Kubrick and Severed Heads

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The 1968 motion-picture 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY The 1980 motion-picture THE SHINING The 1980 documentary MAKING THE SHINING The 1999 motion-picture EYES WIDE SHUT STANLEY KUBRICK'S WORK

Warning: Spoilers ahead! This post contains furthermore copyrighted material for the purpose of research, commentary and eduction as per fair use provisions.

SPOILER WARNING

The 1968 motion-picture 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY The 1980 motion-picture THE SHINING The 1980 documentary MAKING THE SHINING The 1999 motion-picture EYES WIDE SHUT ­ ­ ­ ­

What is it with Stanley Kubrick and severed heads? While George Lucas is contempt with severed hands (mostly, anyway), Stanley on the other hand seems to aim for the full monty.

Dr. Strangelove:

For Strangelove Kubrick contemplated using a "weird, hydra-headed, furry creature" snarling at the camera during the main title card. This is from the original script:

MAIN TITLE CARD - A WEIRD, HYDRA-HEADED, FURRY CREATURE SNARLS AT CAMERA

ROLL-UP TITLE

"NARDAC BLEFESCU PRESENTS"

Dr. Strangelove:
or
How I Learned to Stop Worrying
and
Love the
BOMB

a
MACRO - GALAXY - METEOR PICTURE

2001 – A Space Odyssey:

Then, in 2001 we get several examples. First of all Kubrick contemplated to use a lion's head prop, which would have been mounted atop a tree by Moonwatcher to instill terror upon a rival tribe:

In an early version of the script a lion's head was to be shown mounted atop a tree branch by Moonwatcher and his tribe, to instill terror upon a rival tribe. Kubrick was probably examining an early attempt to render such scene filmable; but whatever the lion's head was to be used for - clearly its phony condition was never improved enough for the director, as it doesn't appear in the movie and Richter doesn't even remember to have seen it - Kubrick turned to real wild beasts for the shooting of the most menacing scenes.

Then as we see in ASO124-02, the very first example we get in the film (not counting the numerous skulls in the "THE DAWN OF MAN" sequence) is, while allegorical, quite striking nonetheless:

With the stroke of a pen.

But there are more:

Three bodies suites, three severed heads helmets – looks a bit like a hydra, doesn't it? (And did you notice that the number Three plays a role in that film?)

A severed yellow head helmet in the de-pressurized pod bay…

… while the yellow body suite is at another place. (How exactly would Dr. Frank Poole get his helmet from the de-pressurized pod bay, if he actually needed?)

And of course later on, we see the memorable Dave Bowman getting severed from his head helmet.

Bowman thankfully manages to get a green helmet – don't worry though, he'll have his red helmet back once he checks in at the Monolith Hotel.

The Shining:

A still from Making The Shining:
Supposedly Kubrick was shooting test-footage to see how the prosthetic head would read on 35mm film. For whatever reason, but the head never made it into the released film.

And of course there is the Saint Winifred reference:

JACK

Mr. Halloran, I'm Jack, and this is my wife, Winifred.

HALLORAN

Glad to meet you, Jack.

HALLORAN shakes hands with WENDY.

HALLORAN

Glad to meet you, Winifred.

WENDY

Nice to meet you.

A few moments later then Hallorann severs the name Winifred:

HALLORAN

Mrs. Torrance, your husband introduced you as Winifred. Now are you a Winnie or a Freddie?

WENDY

I'm a Wendy.

HALLORAN

Oh Wendy. That's nice. That's the prettiest.

(Not to mention the complete mind-boggling question the viewer now has, if he hasn't missed the mumbled "Winifred"s in the Ballroom: Why the heck does Jack call Wendy "Winifred"???? But Dick Hallorann doesn't ask such insightful questions…)

Full Metal Jacket:

Kubrick allegedly shot (however didn’t use) footage of “Animal Mother” (played by Adam Baldwin) using his machete to cut of the head from the dead female Vietcong sniper for the ending of Full Metal Jacket.

Shot for Full Metal Jacket, but not used in released film.

Eyes Wide Shut:

While not a horse head, this is an equally memorable warning.

Other films of his?

