Mirrors are a common prop used in horror films to add suspense and fear into a scene. The Shining is a film that i think uses mirrors in different and interesting ways.
The Shining (1980)
Every time that Jack sees a ghost from the hotel, theres a mirror in the scene (the woman in room 237, Grady in the red bathroom), with the only exception being the one scene when Jack is locked up in the kitchen pantry and can't actually see Grady as he talks to him from the other side of the door. This indicates that the ghosts in the hotel are not real, and are instead a reflection of Jack losing his mind.
Another interpretation could be that the use of mirrors was a way to represent how Jack was starting to blend with the hotel’s consciousness, and mean that Jack was actually talking to himself the whole time, and perhaps that the mirrors were added to show how Jack was becoming one with the hotel, as a mirror of his inner demons.
It also is used as a reality check: when Jack for instance sees a beautiful naked woman coming out of the bathtub the mirror shows the ‘ugly’ truth. Mirrors were also used in the scene where Danny repeated the phrase 'REDRUM', and ultimately it was the mirror that revealed it spelt 'MURDER' backwards. Danny’s mom sees the truth of ‘MURDER’ in the mirror towards the end of the film, and in this way the mirrors become a part of the storyline and help to move the story along.
However linking to Rene Magritte's painting 'not to be reproduced', the difference is that in The Shining, Jack and his reflection are always facing each other. Like they don’t exist together but are the same person in different dimensions (a fantasy). However later on we understand how they are connected. (Like his mirror image, Jack tries to murder his family). Different to Magritte's painting, where the man in his portrait isn't facing himself in the mirror. Both of them provoke thought and discussion around whether the image is real or not. In that way i'm going to use ideas from both the painting and film, to create emotion in my short film.
Sources:
Tyler, A (2020), ScreenRant (online), Available at: https://screenrant.com/shining-movie-mirrors-jack-torrance-ghosts-meaning-explained/ , (Accessed 21st September 2021).
Vries, H (2017), FrameLand (online), Available at: https://frame.land/symmetry-and-mirroring-in-the-shining/ , (Accessed 21st September 2021).
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