Director: Stanley Kubrick
Year: 1980
Country: U.S
Language: English
After 2001: A Space Odyssey I thought Kubrick had lost his touch. Films like A Clockwork Orange, Full Metal Jacket and Eyes Wide Shut left me un-impressed and un-inspired despite them being praised as "great" films by just around every one I knew. I've heard of The Shining, but was very hesitant to watch it given my history of disliking Kubrick's post 2001 work, however for an English class I was asked to compare Stephen King's book to Stanley Kubrick's film adaptation noting the similarities and differences between the two. Expecting the worst, I rented the film and popped it into the dvd player. What I found is an incredibly effective "horror" film about madness, isolation and alcoholism. Even though King's book was great, Kubrick's film was far superior.
The Shining starts with a breathtaking helicopter landscape shot of a lone vehicle driving along a mountainside. Creepy music plays, giving us a sense that this is not a happy roadtrip film, this will likely end in the death of more than one character. Jack Nicholson plays the foolish Jack Torrance, a writer who thinks isolating himself and his family in a hotel located miles from the nearest town will help him with his writing. He wishes to be the caretaker for the Overlook Hotel in the winter, despite his employer telling him that the former caretaker went insane and killed his wife and two daughters.
Being isolated with family for the winter wouldn't be that bad, if there is a healthy family dynamic. Unfortunately the Torrances seem anything but healthy. Danny has a friend named Tony, who apparently lives in Danny's mouth and speaks in a lower register. We hear Jack's wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall) tell a doctor that his father once accidentally broke his son's arm while drunk, She is quick to make excuses for her alcoholic husband and likely is withholding more information. Was this an isolated incident? Unlikely. Danny may have been abused by his father on more than one occasion, this would explain Danny's odd behavior. Wendy seems like a passive enabling woman, a servant for her husband and a friend for her son. When Jack and Wendy are among people they seem like a healthy couple but when alone in the hotel it almost seems like they're estranged. Jack sits at his typewriter all day attempting to create a masterpiece, Wendy watches movies with her son. They barely speak and when they do Jack is usually yelling at his wife to shut up so he can finish his work. The shocking revelations of what he was working on show insight into his madness.
Yes madness. There are ghosts in the film but they are not real, they are a product of a mind gone mad. Consider the fact that whenever Jack seems to be talking to a "ghost", regardless of where his coversation takes place, he is always facing a mirror and the mirror is always at ace level. Is he talking to a ghost or his own reflection? Jack Torrance is an alcoholic who likes to say the he hasn't had a drink in 5 months, that he is better than the drink but his mind speaks louder than his words. Many of his encounters with ghosts include drinking, he drinks with the bartender ghost then acts as if he actually was drinking. The same anger and self destructive behaviors arise. The insatiable thirst for booze combined with isolation and the frustration of trying to make his novel perfect make a dangerous cocktail.
I appreciate the changes Kubrick made while adapting Stephen King's novel into a film. Some are fairly noticeable like Jack freezing to death in a maze instead of being trapped in the hotel while it blows up or Dick Hallorann (Scatman Crothers) being murder via axe in back instead of saving the family and being the hero. Others are small and subtle like Wendy smoking instead of Jack or Wendy using a real knife instead of a butter knife to defend herself against Jack. These differences, big and small, are very important and definitely ensure that the film is superior compared to the novel and much more realistic. Kubrick is the king of detail. I also appreciate the homage to Swedish Victor Sjostrom's 1921silent classic The Phantom Carriage. Yes the most memorable scene in Kubrick's grand horror film, the scene in which Jack puts an axe through the door and shouts "Here's Johnny!" isn't original but it's still wonderful.
In conclusion, The Shining is one of those rare films that are better than its original source material. Filled with small subtle details that make the film great, it was directed by a master. The acting by Jack Nicholson is phenomenal as well as Shelly Duvall's acting. The cinematography, pacing, editing and soundtrack is top notch. Aside from the somewhat confusing ending, I see no faults with this film. The stories behind the making of The Shining are incredibly interesting, Scatman Crothers had to re-shoot his scene a record 160 times! Shelley Duvall was nearly driver to madness by Kubrick's demands on the actress. An effective horror film and a decent study on the nature of alcoholism. Praise it! 4/5
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