Stanley Kubrick’s film adaptation of Stephen King’s The Shining shocked and confused audiences with its complex camera work and plotline. The Overlook Hotel sits deep in the mountains of Denver, on a twenty-five-mile stretch of road. The story of the Torrance family moving into the Overlook Hotel quickly turns sour as the violent past of the hotel begins to come forward and repeat itself. The Torrance’s intends to look after the Overlook Hotel during the long, cold winter. A previous caretaker, Charles Grady, had murdered his family with an axe and then killed himself with a shotgun while tending to the hotel. Throughout the film, Kubrick introduces and implies the lurking dangers and vicious events that have occurred and will occur. Jack Torrance, the father of the family, progressively becomes more attached to the hotel throughout the film. In addition, he becomes hostile and violent towards his family, following in the footsteps of Charles Grady. Jack eventually attempts to murder his wife and son, Wendy and Danny. Kubrick’s use of the opening tracking shot, the “Kubrick stare”, and the ability to shine help to convey the idea of how the violent past repeats itself.

The Shining opens with an elaborate tracking shot filmed from a helicopter.  By choosing to open the movie with a tracking shot, Kubrick immediately sets the tone, as well as location, for the remainder of the film. The audience becomes aware of the immense distance between the city and the Overlook Hotel. Immediately, this creates a sense of isolation for the hotel, especially when accompanied by unnerving music. This isolation will later become a major factor in how vulnerable and helpless Wendy and Danny Torrance are, considering they cannot easily escape Jack. This is fundamental to the idea that when Jack becomes violent and goes after his family, they are unable to escape. Kubrick chooses to explicitly foreshadow the dark events to follow by beginning the film with a tracking shot. The tracking shot foreshadows that something terrible will occur throughout the film. Once the shot is over, Jack enters his interview and learns that the previous caretaker, Grady, murdered his family while on the job. He killed his family after slowly going crazy in the hotel. Here the past of the hotel and the events that happened within it are revealed to Jack. The tracking shot implies that Jack will become violent while watching over the hotel, which does happen. Its eeriness introduces the dark past, present, and future of the Overlook. This example proves the theme of the past repeating itself. The foreshadowing from the tracking shot prior to the interview implies that the violent past of the Overlook will repeat itself with Jack and his family staying there.

Along with the opening tracking shot, Kubrick chooses to include the “Kubrick Stare” in The Shining. The stare consists of a character tilting their head down and staring up through their eyebrows. In The Shining, Kubrick has Jack Nicholson use the stare in order to show his transition from a loving father to a killer. Jack first uses a Kubrick stare when listening to the story of Grady and the murders, implying his interest. As the film progresses, Jack uses the stare more frequently. The stare is used as a physical representation of Jack’s progression of violence. As Jack becomes violent and hostile, he becomes more like the previous caretaker Grady, inciting a regression to the past events of the hotel. Danny begins to act strange and it becomes apparent that Wendy wants to leave the hotel with him to find a doctor. Jack, who is emotionally and physically attached to the Overlook at this point, asks Danny what he thinks of the hotel. While waiting for a response, Jack stares at Danny, creating a sense of hostility towards him and his wife. Jack focuses on his family when interrogated by Wendy about hurting Danny. After the stare and interrogation, Jack chases after Wendy in a manner that suggests he wants to hurt her. As the movie progresses, Jack stares more frequently, displaying his change in personality. The use of the stare shows Jack’s progression towards a killer, like Charles Grady. This further shows the idea that the past will repeat itself, since Grady became violent and killed his family.

As well as using filming techniques, the character trait of being able to shine aids in proving the idea that the past will repeat itself. Two characters, Danny and Dick Hollorann, possess the ability to shine. The shining allows them to recall events that have happened in the past and things that will happen in the future. The shining directly links the past and future events. The viewer is first introduced to the shining when Danny is talking with Tony, his imaginary friend that embodies Danny’s ability, while brushing his teeth. From this conversation, we learn that it is not a good idea for the family to go to the Overlook Hotel. Tony warns him that his family should not go to the hotel because of previous events that have occurred there. This foreshadows how the Torrance family are endangering themselves by going to the Overlook Hotel, introducing the dark events that will happen at the hotel.  Dick Hollorann, a worker at the Overlook, also uses his ability to shine throughout the film. When lying in bed, he shines and realizes that Jack will violently murder his family. It seems that at the same time, Danny is using his ability to shine, to call Dick to the hotel. He immediately begins to travel to the hotel, and is killed in a fashion similar to what happened to the Grady family by Jack. Likewise, Tony begins to speak and write through Danny, repeating the word “redrum” everywhere. Right before Jack begins to actively attempt to kill his family, Wendy realizes that redrum is murder backwards. Then Jack bursts through the door with an axe. At this point, it becomes evident that Jack is repeating the past murders of Charles Grady, but with his own family. Danny had revealed to his mom what happened in the hotel, and what will happen if they do not leave, directly showing how the past repeats itself. Danny’s shining shows the repetition of the past events. The ability to shine foreshadows how the past will repeat itself if Jack Torrance and his family stay in Overlook Hotel.

Stanley Kubrick gives the audience hints that the past of the Overlook Hotel will repeat itself. He first introduces the idea in the opening tracking shot and the scene that immediately follows it. The opening tracking shot establishes the location and tone for the film, while the scene that follows introduces the dark past of the Overlook. Furthermore, Kubrick utilizes the Kubrick Stare to display Jack’s transition from caring father to killer. Finally, Kubrick uses Danny and Dick Hollorann’s ability to shine to foreshadow the events that will enfold within the hotel. The ability to shine also allows these characters to know what has happened in the past. Through the usage of these elements, Kubrick shows how the past of the Overlook Hotel will repeat itself. 