July
6: #22, The Shining
“Red
rum. Red rum. Red rum.”
I've
seen The Shining a
few times, so this time around I watched the international version,
which is actually trimmed down from the US version but is said to be
the one that Stanley Kubrick prefers. It seems strange for a guy that
gleefully made us watch monkeys hop around for 20 minutes in 2001:
A Space Odyssey to be
so willing to edit his work, but okay. I looked at the stuff that was
cut out and aside from one line between Jack and the bartender in the
hotel, I could see his point.
The
main difference with the international version is that with some of
the fat cut out from early in the film, we go from, “Hmm...this
doesn't seem right” to “What the fuck GET OUT OF THERE LADY” in
much less time. I don't think it hurts the film, but your mileage may
vary.
Anyway,
The Shining
is one of my favorite Kubrick films because it really shows what a
genius he was and how he could have been a great director in any
genre. He effortlessly builds tension right from the opening credits
with some really nice establishing shots of the Torrance family
driving past the lake in their humble little car, not knowing what
they're in for. A creepy feeling permeates just about every moment of
the film, from the low-angle shots following Danny Torrance on his
big wheel rides through the hotel to Jack's hallucinations in the bar
and ballroom later on.
Kubrick
really excels at filling the open spaces of the hotel with a sense of
dread, as you feel like every room in the hotel may hold some sort of
terrible secret, not just room 237. Classic shots such as the two
little girls in their dresses (and the alternating shot of their dead
bodies strewn about the hall) and the cascading river of blood from
the elevator are complemented by creepy little touches such as, oh,
the natural insanity of Jack Nicholson's eyebrows.
Creepy
child actors are a mainstay in modern horror, especially with the
flood of PG-13 paranormal flicks we've seen in the last couple of
decades. They all owe some royalties to Danny Lloyd, who nails it as
one of the creepiest kids in horror history as Danny Torrance.
Danny's alter-ego Tony and the believable way in which he reacts to
his heightened awareness of the threats within the hotel are
essential to the film's success.
The
same is true of Shelley Duvall, who was quite literally subjected to
psychological torture by Kubrick during the filming of the movie.
Kubrick famously made Duvall perform over 100 takes of the scene in
which she tearfully confronts Jack with a baseball bat, which is said
to be a world record for a scene that contains spoken dialogue. He
also supposedly told the other members of the cast and crew to shun
her so she'd feel isolated throughout the filming.
Now,
you may be like some of the detractors of The
Shining, which include
the book's author, Stephen King. King wanted a more assertive Wendy
Torrance, and yes, Duvall is a complete mess throughout. But that's
what Kubrick wanted and I don't think you can say it's unbelievable
for the time period and situation.
 |
| "Winter is coming." |
You've
either seen The Shining
or you haven't, and if
you haven't, you really, really need to. If you have, we all know how
it goes down and Kubrick and the small cast handle every part of it
to near perfection. Kubrick's choices here don't seem as
self-congratulatory as in some of his other more showy films, and we
still get wonderful work such as the seamless transition between Jack
staring at the model of the hedge maze to an overhead shot of the
maze itself, with Wendy and Danny in it. This and Full
Metal Jacket represent
Kubrick at the peak of his powers.
Grade:
A
No comments:
Post a Comment