I managed to catch Rodney Ascher’s ‘Room 237′ last year at TIFF and I can say that fans of ‘The Shining’ definitely want to check this one out. Some might be familiar with the conspiracies surrounding Stanley Kubrick’s horror masterpiece, but the theories put forth in this visual essay range from thought provoking critical analysis to unrestrained and often unfounded obsessive compulsive reasoning. Here’s the synopsis:
After the box office failure of Barry Lyndon, Stanley Kubrick decided to embark on a project that might have more commercial appeal. The Shining, Stephen King’s biggest critical and commercial success yet, seemed like a perfect vehicle. After an arduous production, Kubrick’s film received a wide release in the summer of 1980; the reviews were mixed, but the box office, after a slow start, eventually picked up. End of story? Hardly. In the 30 years since the film’s release, a considerable cult of Shining devotees has emerged, fans who claim to have decoded the film’s secret messages addressing everything from the genocide of Native Americans to a range of government conspiracies. Rodney Ascher’s wry and provocative Room 237 fuses fact and fiction through interviews with cultists and scholars, creating a kaleidoscopic deconstruction of Kubrick’s still-controversial classic.
IFC picked up ‘Room 237′, which opens in New York and hits VOD in the US on March 29 (April 5 in Los Angeles). Also, have a look at the new poster below.
