So first off I must state that Stephen King is my absolute favourite author. I have not read any of his work and been disappointed, the man is a genius. So forgive me if I am biased.. but I am right!
I recently re read his book The Shining after first reading it when I was 15 and what can I say? Its a classic. Not only does King do horror, he also does human psychology and has this fantastic way of capturing the inner struggles of the everyday man. In the book, Jack Torrence is a father, an alcoholic, a husband, a writer (which is a very common theme in King’s books) and one very tormented man. What is so great about the book is that even though we know Jack has a lot to be desired in the father and husband department, we cant help but feel for him. King slowly unravels Jacks past and you can put the pieces together of why this man surrendered to his demons. On top of that, Kings portrayal of Jack is so brilliantly written that for many parts of the book you feel like you are inside Jacks mind, understanding his thoughts and feeling what he is feeling. You can feel his demise, feel his struggle against alcohol and also his struggle against himself. Jack is a man that you can relate to on some level or at least sympathise with. He is an ordinary man so desperate to achieve his dreams but so rattled with darkness that he just can’t quite get there.
Wendy, Jacks wife, is a great character. At first you don’t connect with her, can’t see her true strength as she comes across as quite submissive and not all that special. You also start to wonder how she can be with a man that abused her own child. This is what is so great about King, he portrays everyday characters in his stories and challenges you to think about the situation they are in and question what is right and what is wrong. What King does for Wendy is show a woman, a mother and wife battle her own fears and her love for the two men in her life (Jack and Danny). He delves into the psyche of an all too common woman who is trapped in a relationship that is destructive and yet there are moments of true love. He explores the nature of the woman who is lost on her own path, trying to be a good mother and trying to be a good wife yet knowing that she and her son deserve more. Wendy cannot escape Jack as she loves him and it becomes clear she is too running from her own past – her mother.
I wont go into too much detail about Danny. His character is brilliant and I have read that some people felt he was too young to be so adult like. I didn’t feel this at all and felt that I could understand his talent as children all too often are able to see and feel things that adults have lost the ability to. Children are very intuitive and have not yet been conditioned into thinking or feeling anything other than what they know is real. This is why I felt that Danny’s character was believable.
After finishing the book I decided to watch the movie. Now I cannot say that this movie was not good, it is a Stanley Kubrick film and that in itself screams greatness. What I can say is that I felt that it missed many integral parts of the book and made changes that were not necessary. And don’t even talk to me about the casting for Wendy – who decided to choose Shelley Duvall?! WHAT A MISTAKE.
Firstly, I will say that the movie had a very eerie feel, it was shot in a way that left you suspended in time, holding onto the person next to you in fear of what might come next. The music was brilliant although I felt that the movie relied on this for scare tactics rather than using the story. Jack Nicholson was brilliant, his portrayal was not close to the book however his performance was five stars.
There were a few major issues I had with the movie. I have listed them below:
1.
Shelley Duvall. Do I need to say more?
2.
Jacks character was cold and you never connected with him. There is a scene when Jack is holding Danny close to him and it is creepy and completely devoid of emotion which has a special effect in the movie however the book clearly shows how much Danny loves his father and that Jack so desperately wants to be a good father and loves his son. Jack wants to change his life, he wants to be a good man for Wendy and Danny. This is completely missed in the movie.
3.
Although the Overlook is portrayed to have some seriously terrifying qualities, the movie doesn’t quite capture the true extent of the power it has on the Torrence family. The movie portrays Jack as a mad man from the beginning where this is simply not true. Jack has other negative traits but it was the Overlook that really destroyed him. The Overlook terrorised his mind, played on his weaknesses and drove him to madness. It was not only Jack that the Overlook tried to conquer, Danny and Wendy were also victims to its power however it is Jack, the weaker one of the three that falls to its prey. The book illustrates how ones mind really has the potential to create or destroy life. If Jack had not had these issues would the Overlook have been so successful? Was the Overlook a symbol for all that is bad in this world? Was King portraying a man who so badly wanted to be good but whose past and state of mind prevented him from achieving this? I do not know the answer however the book left you in a place where you could decide the meaning for your self and question human capabilities, the movie does not allow you to do this, they tell you what to think from the beginning.
4.
There is a scene in the book that is so powerful and so horrifying that as you read it, your stomach churns and you want to close your mind to the images but you keep reading, gripped to the pages wanting to know more. This scene is where Jack has completely gone mad, there are no traces of Jack Torrence, only the Overlook. He is holding a mallet, facing Wendy, ready to kill. In this scene Jack hits Wendy with the mallet numerous times, crushing her ribs, almost breaking her back and almost killing her.This is also where you see Wendy’s strength emerge, she does not give in to Jack, she fights for her life, for Danny. It is a powerful scene, the movie did include this however I think Wendy came across as weak and the use of the axe meant that Wendy was not harmed. Not to say that seeing that kind of violence is good but it was terrifying in the book, it really showed just how depraved and malicious Jack had become. Watching a scene where a man brutally attacks his wife is just plain horrifying, for the purpose of the film I think that this scene could have been far more blood curdling than it was.
5.
There is a very important character in the book that is barely touched on in the movie – Tony. Tony plays an integral part to the book and helps Danny survive. Without Tony, Danny may not be alive and in the book this relationship Danny has with Tony helps you understand the story and piece together the characters. I think the movie could have portrayed this far better or possibly just not have included this. I can understand how this would be hard to portray via film but they did not do a good job with this part.
6.
Finally, the ending of the movie is completely different. I did enjoy the maze scene, I think that this was well done however if the movie followed the book this did not have to be included. Dick plays an important part in the book, we follow him on his journey to rescue Danny, see a side to the shining that helps explain this special sense. Dick plays an important part in rescuing Danny and Wendy, he does not die. I may have been a bit too attached to Dick in the book hence why I was so angered that he barely had a role in the movie but they really could have used him more.
7.
There is also an important scene in the book where Danny and Jack come face to face, the Overlook has taken over Jack however there may possibly still be a part of Jack in there as he does not kill Danny. Jack or the Overlook, realise their mistake with the boiler and run to try and stop the hotel from exploding. Danny, Wendy and Dick only just escape, out into the freezing cold and it is evident in the book just how badly hurt Wendy is, just how much she is holding onto survival for her son. It is quite a scene, the maze scene in the movie is very well done however the symbol of the Overlook exploding is needed. The explosion destroys the hotel, taking Jack Torrence and all the darkness that dwells inside.
I could keep listing the differences but you get the point. There are areas of the movie that were added that were effective and it was filmed brilliantly but I just couldn’t believe how many integral parts were missing. The book far outweighs the movie which is of no surprise as this is often the case however I do suggest that everyone reads the book, decide for your self what King was depicting and if this was illustrated in the movie at all.
What is this life? 