numerous theories about Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining” and its hidden meanings. This guided tour through the most compelling attempts to decode this endlessly fascinating film will draw the audience into a new maze, one with endless detours and dead ends, many ways in, but no way out. Discover why many have been trapped in the Overlook for 30 years.
Chuck Klosterman, who saw the film (bastard!), gives the following details:
“[The documentary] approaches The Shining from the perspectives of five obsessive theorists (none of whom are ever shown onscreen — you only hear their voices). Two of the theories are really just deep critical readings of the film: One insists The Shining is about the Native American genocide and the other suggests The Shining is a metaphor for the Holocaust. The other three hypotheses are less reasonable, but more creative and inimitable: One person sees the entire film as Kubrick’s unspoken confession that he faked the moon landing. Another focuses on secret images in the movie that involve the Greek myth of the Minotaur; the third is built around the premise of subtextual synchronicities that hinge on watching the film backward and forward simultaneously.”
Behind the scenes!
Oh, how I do want to see this film! I have my own conspiracy theory about The Shining that involves the man in the bear costume giving a blow-job to the random ghost at the end of the movie when Shelly Duvall is running around looking freaky and feeling freaked, but I’ll save that for another time.
