At the end of the shining, why is jack in the photo of the. Jun 22, 2012 the shining is two stories, both the same, but somehow very different. This is why stephen king hates the shining so much. The popular interpretation is that the scene is a throwback to a subplot of stephen kings book, in which a party guest in a dog costume has a homosexual relationship with one of the hotels former owners. In dannys case, the future is perhaps even more murky. Doctor sleep comes out this friday, the sequel to the 1980 iconic horror masterpiece the shining from director stanley kubrick featuring jack nicholson in one of the most grandiose wildeyed. Lets take a close look at some of the characters in stephen kings the shining. The shining book was published in 1977 and followed jack torrance, an aspiring writer and recovering alcoholic who takes a job as the offseason caretaker of the overlook hotel in the colorado rockies. Stanley kubricks the shining is widely praised as a brilliant film, but not by the man who wrote the book it was adapted from. Although king didnt oppose to that at the time, he wasnt expecting kubrick to go as far as to change the essence of the book.
The shining the shining, gothic horror novel by stephen king, first published in 1977. Nov 05, 2019 stanley kubricks the shining is widely praised as a brilliant film, but not by the man who wrote the book it was adapted from. The shining s 1980 hedge maze chase is one of the most iconic endings in horror history. The shining mainly takes place in the fictional overlook hotel, an isolated, haunted. Stanley kubricks classic 1980 adaptation of the same book.
Based on the novel of the same name by stephen king, the shining follows jack torrance jack nicholson, an aspiring writer and recovering. Why doctor sleep had to end at the shinings overlook hotel. Drama analysis of the shining the shining is a 1980 psychological horror film directed by stanley kubrick. It is explained more in the book but since holloran has the shining as well, they are linked. The shining is a 1980 psychological horror film produced and directed by stanley kubrick and cowritten with novelist diane johnson. In the book, wendy torrance is not the submissive, shrinking violet shes portrayed as in the book. The shining book was published in 1977 and followed jack torrance, an aspiring writer and recovering alcoholic who takes a job as the offseason caretaker of the overlook. Heres every difference between the shining book and the film. In the final shots of stanley kubricks the shining, the audience sees the corpse of jack torrance jack nicholson frozen to death in the hedge maze where he tried to kill his wife wendy. Stanley kubricks the shining has become one of the most influential films in cinema history, often regarded as one of the greatest horror films ever made, but it took some liberties when adapting stephen kings novel. Masseys rotting corpse in the shining is unsettling whether youre reading the book, watching kubricks film, or checking out kings miniseries where.
This onepage guide includes a plot summary and brief analysis of the shining by stephen king. One of the many mysteries of stanley kubricks the shining is why jack appears in the photo at the end, and it actually has a semisimple explanation. Stephen kings the shining, published in 1977, is a horror novel. So when he shows up, jack goes after him knowing this fact instead of going after his wife.
I was looking for a theory, a way to explain the shining to myself. The shinings 1980 hedge maze chase is one of the most iconic endings in horror history. Stephen kings the shining is a classic piece of literature and stanley kubricks cinematic version shares the same cult status. The shining mainly takes place in the fictional overlook hotel. Mar 28, 20 danny is wearing an apollo 11 sweater during key scenes. After jack blows up at wendy the typewriter, chair, and book all return and wendy acts as if nothing happened implying it all happened in jacks mind. The most striking comparison is the 1997 miniseries adaptation of the shining vs. Check out his first column below, exploring the shining. Apr 17, 2018 the shining how a red book could explain everything read pinned comment duration. There are some very small changes that do little to affect the overall plot, like changing the main characters name from john to jack, to some very.
The title alerts us to the big idea or central concept around which the novel orbits. Kubrick decided to direct a comparatively crowd appealing film, maybe as a result of the financially poor performance of barry lyndon, which by many revered critics and filmmakers is considered to be his best film. However, kubricks adaptation of the shining deviates from kings novel in a few significant ways, which puts the new movie in a weird position. Jack rushes to go release the boiler before it explodes, but danny uses his shining to help him see what hes become. Not much was known of dicks early life, except that he likely was born in new hampshire. It deals with many of kings recurring themes, including alcoholism. Apart from kubrick, the film was produced by jan harlan, and its screenwriter was diane johnson. Although, stephen was not at all impressed by stanley kubricks direction. Jack torrance, his wife wendy, and their young son danny move into the overlook hotel, where jack has been hired as the winter caretaker. Jack slams the tennis ball on the floor of the lobby near a mickey mouse doll laying face down in a similar spotposition as hallorann after he is killed. The main character jack torrance is a violent, recovering alcoholic who has broken his son, dannys arm while drunk before. The setting and characters are influenced by kings personal experiences, including both his visit to the. Dannys endless steadicam cycle down the hotel corridors, ending with the twins in the hallway. The shining how a red book could explain everything read pinned comment duration.
