2. Hotel California &...

Lyrics:

On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair
Warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air
Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light
My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim
I had to stop for the night
There she stood in the doorway;
I heard the mission bell
And I was thinking to myself,
’this could be heaven or this could be hell’
Then she lit up a candle and she showed me the way
There were voices down the corridor,
I thought I heard them say...

Welcome to the hotel California
Such a lovely place
Such a lovely face
Plenty of room at the hotel California
Any time of year, you can find it here

Her mind is tiffany-twisted, she got the Mercedes bends
She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys, that she calls friends
How they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat.
Some dance to remember, some dance to forget

So I called up the captain,
’please bring me my wine’
He said, ’we haven’t had that spirit here since nineteen sixty nine’
And still those voices are calling from far away,
Wake you up in the middle of the night
Just to hear them say...

Welcome to the hotel California
Such a lovely place
Such a lovely face
They livin’ it up at the hotel California
What a nice surprise, bring your alibis

Mirrors on the ceiling,
The pink champagne on ice
And she said ’we are all just prisoners here, of our own device’
And in the master’s chambers,
They gathered for the feast
The stab it with their steely knives,
But they just can’t kill the beast

Last thing I remember, I was
Running for the door
I had to find the passage back
To the place I was before
’relax,’ said the night man,
We are programmed to receive.
You can checkout any time you like,
But you can never leave!

This is a great song with some of the most debated lyrics of all time. The Eagles themselves have claimed that the lyrics are some sort of metaphor for living in California in 1976 and the dying of the American Dream. But if you take them literally they are about a hotel that has a strange, eerie effect on a person. And when it comes to hotels that have weird effects on people, there is one movie you really can't ignore.

The Movie: The Shining (Stanley Kubrick, 1980)

I have now seen three movies by Kubrick, Dr. Strangelove, The Shining and Full Metal Jacket. And based on this movies alone I can say that Kubricks reputation as a great director is absolutely earned. But what surprised me was that his movies aren't at all inaccessible. I've read and heard that he was a cold, intellectual filmmaker whose films are mostly about (abstract) ideas. Well, that is partly true. If you want to truly appreciate his movies you'll have to see them more then once. You have to give the movie a close reading and think about it and the ideas that are expressed in it. You have to watch for details. There may not be an American filmmaker for whom small details matter more than Kubrick. But his movies can also be enjoyed as simple entertainment. Dr. Strangelove is basically a slapstick movie. And The Shining is essentially an incredibly well made thriller/horror full of iconic scenes.

There has probably never been a thriller made with a better and longer setup. The movie basically begins with around 40 minutes of exposition. But it's so masterfully filmed and acted that it is never boring. In long takes we get to see how awe-inspiring this Overlook Hotel is. We really get the feeling that living here alone for 6 months can be quite an ordeal for a family of 3 even if nothing significantly abnormal happens. And this is obviously not a very healthy family. Danny is having some weird imaginary friends and has the tendency to get lost in his own world. Father Jack has a history of alcoholism and is played by Jack Nicholson, so we kind of expect that he won't stay calm. Shelley Duvall is brilliantly cast as Wendy, Jacks wife. If you just see her on the street, you'll think that she might have a nervous breakdown soon. There is not a single moment wasted in this setup. Every single thing we see or hear will become important later on in the film. And due to this brilliant setup the movie will become full of almost unbearable tension, without Kubrick having to actually do much for it. Simple scenes become disturbing. Like Jack throwing a tennis ball against the walls in an otherwise empty room. Or Danny riding his tricycle across the hotel. All this tension is released in the last 10 minutes when Jack finally loses it completely.

Usually I will have to say more about the movie I discuss, especially if it is such a rich movie like The Shining. But I've seen this movie only once and I have nothing more interesting to say than what is already said on this site: http://kubrickfilms.tripod.com/id4.html.