I wouldn't be the slightest bit surprised if the theme of severed heads was either used or contemplated for use in his other films as well. However, I haven't seen them all – yet…

A Blue Saltire On A White Field (TS100-02)

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The 1980 motion-picture THE SHINING STANLEY KUBRICK'S WORK

Warning: Spoilers ahead! This post contains furthermore copyrighted material for the purpose of research, commentary and eduction as per fair use provisions.

SPOILER WARNING

The 1980 motion-picture THE SHINING ­ ­ ­ ­

As one of the many oddities of The Shining, I present today the flags at the Overlook Hotel on CLOSING DAY.

The first oddity, for comparison, the shot TS008 from the end of the opening titles sequence (before the "INTERVIEW") shows clearly no flags present (and neither are there flags at later shots after the CLOSING DAY).

TS008-01: No flags at the end of the opening titles – judging from the shadows this was shot at the morning.

But then on the shot TS100 (at the beginning of "CLOSING DAY" sequence) there are now clearly flags present:

 TS100-02: The Flags at the Overlook Hotel on "CLOSING DAY" – the shadows indicate that the footage was shot at the afternoon.

So which flags can we identify?

• #1 is maybe the flag of Belgium or Italy
• #3 is clearly the flag of the USA
• #5 is possibly the flag of the US Forest Service
• #4 and #6 are not identifiable
• #7 seems to be a completely red flag – either the Soviet Union or the People's Republic of China come to my mind

But #2 flag is odd.

What is the #2 flag?

#2 flag has what is called a blue "saltire" (or St. Andrew's cross) on a white field. There are some possibilities for what flag we see here – the most likely is the Russian Navy Ensign of imperial (pre-1917) Russia. After 1917 parts of the Whites (during the so called "Russian Civil War") and the Russian Liberation Army (during WWII) used that flag.
The Maltese fishing village Marsaxlokk has a similar flag, but it seems somewhat unlikely. Other flags use a blue saltire on a white field, but usually include other elements, elements which are missing here.

Another possibility is that what we see should be the flag of Nova Scotia, but somehow missing the inescutecheon/shield for whatever reason.

So either the #2 flag is the Russian Navy Ensign, or an inaccurate reproduction of the flag of Nova Scotia, or some other hard to identify flag.

Who put the flag there?

There are three possibilities: Either the management of the Timberline Lodge, or the film crew, or someone else. Now, the last one is highly unlikely, so I'll focus on the other two.

Possibility number one: the Timberline Lodge management put the flag there

It seems to me that the flags at the Timberline Lodge uses are the following:

• An US flag (stars and stripes), presumably because the Lodge is based in the US
• An US Forest Service Flag, presumably because it is governed by the US Forest Service.
• In recent years an Oregon flag has been added it seems – but none of the flags in The Shining resemble an Oregon flag
• And then there are national flags, presumably to represent the guests

Now the #2 flag falls under none of the above categories.

Of course, it is possible that some guests brought the flag with them (e.g. members of company, and it is their company's flag), and that the management was so kind to fly the colors of some possibly loyal and well paying customers. But somehow I don't see that as quite likely – which brings me to

Possibility number two: The film crew put the flag there

I think it is much more likely that the second unit film crew (under Jan Harlan, I take it) put the flag there, and put the flag there under the direction of Stanley Kubrick. Which brings me to the next question: What the heck, Stanley?

Well, I thought about it for a while, and if the film crew put the flag there – which I think is the most likely case – then there are several possibilities to consider:

• A more or less literal interpretation: what we see in the film is an allegory about pre-1917 imperial Russia
• Or somewhat less literal: an allegory about the Soviet Union
• Another a bit more literal interpretation: an allegory about the Russian navy (or possibly the Soviet navy)
• Or in the same direction, but somewhat less literal: The Overlook Hotel is to be taken as a ship (After all, Wendy and Ullman talk about the Overlook as a "ghost-ship" in TS123, and then there is this.)

Some of those are very nice ideas, but I fail to see Kubrick concerning himself much with Russia or the Soviet Union. However there is one more rather literal interpretation: The Russian Navy Ensign is, in the context of the Overlook Hotel, falsely placed – it is literally a false flag. Some party – other than the Russians – are showing a false Russian flag. And what is the only other flag that is clearly identifiable in TS100? It is the stars and stripes, the flag of the USA – right next to the false flag.

