"Hello Danny. Come and play with us. Come and play with us, Danny. Forever...and ever...and ever."
THE SHINING (1980)
Directed by Stanley Kubrick
Any collaboration between sensibilities as disparate as those of Stephen King and Stanley Kubrick was liable to create something muddled if not outright schizophrenic. Sure enough, "The Shining" is thematically and narratively kind of a mess. Is it a psychological thriller or a haunted house movie? Does the evil exist as a real force or does is it inherent in the character? What does Grady mean when he tells Jack that he's "always been the caretaker"? Who let Jack out of the dry goods locker? Does the hotel want Jack or the boy? If it wants the boy, then what does the photograph at the end signify? What exactly was the guy in the bear (dog?) costume doing to the man in the tuxedo? What does this movie mean?!?
Know what? It doesn't matter because "The Shining" is a masterpiece. No horror film is better shot, better utilizes sound and music or has a more coherent sense of it's environment. The Overlook Hotel is one of the best explored settings in film history, lending verisimilitude to the eerie, inexplicable events of the story. Stephen King has huge problems with Kubrick's interpretation of his work and that is certainly his right but, if anything, the coldness and emotional starkness of the film is a little more effective than King's warmer, more literal minded novel. Sorry Steve, just my opinion.
Here's another opinion that'll put me firmly in the minority. Jack Nicholson is terrific in the movie, but he's out acted by Shelly Duvall. Yeah, yeah I know, she's weak and annoying. She's also real, and as the Grady ghost(?) points out, far more resourceful than she seems.
Also, another great movie with a weirdly shitty poster.
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