ROOM 237
Many cult movies have their own radical interpretations but none as rich and far-ranging as Stanley Kubrick’s THE SHINING. In ROOM 237, we hear from people who believed they have decoded the far-reaching theories, hidden symbols and messages buried in the late director's film. Carefully examining THE SHINING forwards and backwards, ROOM 237 is equal parts captivating, provocative and pure pleasure. A must see for movie buffs of all ages.
Director: Rodney Ascher
2012 - USA - Color
Festivals: Sundance Film Festival (Premiere), Quinzaine des réalisateur/Director's Fortnight (International Premiere)
US Distributor: IFC Midnight
Press Materials: POSTER IMAGE (Image Credit: Carlos Ramos), PRESS NOTES
STILLS: Hi-res image 1 - VHS Tape (Photo Credit: Rodney Ascher), Hi-res image 2 - Invitation (Photo credit: Rodney Ascher)
Link: New York Times - "Cracking the Code in 'Heeere's Johnny!'" , Le Monde (French) - "La note est réglée pour la chambre 237"
PRAISE:
"One of the great movies about movies." - Rob Nelson, VARIETY (full review here)
Rodney Ascher’s Room 237 might be the best film I’ve seen at Sundance this year... The film expresses, better than any movie I can think of right now, the feeling of being lost inside the world of a film, and by extension being lost inside the world of film." - Bilge Ebiri, reviewer for NEW YORK MAGAZINE
"A wonderfully entertaining look at the extreme movie love that has grown up around Stanley Kubrick’s masterly 1980 chiller, “The Shining.” Directed by Rodney Ascher, “Room 237” takes as its point of departure those cinephiles who, as they explain in voiceover, have dedicated an extraordinary amount of time and even more imagination to unlocking the secrets – some convincing, others more cracked than Jack Nicholson’s crazed character – in “The Shining.” Wittily, Mr. Ascher employs a lavish number of seamlessly edited movie clips to illustrate these theories, a strategy that affirms just how deeply some fanatics live not just with the object of their cine-obsessions but also inside them." - Manohla Dargis, THE NEW YORK TIMES
"A delightfully odd film, but also an enjoyable one for film fans." - Mark Adams, SCREEN INTERNATIONAL (full review here)
"...An amazing experience, because it lures you into seeing The Shining as a kind of feature-length studio-made Zapruder film. Some of what its subjects have to say is nutty, and some of it might be described as advanced paranoia — like the tendency to ascribe deep meaning to continuity errors (a character’s pants changing from shot to shot; a disappearing chair behind Jack Nicholson). But a lot of Room 237 consists of incredibly passionate and savvy and audacious film criticism. It’s criticism infused with the power of conspiracy theory." - Owen Gleiberman, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
"As for the fest's typically stellar docu lineup, my personal favorite had no social-justice orientation whatsoever: Rodney Ascher's mesmerizing cine-essay "Room 237," which served up a hilariously obsessive, frame-by-frame analysis of Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining" and the abundant layers of meaning tucked away therein. In a year whose official Sundance slogan was "Look again," I can think of no other film in Park City that so consistently and enjoyably forced me to do just that." - Justin Chang, VARIETY
"Grade: A. If you think you know "The Shining" guess again, as Rodney Ascher's outstanding "Room 237" goes down the rabbit hole of the meanings and interpretations of the horror classic from the plausible to the outlandish." - Kevin Jagernauth, PLAYLIST