Kubrick Cut By Cut: TS000 to TS008 – The Shining – 0. Act: OPENING TITLE SEQUENCE

COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER AND FAIR USE NOTICE

The 1980 motion-picture THE SHINING STANLEY KUBRICK'S WORK

Warning: Spoilers ahead! This post contains furthermore copyrighted material for the purpose of research, commentary and eduction as per fair use provisions.

SPOILER WARNING

The 1980 motion-picture THE SHINING ­ ­ ­ ­

Scene numbers and film times taken from idyllopuspress.com.

TS000a (0:00:00) pre WB title card

TS000b (~0:00:03.5/CF~1sec) WB title card

TS000c (~0:00:12.5/CF~1sec) post WB title card

TS001 (0:00:15*) St. Mary Lake, Goose Island

* I have a slightly different time: 0:00:14

TS002 (0:00:33/CF~4sec) Snake like road

Extraordinary:

TS002-01:

Discounting the two crossfades during the WB title card, this is the only "proper" crossfade of the opening title sequence, at 0:00:33 none the less.

TS002-02:

The road is figuratively snaking through the forest, and the camera is looking down, as opposed to a more level viewpoint in all other shots of the opening title sequence.

TS003 (0:00:52)

 

TS004 (0:01:11*) Gray rocks, titles, VW Beetle flyby

* I have a different time: 0:01:10

Extraordinary:

TS004-01:

Titles roll up.

TS004-02:

Title color is Cyan. Cyan is a secondary color from "additive primary green" and "additive primary blue", complementary (or "inverse") of "primary additive red".

TS004-03:

The (in)famous helicopter shadow can be seen in the 4:3 version at the beginning of TS004 in the lower right corner (probably unintentional).

TS004-04:

The title for JACK NICHOLSON meets the camera passes the VW Beetle.

TS004-05:

The title for SHELLY DUVALL comes into view the moment the VW Beetle gets out of view.

TS005 (0:01:41) Road, tunnel, lens flares

 


Extraordinary:

TS005-01:

The VW Beetle enters the tunnel on the right lane, but exits on the left lane.

TS006 (0:02:13) Lush green slope

TS007 (0:02:36) Snowy slope

Extraordinary:

TS007-01:

Stanley Kubrick and Diane Johnson get a shot of their own.

TS007-02:

We have a transition to a snow covered part of the landscape.

TS007-03:

The mountain in the background does look a bit like a head in profile.

TS008 (0:02:46) The Overlook Hotel opening shot

Extraordinary:

TS008-01:

Helicopter blades (my interpretation: possibly unintentional)

TS008-02:

(HD) Police (or possibly fire-fighter) car, with red(?) lights on roof

TS008-03:

In the 4:3 version further white cars can be seen in the lower right corner – what we see with regards to cars seems to be an intentional composition (BTW, I counted 41 cars, 1 truck and 1 "snowcat" in the 16:9 version)

TS008-04:

No flags (we will later see flags in TS100-02)

TS008-05:

We have a bird's eye view of the Overlook's exterior – the next time we see it in TSxxx at the beginning of the CLOSING DAY, we are at "eye level" of the parking lot. Then in TSxxx we get to a view from below. A steady progression downwards.

TS008-06:

The Grey Hotel fascade seems to blend into the grey gravel of the mountainscape…

TS008-07:

There are in total five VW Beetles on the parking lot: Two Yellow (on the left end of the image), one Red (near entrance), one Beige and one (battered?) Red with gray fenders (front center of the image).

TS008-08:

(HD version only) The leftmost Yellow VW Beetle has both its doors open and someone can be seen at the passenger side door.

Continued in TS009 (0:03:02) INTERVIEW title card.

Notes:

It is amazing how utterly beautiful the scenery is. The ominous music makes it clear from the beginning that something is afoot here.

Colors:

• Shades of Blue (sky, shadowy regions of the mountains)
• Shades of Gray (road, rock, Overlook Hotel)
• Shades of Green and Yellow (vegetation)
• Shades of Pink (Rocks after St. Mary Lake)
• Yellow (VW Beetle, double line on road)
• White (snow, clouds, car on the road)
• Purple/Violet lens flare 
• Red, Gold, Silver, Brown, Dark Green, Lime(?) Green, Beige, White, Yellow, Black, Shades of Blue (cars in front of the Overlook Hotel)