Is Room 237 gibberish? Stanley Kubrick’s assistant thinks so

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

ROOM 237 is a fascinating documentary focusing on several different theories regarding Stanley Kubrick’s THE SHINING. (Read our positive review right HERE.) Some are more believable than others (is the movie a metaphor for Kubrick’s supposed involvement in faking the Apollo moon landing?!), but they’re all quite intriguing. If nothing else, ROOM 237 will forever change the way you look at THE SHINING; you’ll find yourself peering closely at every frame, trying to decipher hidden meanings and messages that may or may not be there. It’s wild.

Unsurprisingly, there’s someone out there calling the whole thing “balderdash” – Kubrick’s assistant on the film, Leon Vitali. The man was contacted by the New York Times recently and asked for his take on the documentary..

I was falling about laughing most of the time. There are ideas espoused in the movie that I know to be total balderdash.”

Indeed, some of the theories are a bit on the bizarre side (it’s really about the Holocaust!), but the cases are stated so convincingly that you’re sucked into each new take on the film. But Vitali isn’t buying any of it.

[Kubrick] didn’t tell an audience what to think or how to think, and if everyone came out thinking something differently that was fine with him. That said, I’m certain that he wouldn’t have wanted to listen to about 70, or maybe 80 percent of “Room 237.” Because it’s pure gibberish.”

Could be, but it’s still thought-provoking gibberish. ROOM 237 opens tomorrow in New York and rolls out across the country in April. To find out where you can see it, head over HERE.