In an interview, kubrick said the issue was what first attracted him to the shining, telling michel ciment that kings book seemed to strike an extraordinary balance between the psychological and the supernatural in such a way as to lead you to think that the supernatural would eventually be explained by the psychological. The shining, even though might not be the one to deliver an extremely frightening tale, it manages to provide us a pool of drama, thrills, disturbance, and everything you could think of in a good horror story for us to dive into. Danny is wearing an apollo 11 sweater during key scenes. The book was published by doubleday in january 28, 1977. Stephen king characters wendy torrance she is jacks wife. Mar 30, 2017 for the first time, the shining s producer and cowriter explain in detail why the horror tales ending changed from stephen kings novel and how it evolved again and again during the filming. Sep 29, 2016 kubricks biggest wtf moment is finally explained. The shining is a horror novel by american author stephen king.
Ullman describes the hotels layout and notes it has hosted presidents and millionaire moguls in its nearly 70year history under a variety of owners. Jan 21, 2020 the most striking comparison is the 1997 miniseries adaptation of the shining vs. As the cavernous hotel shuts down for the season, the manager gives jack a grand tour, and the. Until the last minute, the plot seems to be wrapping up in a conventional way. Stanley kubricks the shining is widely considered to be among the best bigscreen adaptations of a stephen king storyand with good reason.
Wendy walks up, jack stares, the typewriter changes, a chair disappears, and the research book next to him flips to another page. As amazing as the ending to doctor sleeps movie sounds, the ending for stephen kings book was way different. Jack lets the boiler explode to destroy the hotel while the. Jack torrance interviews for a job as the winter caretaker at the overlook hotel, a remote resort in colorado built between 1907 and 1909.
Eclipsed perhaps only by its 1980 film adaptation, the novel is. Jack instinctively dislikes the hotel manager, stuart ullman, and the feeling is mutual. Stephen kings hatred for stanley kubricks the shining. Find all the books, read about the author, and more. At the end of the shining, why is jack in the photo of. Why that bear performed fellatio on that guy in the shining. The story of this film is based off the book, the shining by stephen king. Her gullible nature, her compassion for danny and her husband seems to be her only flaws. In an interview with ew, producers jan harlan and diane johnson explain the steps that were taken in making. Theres plenty of speculation surrounding hidden meanings and conspiracy theories of the shining a featurelength documentarys worth, to be exact but the strangest part of the film may forever be wendys sudden discovery of a man in a work suit receiving fellatio from a man in a bear suit stanley kubrick famously tried to distance. The final, terrible shot of jack on the ground, his frozen face forever stuck in its maniacal, upwardlooking openmouth gaze, instantly freezes itself into the brain of anyone who.
The shining, one of the stephen kings bestselling novels and the film that has had a huge impact in pop culture, finally has the ending explained in an interview with ew, producers jan harlan and diane johnson explain the steps that were taken in making the film, and the decisions made by director stanley kubrick to create the final ending. Stanley kubricks the shining was released in 1980, and since has been hailed as one of the greatest horror movies ever made. The shining, one of the stephen kings bestselling novels and the film that has had a huge impact in pop culture, finally has the ending explained. Though she may not always seem it at first glance because she spends much.
He decided to adapt stephen kings best selling novel, the shining. A sequel, titled doctor sleep, was published in 20 summary. The film version made big changes to the character of jack overall, and subsequently, many elements of the story were completely modified to better represent the character the picture was working with. Ultimately, the genius of the shining is that the ending can.
One of the most frequent questions ive received about the shining is what does the guy in the bear costume mean. The book was followed in 20 by the sequel doctor sleep. Sometimes it seems like its only the bad people who stay healthy and prosper. Jack brings his family with him wife wendy and son danny but when a snowstorm leaves them cut off from the outside world, the. Jun 05, 2015 stephen kings the shining is a classic piece of literature and stanley kubricks cinematic version shares the same cult status. Facebook messenger click the button below and wait for a message. Terrible things happen in the world, and theyre things no one can explain. Jan 29, 2019 the ending of the shining explained by matthew jackson jan. Also, kubrick changed the room number from the book.
