It is old news that Stephen King hates Stanley Kubrick’s critically acclaimed take on ‘The Shining‘ and after all of these years an unpublished interview shares what his largest complaint about the film is. With interest in his work being at an all time high, it is no surprise that anything new from King is making the headlines. I’m just a little surprised that this never saw the light of day sooner.
It seems fitting though that with much of his larger works including ‘Revival‘, ‘The Stand‘, ‘Overlook Motel‘, and ‘The Dark Tower‘ all being in various stages of production , that he wouldn’t want history to repeat itself. The thing is, it isn’t from the majority of the changes from the novel that really annoyed him:
“The character of Jack Torrance has no arc in that movie. Absolutely no arc at all. When we first see Jack Nicholson, he’s in the office of Mr. Ullman, the manager of the hotel, and you know, then, he’s crazy as a shit house rat. All he does is get crazier. In the book, he’s a guy who’s struggling with his sanity and finally loses it. To me, that’s a tragedy. In the movie, there’s no tragedy because there’s no real change.”
Which if you’ve read the novel that truly does make sense. Characterization and growth or loss in a character’s life is an aspect that is highly prevalent in King’s works. The fact that Jack just becomes a killer and we don’t have the same worry for him losing his way as we do his family is a major shift from the book. While Kubrick’s take will always be a classic,it definitely could make fans pause the next time they watch it with that in mind.
Are you happy to finally hear why King has hated the most famous cinematic take on one of his works to date? What do you think about his pet peeve which has made him hate the film all of these years? Share your thoughts below!
Source: Cinema Blend
