Representing the Unconscious in Stanley Kubrick's The Shining
All art is psychological experience. By virtue of this, all art is psychological representation. Any exploration of the human mind inevitably leads to some discussion of the unconscious, a concept which is unremittingly difficult to define, though among most scholars has come to denote a part of the mind that holds our repressed wishes and emotions. What makes the study of the unconscious so interesting--and indeed so frustrating--is the fact that, by definition, it is hidden from us. Stanley Kubrick, whose films often epitomize the starkest, most horrific reality, seemed to view the line between the conscious and the unconscious as a world unto itself. For this reason, his films have more to do with psychological representation that with the strict expression of narrative.
Kubrick's films (and even his name) connote a vast and almost impenetrable repertoire of work that has as its focus an undeniable obsession with the basic emotions of the human unconscious.
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Representing the Unconscious in Stanley Kubrick's The Shining
The Cinematic Unconscious
Mirrors of the Soul
All Work and No Play
Shine On
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