By Cody Giunta
Adapted from the Stephen King novel of the same name, The Shining follows the Torrance family: Jack, a former teacher with some anger issues; Wendy, a stressed-out but resilient wife; and Danny, a young boy with psychic abilities.
After Jack’s anger costs him his teaching job, he takes on a winter caretaker role at the Overlook Hotel and brings his family with him for the months-long stay.
As the winter snow sets in, so too does the sense of cabin fever for the family.
Danny begins to see visions of the Overlook’s deceased guests, Jack lingers on the edge of sanity and Wendy grapples with her fear of what is really happening to her husband and son. All is not well within the Torrance family.
Each of The Shining’s main cast excels in their performances: Jack Nicholson is as unhinged as only he can be, Shelly Duvall is rightly terrified throughout, and Danny Lloyd makes you genuinely fearful for his safety in a way only a child can.
King has publicly trashed Kubrick’s vision over the years. For him, there were always supernatural forces at work in the Overlook that drive Jack’s sanity slippage. Kubrick, on the other hand, chooses not to take a firm stance.
In that sense, The Shining is a poor adaptation of the novel which inspired it. And that’s okay, it more than makes up for it with its base elements and the feelings it invokes as you watch. The isolation and family conflict combine to form an atmosphere that anybody can relate to and be disturbed by.
Whether it’s ghosts or more earthly issues haunting the Torrance family’s thoughts, feelings and actions isn’t important. It’s The Shining’s ambiguities which allow you to have your own interpretations of the film’s events, and take something new away with each viewing.
And while it’s been referenced, parodied and buried by its source material’s author, Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining remains one of the most unique and absorbing films ever made.
Unplug the phone, turn off the lights, and descend into terror at your own risk.
Featured image: Jack Nicholson gets his crazy on in The Shining. Photo: YouTube