The book is more psychologically disturbing, thrilling, and all of those are sprinkled with touches of spooks. Stephen kings hatred for stanley kubricks the shining, explained cinemablend stanley kubricks the shining is widely praised as a brilliant film, but not by the man who wrote the book. It sounds like something thats somehow beautiful and horrible at the same. As a little boy he mentioned he could hold conversations with his paternal grandmother without either of them moving their lips. Stanley kubricks adaptation of stephen kings novel about a haunted hotel and a boy with a frightening power remains endlessly fascinating. Director mike flanagan and producer trevor macy on recreating the overlook hotel, casting the shining doppelgangers and necessary diversions from stephen kings book in doctor sleep. The victim danny can be viewed as the inner child of jacks spouse, wendy torrance, which means that the abuse is a traumatic. It dont hate you and me, but it dont love us, either. A family heads to an isolated hotel for the winter where a sinister presence influences the father into violence, while his psychic son sees horrific forebodings from both past and future. Heres every difference between the shining book and the. Nov 06, 2019 here are all the major differences between the book and film versions of the shining you need to know before seeing doctor sleep.
Richard dick hallorann was a man who had the rare shining ability, an ability he had also shared with his grandmother. How does the ending of the shining differ from stephen. The shining is two stories, both the same, but somehow very different. The death is also nothing like jacks fate in the novelization of the shining, written by stephen king. Kubrick deliberately left many things unexplained, including many details from the third act he did, however, explain why jack torrance appears in the photo at the end. Published in 1977, it is kings third published novel and first hardback bestseller.
The shining study guide contains a biography of stanley kubrick, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. The shining, one of the top ten horror movies of all time, was based on stephen kings eponymous novel. As the film develops, it becomes more mysterious, ambiguous, threatening, and hallucinatory. In kings novel, the overlooks boiler explodes at the. The shining is a gothic horror novel by stephen king, first published in 1977. Eclipsed perhaps only by its 1980 film adaptation, the novel is one of the most popular and enduring horror stories of all time. He read the first few pages of each book, groaned, and threw it against the. The shining, gothic horror novel by stephen king, first published in 1977. Jack torrance is a more nuanced, complex antihero in the book. Stanley kubricks the shining is regarded by many as one of the greatest films ever made, and one that to this day continues to be the subject of many analyses and discussions. The shining is a horror cinema masterpiece, and figuring out its haunting and iconic ending was no easy task for stanley kubrick.
But if youve read the book and watched the film, its. What happened at the end of stanley kubricks the shining. With jack nicholson, shelley duvall, danny lloyd, scatman crothers. Jack torrance, a loving father when sober, is a temperamental alcoholic and. Haunted by a persistent writers block, the aspiring author and recovering alcoholic, jack torrance, drags his wife, wendy, and his gifted son, danny, up snowcapped colorados secluded overlook hotel after taking up a job as an offseason caretaker. At first, it feels like a traditional horror setup a guy gets hired to spend the winter in an enormous hotel, secluded from civilization, where obviously something will go very wrong. The ending of the shining explained by matthew jackson jan. Here are all the major differences between the book and film versions of the shining you need to know before seeing doctor sleep. The shining is about physical and sexual abuse perpetrated on young danny boy by his father jack torrance. This classic novel is arguably kings most famous story and piece of literature. The shining is a tragedy, and wed be remiss to classify the ending otherwise. The tension felt when jack jack nicholson chases danny danny lloyd through the hotel grounds is incredible. The shining is the third book published by stephen king. Movie, hell be taking a critical look at movie adaptations of horror novels.
Supersummary, a modern alternative to sparknotes and cliffsnotes, offers highquality study guides that feature detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, quotes, and essay topics. Buy a book on film making from any part of the world, either russia or japan or sweden, and youll find this name mentioned not once but in every chapter, ranging from minutely monumental details like. In the movie, dannys parents dont know about his supernatural ability but in the book they do. Theres plenty of speculation surrounding hidden meanings and conspiracy theories of the shining a featurelength documentarys worth, to be exact but the strangest part of the film may forever be wendys sudden discovery of a man in a work suit receiving fellatio from a man in a bear suit. The shining, one of the stephen kings bestselling novels and the film that has had a huge impact in pop culture, finally has the ending explained in an interview with ew, producers jan harlan and diane johnson explain the steps that were taken in making the film, and the decisions made by director stanley kubrick to create the final ending in the novel, the shining ends with the death.