The Shining
When the highly acclaimed director Stanley Kubrick (Spartacus, 2001: Space Odyssey, Clockwork Orange) wanted to bring the best-selling horror The Shining to the big screen, thrill seekers gasped with anticipation. Though the resulting picture differs wildly from Stephen King?s original version, the general audience loves The Shining through the unique vision of Kubrick. The premise doesn?t change from the novel to the screenplay; however, the show of Jack?s fall to madness fails to elicit the same fear as the novel with its poor acting, exaggerated music, and misleading plotline.
Though having slight propensity of losing control, Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) did not graduate from the institute of axe murderers. In an attempt to focus his life as a writer, Jack secures the quiet winter caretaker position along with his wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall) and son Danny (Danny Lloyd) in the secluded Overlook Hotel. Though he thought it will be a wonderful winter where he could work away at his typewriter without disturbance, his psychic son feels the presence of ghosts haunting the hotel. Unable to escape what might be Jack?s destiny, the ghosts of Overlook Hotel slowly take him over the edge of sanity. With a huge scary axe in hand, and crazed expression on his face, the madness begins.
Unfortunately, Jack Nicholson?s natural disposition did not convey a strong grip on sanity. In a June 1983 Playboy interview, King expressed the importance of Jack?s decent into madness. ?If the guy is nuts to begin with, then the entire tragedy of his downfall is wasted.? It is also disappointing that Nicholson?s exaggerative facial expressions and wild roving arms do not help set the proper mood for a good scare. During the first scene where Jack first meets Lloyd (Joe Turkel), the eyebrow twitching, head turning, and dramatically pausing results in a funny loony, instead of a scary loony. When Jack first admits his desire to bash Wendy?s head in, the atmosphere feels comical rather than chilling. How can anyone not laugh when the wobbly Wendy weakly whacks Jack on the head and he rolls down the stairs?
Shelley Duvall?s portrayal of the subservient Wendy Torrance also fails to elicit upsetting thoughts of horror. As a victim of Jack?s madness, the audience should sympathize with Wendy; however, the unsteady walk, unrealistic tears, and weak screams simply do not do the trick. During the final climatic scenes, her fear is hardly tangible — especially in the overpowering presence of Nicholson.
Many horror films use musical scores and sound effects to greatly enhance the scare elements of the story. As most would expect, the eerie music kicks in whenever something weird is about to happen in The Shining. Due to the length of the movie and the constant threat of ghosts just around the corner, the musical score hurts more than scares. Like the boy who cried wolf, the omnipresence of jarring music stops having an effect half way through the movie. Not only did the music stop having an effect, more recent adaptation of similar scores in movies like Aliens and Eyes Wide Shut cause a different type of expectation from the movie.
The most important element to a horror film ultimately falls to believability. Sadly, Kubrick?s failed at pushing the reason behind Jack?s murderous rage. Instead of focusing on Jack?s declining mental state due to the spirits of Overlook Hotel, Kubrick shifted the source of Jack?s problem to Wendy. It isn?t because Jack kisses the rotting corpse, but because Wendy wants to leave the Overlook Hotel that causes him to become angry. What is the point of the bathtub rotting corpse if Jack forgets about the corpse soon as he leaves it behind? Other off-the-wall scenes also detract from the consistency of the film. During the climatic moments, the sudden appearance of a masked pig causes confusion. The never explained waterfall of blood from the elevator shaft never connects with anything else in the plotline. Without reading the book, these scenes are almost meaningless, and sleep inducing.
All things considered — The Shining was a success no matter what problems it has. Perhaps blinded by Kubrick?s incredible brilliance in his previous works, the masses decided to spin almost every drawback of the film as a positive. As beauty is in the eye of the beholder, Stanley Kubrick?s The Shining is nothing more than an overblown family drama with a tinge of the supernatural.
July 28th, 2005 at 11:40 am
Just watched the first half of King’s TV film version, and it follows the story almost exactly. Rebecca DeMornay is believable as Wendy, and the kid is utterly accurate in his portrayal of Danny. Jack’s part could have been cast a tiny bit better, but overall, it worked. His turn to madness was appropriate and charged with energy. I like it much, much better than Kubrick’s fiasco.