A Few Thoughts on The Shining And Some Shining Related Business

Well it's been a while since I blogged but I've been pretty busy studying for the GMAT, hanging out with the wife and baby, and now i actually have work to do at work, so I don't have the browsing time that I used to.

Anyway,

A couple weeks ago Amanda and I watched The Shining. If you haven't seen it you should. *WARNING* There is a nude woman in the film, it's rated R, and its pretty damn creepy, but one of the best horror films ever made. I'm pretty sure it's Stanley Kubrik's best film (The director). 2001 A Space Odyssey was rather boring and I could never bring myself to watch A Clockwork Orange. Dr. Strangelove was pretty funny; "There's no fighting in the war room!" Man that line kills me. Full Metal Jacket might compete for best Kubrick film, but I'm going to stick with The Shining.

Kubrik mastered the art of using composed music to highlight scenes and create emotional tension long before P.T. Anderson was around, and The Shining is no exception. From Danny's pre-cognitive visions to the loneliness and desolation of the Overlook Hotel, the music enhances the overwhelming tension from beginning to end.

Kubrik's artistic vision coupled with phenomonal acting job by Jack Nicholson and the other actors created a movie that will go down in history as equal to any Hitchcock film. This leads me to my next point. The film is based on a Stephen King novel. As good as the film is, the novel is better.

Now there are lot of movies where I think the novel is better which makes me dislike the film, and in more rare circumstances a film that I like more than the book which makes me dislike the book more. However, I independently love both the book and the film. If either existed without the other, each can stand on it's own. But since they co-exist, the novel is better but mostly because it gives more insight the demise of Jack Torrence (The main character).

Now for those of you who have seen the film, and not read the book here is a little comparison. In the film you get the feeling that Jack (the character) is kind a prick from the very beginning. He seems a little short, he's only been on the wagon for 8 months, you feel like he could snap at any time, and it seems like he loves his family, but I was never really sure. So watching him sink further and further into himself as the Overlook takes over his psyche, you think...yeah I could see that coming. Bummer, but not too unexpected.

In the book, Jack Torrance is a much more likable character. They have fallen on hard times, he has been on the wagon for about 15 months, and he really does love his family. He is fighting for them and cares deeply for them. You are rooting for they guy. So to watch (I guess read is more appropriate) Jack fall slowly, ever so slowly into the catechism of the monster that is the Overlook is heartbreaking and gut wrenching. Especially when you can see how much Danny loves his father, and those feelings are reciprocated.

That is one of the many differences...

and...


*SPOILER ALERT***SPOILER ALERT**

Hallorann the cook lives in the book.


*SPOLIER DONE**SPOILER DONE*



Next to Shawshank Redemption, I think it might be the best movie adapted from a Stephen King novel. I don't know how many of you are fans of Stephen King, but I think he might be one of the best writers on the planet. I guess he must be fairly popular since you can buy a Stephen King novel almost anywhere and there have been a lot movies made based on his books. Nevertheless, I bet a lot of you dismiss his writing ability out of hand based on his popularity. I did that for a long time. I have a few theories on that.

1. There have been like a million movies based on Stephen King novels, and only a few, and by a few I mean maybe 3, are very good.

Ok. I think I might have been wrong. There are least 4 really good movies based On Stephen King novels.

1. Shawshank Redemption
2. The Shining
3. Stand By Me
4. Misery

Anyway my point is that since the majority of the movies based on his stories are not particularly good, people may think that he is not a good writer. As Dwight from the office might say. FALSE!

2. His popularity. As a society we tend to dismiss things that are popular as only popular because silly, stupid, or pop culture wannabe's like it. In most cases I would agree. (See N SYNC, Paris Hilton, The Hills, etc....etc....anything on MTV...everything except Best Week Ever on VH1).
But Stephen King really is an excellent writer, and one of my favorite author's. I will try to explain why...here it goes.

The Shining is a fantastic novel. The backgrounds of each character are interesting, compelling, and lead you to stand in line to root for them. You care about them and want them to succeed. The story is original. I don't have a good enough vocabulary or imagination to make a better description. If someone is a good writer, they just are. For example I really like Vince Flynn novels. Basically a spy novel that has featured the same character since the beginning. The books are entertaining, but Vince Flynn is not that good of a writer. He would be in the category of wildly popular, but not super talented. Stephen King's fame is deserved.

To further my argument, the character Danny in the novel has a gift called the shinning. Its part pre-cognitive part telepathic. That gift shows up on other characters in Stephen King's novels. In fact, almost all of his novels revolve around his Dark Tower series. The Dark Tower series may be one of the best series ever written. To me it rivals J.R. Tolkien and I think that I like it more than Tolkien s series.

I was sad after I read the last book of the dark tower series. I was fully engrossed in the world Stephen King created and a small part of me wished it were real. Almost every other book King has written shows up in that series is some way or another; A character or a gift, and it all ties together yet each book can stand on its own. If that doesn't prove how capable a writer he is, i don't know what will.