If you think the 18-month shoot of "Eyes Wide Shut" is out of the ordinary for perfectionist director Stanley Kubrick consider that "The Shining" also took two years to get onscreen; the film began shooting in May of 1978 and was released in June of 1980. Early reviews were decidedly mixed, with some critics wondering what attracted Kubrick to Stephen King's tale of murder and madness in a remote, snowbound hotel in the first place and why, if he had to make the picture at all, Kubrick had given it such a deliberate, dreamy pace and allowed Jack Nicholson to go so far over the top. Though "The Shining" performed fairly well at the box office, it continued to be controversial: King panned it in the press for the liberties Kubrick had taken with his book, and instead of Oscar nominations, Kubrick and Shelley Duvall instead found themselves in the running for the uncoveted Golden Raspberry Awards as Worst Director and Worst Actress respectively. Just for the record, both lost. As demonstrated by an excellent website devoted to "The Shining" at brain.mindbuilder.com/mkraft/shining/index.html, the movie's reputation has improved substantially in the past 18 years. Nicholson fans hail his work here as one of his landmark funny/scary performances and Kubrick admirers who once dismissed the movie as a misstep have since learned to appreciate its special brand of psychological terror. Few directors would dare to make a horror movie in which the first hour is devoted almost entirely to backstory and character development, but that's one of the reasons Kubrick is, well, Kubrick. Its unconventionality makes "The Shining" one of those rare thrillers that actually benefits from repeated viewings, although the movie is so unnerving many viewers have never made it all the way through even once. Frustrated writer and recovering alcoholic Jack Torrance (Nicholson), his colorless wife Wendy (Duvall) and young son Danny (Danny Lloyd) agree to move into the mammoth Overlook Hotel and to look after the property during the winter season when the mountain resort is shut down. Almost immediately however, the bad vibes begin to flow, and Danny's psychic powers go into overdrive, conjuring up visions of blood-spattered walls, sinister-looking twin girls and the cryptic message "REDRUM." Though the recent "Shining" TV mini-series was more faithful to King's original and was perhaps more frightening in the traditional sense, few films have ever built up and sustained an eerie atmosphere as successful as Kubrick does here. Although The Overlook is an enormous place with multiple floors and seemingly endless hallways (which we are forced to explore repeatedly in one Steadicam tracking shot after another) Kubrick makes it clear the hotel is as constraining as a prison cell -- a nicely appointed cell, perhaps, but a cell nonetheless. By the movie's midpoint, the feeling of claustrophobia is inescapable, and when Jack's mind finally snaps and he begins stalking Wendy and Danny, "The Shining" becomes a true nerve-wracker. Of course, nobody plays madness quite like Nicholson, and you can see him laying the groundwork in this manic performance for such later wackos as Darryl Van Horn in "The Witches of Eastwick" and the Joker in "Batman." With her fey Texas accent and rag-doll smile, Duvall is truly irritating, but that actually works in the actress' favor; she daringly challenges us to root for Wendy. Scatman Crothers is also effective as the Overlook veteran who has something in common with Danny. Is "The Shining" really the masterpiece Kubrick worshippers would have you believe it is? No. Even though the tension is sustained throughout, the first reviews were right about the movie being overlong, and Jack flies off the handle a bit too abruptly rather than gradually sinking into psychotic behavior as he did in the book. The ending may initially strike you as clever, but the more you think about it the less satisfying it seems. But there's never been a shocker quite like "The Shining," and it seems likely to remain one-of-a-kind. Like all of Kubrick's films, whether you love it or hate it, it's sure to be a conversation-starter. James Sanford
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