Director: Stanley Kubrick Cinematographer: John Alcott
An adaptation of Stephen King’s horror novel, The Shining is about Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson), an aspiring but frustrated writer and recovering alcoholic, who accepts a position as the off-season caretaker of the remote mountainside historic Overlook Hotel in the Colorado Rockies. Wintering over with Jack is his wife Wendy Torrance (Shelley Duvall) and young son Danny Torrance (Danny Lloyd), who possesses “the shining”, an array of psychic abilities that allow Danny to see the hotel’s horrific past. The film was deemed a slowly paced and thrilless disappointment among many critics at the time of release but is now acclaimed for its technical brilliance, visual strength and Nicholson’s unforgettable performance. While Kubrick’s use of dark humour might suggest a certain disregard for the worthiness of the horror genre, he does offer an ambiguously astute, and richly symbolic, look at the mental deterioration of an individual and how that impacts their family.
