No.37
No.37 continues the tense and foreboding mood. The storm, the mixture of aggression and isolation, and now the external means of normal communication (the phone) are removed as well. It is another sense of escalation into danger.
American History/Culture
Wendy’s jacket has Mexican/Indigenous Native symbols like teepees and sun symbols, but also racist symbols like sleeping Mexicans with sombreros.
The multitude of phone books, and the maps in Ullman’s Office speak to Manifest Destiny and the expanse that America has become through colonization.
There is a nod to ‘smoke signals’ as Wendy uses the radio transmitter to talk to the Forest Ranger while smoking a cigarette.
Wendy’s wears moccasin booties
Postcards are shown attached to the switchboard, depicting a western photograph of the outdoors. This contrasts Wendy’s appliqués and indigenous representations like The Great Mother.
Domestic abuse
Not overt, but the horseshoe shown here will be shown again in the next scene, amongst the slain Grady Girls. The disconnection leads to harm.
The Maze
Fatalism
The Police and Fire notes make sense for the space, as well as feed into the foreboding nature of the film.
While Wendy’s jacket has Mexican imagery, Halloran’s condo has a sombrero on display as he talks to the forest ranger.
The horseshoe shown nailed to the wall reflects the painting shown in the Torrance home in No.7, as well as the shot of the Grady Girls slain (the horseshoe is included in frame). Having the horse and horseshoe show up not just as Wendy talks with the Dr. but as The Grady Girls are slain shows the eventual outcome to the Horse & Train image on No.7. The children got in the way of the train (their father’s ambition and ‘responsibility’)
Doubling
The bathrooms are styled like the Elevator (and the double doors within The Colorado Lounge).
We are shown 2 hallways as Wendy walks from the Radio room to Ullman’s Office.
The painting behind the switchboard shows up again in No.71
Kubrick’s Aesthetic:
The fireplace on the right side of the frame in No.36 reflects the fire notice on the orange floral bulletin board here in No.37.
When Wendy speaks to the forest ranger, it’s a younger man. An older man and a woman are shown working in the space. This is a similar breakdown of the Torrance’s. Compare to when Halloran calls the Forest Ranger and speaks only to an older man around his age.
Kubrick has a habit of including references to other work within his current film. A Dr. Strangelove postcard is shown. Could just be Kubrick shoving other Kubrick work, but since it’s Strangelove, it could be “strange” / “love”, as we’ll see between Jack and Danny in No.40, No.41 and referenced in No.80.
“Eye Scream”, a phonetic reference to “ice cream”
No.16 “How’d you like some ice cream, doc?”
No.17 “What kind of ice cream do you like, son?”
No.19 Halloran and Danny discuss after Danny’s had ice cream
“Eye Scream”, a phonetic reference for “I Scream”
First shown with Danny and his awareness of danger in regard to Jack’s work and the hotel, then shown primarily with Wendy as she reacts to the things she sees on her Trail of Awareness.
Color
Orange:
included in phone books and the notice board, is associated with increasing danger. As a color it is tied to the 2nd floor hallway carpet, the rugs around The Colorado Lounge, a love seat within The Colorado Lounge.
Yellow:
Wendy’s jacket, tied to the VW Bug and the Tennis Ball.
Pattern
Whimsical patterns (especially florals) are associated with make believe.
Cabin Fever:
If things were increasingly rough before the phone lines were down, having them removed is just another layer of danger for the Torrance family.
The camera holds on Wendy at the radio, and backs away as she walks towards Ullman’s Office, where it holds on her as she uses the radio.
Same path, in reverse
Wendy walks the same path as Jack but in reverse in No.79
Radio Room
Ullman’s Office
Wendy
“I knew it!” as Wendy discovers the lines are disconnected.
Wendy “not seeing”, her denial, and the superficial awarenesses that keep her in harm’s way.
Continued from No.33 is Grygory Ligeti’s Lontano as Wendy discovers the phones are disconnected. The music fades out and is replaced by wind as she enters Ullman’s office and approaches the radio.