Kubrick Collection: 'The Shining'

The Shining

The Shining is my least favorite film of Kubrick’s. This is not to say that I don’t like it, I just don’t think it is as terrifying as everyone thinks it is. Now I will say that I have read Stephen King’s book of which the film is based on, and I do think the book is superior to the film, but there are things about The Shining that are absolutely fantastic. I would go as far to say that I think the trailer for The Shining is the coolest things about it, not to mention a trailer that would never be shown to general audiences now days. Give it a look…

There is something about the way the blood first comes out of the elevator actually looks supernatural and extremely effective. I just don’t think the film itself lives up to what that trailer promises despite a classic performance by Jack Nicholson that obviously guided the rest of his career, something historian John Baxter touches upon during the audio commentary.

Nicholson plays Jack Torrance, a struggling author that has just taken a job as an offseason caretaker at the Overlook Hotel. He will live there for a few months with his wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall) and his son Danny (Danny Lloyd) and work on his book in what he believes will be peace and quiet. Unfortunately the ghosts of the Overlook Hotel soon take over and open up the Torrance’s to a week in hell.

Now, I am not one of those people that think a film adaptation needs to stick squarely to the book. I actually don’t think there is a single book out there that can be directly adapted to the screen without changes. Words from a novel can never jump straight to the screen as the pacing of a film is far more crucial than it is in a book. Books can linger and establish much larger and more drawn out characters. Nah, things need to be cut and changed and re-imagined from the book if the film will ultimately work.

My problem with The Shining is quite simply the fact that I don’t find it scary. I think it is too long and Kubrick’s dramas are actually far more horrific than this film.

Yeah, the little girls are creepy…

The dead little girls are a little creepy…

Even the ending is very much Kubrick as it leaves the film wide open to speculation and interpretation. However, these few little details and even Nicholson’s performance aren’t enough to justify me spending 2 hours and 24 minutes waiting for Jack to completely lose his mind.

Fortunately the story of the making of the film is far more interesting as the audio commentary and the second disc of special features, including Kubrick’s 17-year-old daughter Vivian’s documentary on the making of the film, add a tremendous amount of insight to the making of the film. You may remember Vivian from 2001 when she asked for a Bush Baby over a video phone when she was 8-years-old.

The most interesting piece of the whole story is probably how cruel Kubrick was to Shelley Duvall, and she admits it in an on camera interview, and you see evidence of it after she misses a call for action. She keeps her cool for the most part and actually says she understands why Kubrick was doing what he was doing. There is also another look at the thought process into making one of the moments during the scene of Jack locked in the foot pantry.

Whether I like the film or not doesn’t really matter for those that do enjoy it. This is a great special edition of the film, and as a Kubrick fan I am actually happy I own it. I will watch it again, quite simply to watch Kubrick’s work and see Nicholson in one of his most iconic roles. You don’t always have to like a film to get enjoyment out of it. For me it is rare that this happens, but The Shining is one film I can appreciate for who made it and how it was made and find enjoyment. For those of you that actually like the film, and there are a lot of you, you should be immensely excited with this release.