The Shining - Stanley Kubrick, 1980
Nicholson, is a masterstroke of casting and the film really gets the most out of his rascal by way of derangement persona. Even in his job interview, long before things really get rolling, there’s a curious menacing vibe to him, in retrospect his rage seems inevitable. In an earlier round flieger declared
The Shining a black comedy, and yes, this is an element that should be more closely associated with the film. With all due respect to the general eeriness, largely thanks to Jack’s unforgettable ham of a performance, this film is funnier than it is scary. Not a criticism, by the way.
It’s formally a haunted house story, but the meat of things is really a matter of lingering and ultimately engulfing forces - forces like the past, isolation, pressure to succeed, and failure. When confined in a prison of one’s own impotencies, the forces become too much to withstand and carnage is inevitable. The supernatural elements are merely splendid genre accoutrements that I don’t really care to fully unify in my mind. I’ve never had writer’s block (easy to avoid when you're not a writer), but I have experienced the dread and anxiety of writing a term paper, somehow the tennis ball toss perfectly captures the desperate craving for catharsis, even if it’s only for an instant. Best of all,
The Shining scores fairly high on the bonkers scale (the bear suit? amazing!), which makes it awfully irresistible even when, or maybe especially when, I’m left scratching my head. I’m not exactly sure what to make of the final reveal, but it’s presented so well that I just don’t care. The internet is full of speculation regarding this and other
Shining enigmas, most of which have the stench of crackpot.
Prince of the City - Sidney Lumet, 1981
New York in the 70s - that brief time after the tax base exodus rode Robert Moses’ parkways to the suburbs while the Bronx burned, but before the info economy’s revanchist project - a moment I will continue to romanticize despite knowing darn well I wouldn’t have lasted a day. The film goes to great lengths to contrast working class, ethnic, grimy NYC with Washington’s Ivy League WASP powerbase. Lumet’s portrayal is devoid of clear heroes or villains, only individuals and networks of people responding to their environment. I suspect David Simon likes this one.
To some degree
Prince is a
Serpico reboot, but this time around our protagonist isn’t so chaste. Danny’s self-serving while still having the decency to wrestle with his choices. Why inform? It’s a pursuit for atonement, a practical means to protect himself from others doing the same, a manifestation of his anger at others who go unpunished, and his way of honoring good police. There is no single, heroic motivation; it’s a stew of confusion, fear, male bonding, and fragmented morality. Along the way Danny encounters conversations in restaurants and temporary offices, ambitious lawyers, guilt, and painfully divided allegiances. Ratting prompts a process of social and psychological isolation, the tragic consequences of coming clean. Despite its immense size, without your neighbourhood, New York can be crushingly lonely.
Alternative write-up: Character actors talking.
Verdict: Unless I came across it on TV or something, I probably would have never got to
Prince of the City. I’m pleased it was assigned to me, it’s really solid for sure. This one goes to
The Shining, after a second viewing, this funhouse seems better than ever.