Today is the 23rd so let’s take a trip to room 237. Stephen King might not have liked this adaptation of his novel but Stanley Kubrick’s film has stood the test of time.
Released in 1980 The Shining stars Jack Nicholson as Jack Torrance, a recovering alcoholic who has taken a job as caretaker of the Overlook Hotel, a remote isolated hotel in the mountains. Jack brings along his wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall) and his young son Danny (Danny Lloyd).
Danny is telepathic and has an imaginary friend named Tony. Tony shows Danny a terrifying look into the future causing Danny to have a seizure.
While going on a walk through of the hotel, which shuts down for the winter hence the reason Jack was hired, Danny meets Dick Hallorann (Scatman Crothers) who shares the same abilities, which Dick calls the “shining”, as Danny and tells him if there’s trouble to use his abilities to call Dick for help.
As the three members of the Torrance family settle into their lonesome stay in the hotel strange things slowly start to occur. Jack starts to change and Danny has a terrifying encounter in room 237. Stanley Kubrick is/was a brilliant filmmaker and his films have all been phenomenal. Disappointed with the box office from Barry Lyndon Kubrick wanted to make a movie that would be commercially successful and still allow his a chance to be artistic. He succeeded with The Shining. Yes the film diverts from the book but it allows Kubrick to be well Kubrick. And when compared to a more faithfully adapted TV mini-series there is no comparison. This is the superior adaptation.
Here’s my original post.
