10 Not So Obvious Messages With Deeper Meanings In Stanley Kubrick's Films

Bathrooms feature prominently in almost all of Kubrick’s films, to reveal the characters’ more flawed forms. The bathroom is a private sanctuary, where a human is vulnerable and Kubrick utilised this to his advantage. In The Shining, Danny Torrance has his most nightmarish visions in the bathroom, whilst Jack meets up with former caretaker Grady in a blood red bathroom. At this moment he realises he wants to kill his family.

The famous room 237 scene also takes place in a bathroom. In A Clockwork Orange, Alex sings Singing in The Rain whilst in the bath, revealing his true identity. In Lolita, Full Metal Jacket and Dr Strangelove, characters either commit suicide or attempt to in bathrooms.

Likewise, mirrors are present throughout Kubrick’s films to reflect the personal demons the characters are facing, or for the character to literally face themselves. The Shining in particular is full of mirrors, one of which in room 237 turns a naked woman into a rotting corpse; Jack finally sees the hotel for what it is through the mirror.

Books and albums are also placed in the background for subtext or personal amusement. The 2001 A Space Odyssey soundtrack is present in the record store in A Clockwork Orange. The writer beaten up by Alex in the film is writing A Clockwork Orange, and the red book lying on the desk at the beginning of The Shining is foreshadowing the horror to come.