1980, 146 MINS, US
CAST:
(Warner)
|
1980, 146 MINS, US
CAST:
(Warner) |
|
Click here to buy posters!  To listen to Stephen King, director Stanley Kubrick has teamed with jumpy Jack Nicholson to destroy all that was so terrifying about his bestseller. Yeah, right, Mr. King, and all your other film adaptations of your books were directed by a genius like Kubrick? King is talking crap: this film is a work of art. In his book, King took a fundamental horror formula - an innocent family marooned in an evil-dwelling with a grim history - and built layers of terror upon it.The father is gradually possessed by the demonic, desolate hotel. With dad going mad, the only protection mother and child have is the boy's clairvoyance - his 'shining' - which allows him an innocent understanding and some ability to outmanoeuvre the devils. But Kubrick sees things his own way, throwing 90% of King's creation out and making a truly terrifying film. The crazier Nicholson gets, the more menacing he looks. Shelley Duvall (who was bullied without mercy by Kubrick to get the performance of her career out of her) transforms the underwritten wife of the book into a character who mirrors our own fears of Nicholson the crazier he gets. An outstanding achievement by Kubrick and a truly terrifying experience is guaranteed when entering his vision of terror. The picture was cut to 142 minutes by Kubrick soon after the picture. yul brynner | christopher plummer | romy schneider
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