The shine is important enough that its the film s title, yet its possible to watch the entire movie and not understand exactly what it means. The final shot of the shining, its ambiguity forever helping stanley kubricks most popular film carry on its enduring legacy for nearly thirty years. The black screen with the words is what hollywood calls the credits. The most difficult part of a story to nail down is the conclusion. 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. Jan 28, 2019 with that in mind, this is the ending of the thing, explained. Producers reveal why stephen kings book ending was changed for.
Currently, we are building the largest digital library of film and television inquiry and related content by producing original articles, curating content from other esteemed sources and facilitating user generated comment and discussion. For me, the film is primarily about the cycle of violence and how people ca. While his reputation as a collaborator can be a bit spotty some loved working with him, while others hated it with a passion theres no doubt that kubrick is one of the most acclaimed film. An alternate adaptation written by king himself, the shining 1997, was released as a threepart tv. Discussion when wendy is running around the house screaming like a banshee she starts to see skeletons, the bloody elevator, and the cobwebbed room.
As amazing as the ending to doctor sleeps movie sounds, the ending for stephen kings book was way different. The shining 1977 is a novel by american author stephen king. Mar 30, 2017 the shining is one of the all time classic horror movies, buts its also a pretty great book too. The director explained in an interview with film critic michel. Of course the shining is also a ghost story about a haunted hotel which seems to be motivating jack to kill his family in order to collect their souls in some way. Of course the documentary room 237 posed all kinds of crazy theories like the movie is really about americans cruel treatment of native americans or an apology for kubrick filming a fake moon landing. Just what was that adorably insane little boy doing. The shining s 1980 hedge maze chase is one of the most iconic endings in horror history. The shining is a 1980 psychological horror film produced and directed by stanley kubrick and. Feb 23, 2016 sometimes a movie s shocking twist, ambiguous ending, or artsy finale can be more confusing than satisfying. Read on to find out what happened in the shining s original ending, and why kubrick made the lastminute decision to axe it. The shining is a horror cinema masterpiece, and figuring out its haunting and iconic ending was no easy task for stanley kubrick.
Oct 27, 2019 the shining has an alternate ending you will never see. When buying the movie online, you pick the theater you want to support, and they will get a split of the money, starting with cannes winner bacurau. The film is based on stephen king s 1977 novel of the same name and stars jack nicholson, shelley duvall, scatman crothers, and danny lloyd. Stanley kubricks adaptation of stephen kings novel about a haunted hotel and a boy with a frightening power remains endlessly fascinating. No horror movie ever has been more analyzed and debated than the shining. Hallorann become possessed by the hotel when he arrived there, a plot twist for the audience who. The most debated element of the shinings ending is the final shot, showing jack in the photo of the overlooks 1921 fourth of july party, which could mean a few things. What exactly is the shine in the shining screenprism. Producers reveal why stephen kings book ending was changed for the film adaptation. As seen in both stephen kings novel and stanley kubricks film, the shining s overlook hotel isnt just one place. Oct 31, 2019 the ending of doctor sleep explained by matthew jackson oct. This aspect of the film is never fully explained which in my opinion makes it scarier and a lot more fascinating. However, one of the other interesting reveals in ews retrospective on the film, was how two key deleted scenes wouldve helped explain the shining s cryptic and.
In the horror classic the shining from stephen king and directed by stanley kubrick, jack torrance and his family become the winter caretakers of. For nearly 40 years now, the shining has reigned as one of the most acclaimed and terrifying horror films ever made. No wonder that the shining movie had the most iconic ending in horror history or you can say one of the best ghostencounters ever recorded in the movies. What happened at the end of stanley kubricks the shining. For starters, the end of the shinings novel saw the overlook hotel burning. 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 shelley duvall and young son danny danny lloyd. How does the ending of the shining differ from stephen king.
The death is also nothing like jacks fate in the novelization of the shining, written by stephen king. Notice how dick hallorann is the only person of color in the movie and sensed but was never affected by the hotel itself until he became a victim of the violence. The interpretation of the ending is going to depend a lot on your interpretation of. As mentioned above, the film ends with wendy and danny. What is the explanation of the ending of the shining. The shining s ending has made way for a lot of interpretations, but there was originally an alternate ending that will now never see the light of day. In dannys case, the future is perhaps even more murky. It is explained more in the book but since holloran has the shining as well, they are linked.
What does that famous final shot of stanley kubricks the shining. Okay this is going to be long, maybe a little rambling, and full of spoilers. It added a scene after jacks death in the snow where hotel owner stuart ullman visits wendy in the hospital. 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 an interview with the new york times, nicholson explained, thats what i was like.
A popular trend now is for there to be an after credit scene, mostly occuring in geek culture films. The shining is about physical and sexual abuse perpetrated on young danny boy by his father jack torrance. At first, it feels like a traditional horror set up a guy gets hired to spend the winter in an enormous. Jan 29, 2019 the most debated element of the shining s ending is the revelation in the final shot that jack is present in a photo of the overlooks fourth of july party in 1921. Its unknown if it will address specific details from the ending of the first film or if it will just casually reference them, but it does acknowledge the events from the film. It lists all the cast and crew who helped make the movie. 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. I mean, this movie has all the societal landmines possible. Nov 16, 2019 luce movie controversy unpacked and explained because there are so many murky layers to luce as to make it nearly incomprehensible. Luce movie controversy unpacked and explained taylor holmes. The doctor sleep ending bridges the gap between stephen kings book the shining and stanley kubricks movie, which king famously hated. Until the last minute, the plot seems to be wrapping up in a conventional way. Overall the film is insanely dense, rewatchable, and open to an amazing amount of interpretation depending on what you see as important, symbolic, and real.
It was adapted for the screen by directorproducer stanley kubrick and novelistacademic diane johnson. Kubrick later told a friend that he wanted to make the worlds scariest movie, involving a. How does the ending of the shining differ from stephen. 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.
Jul 08, 2015 the lost ending of the shining explained. The victim danny can be viewed as the inner child of jacks spouse, wendy torrance, which means that the abuse is a traumatic. The shining crew reveal why stanley kubrick didnt blow. Though she may not always seem it at first glance because she spends much. The shining is a 1980 psychological horror film produced and directed by stanley kubrick and cowritten with novelist diane johnson. In the end of the wailing, ilgwang, who is trying to leave town passes through a swarm of locusts and is forced to turn back. 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 shining is one of the all time classic horror movies, buts its also a pretty great book too.
At the end of the shining, jack chases young danny through a. The final shot of the shining, its ambiguity forever helping stanley kubricks most popular film carry on its enduring legacy for nearly thirty. The shining has an alternate ending you will never see. In the movie, dannys parents dont know about his supernatural ability but in the book they do. However, the book and movie differ in some key areas, like how the iconic ending of the movie was. A theory that will change how you watch the shining. Also, it was incredible when jack jack nicholson chases danny danny lloyd through the hotel grounds. Deleted original ending of the shining cinephilia and beyond. The tension felt when jack jack nicholson chases danny danny lloyd through the. Director sam hargrave on what really happened the best comedies of the 21st century so far every nonthor chris. At the end of the shining, why is jack in the photo of. For the door that jack chops through with the axe near the end of the film, kubrick originally shot this scene with a fake.
What does that famous final shot of stanley kubricks the shining really mean, and what happens to the traumatized characters left alive. Other ships, other threats the film opens with the evocative image of a traditional flying saucer catapulting through space toward earth. After all, what kubrick wanted was to leave the audience puzzled, hence why many things were never explained. We recently shared some interesting information regarding stanely kubricks the shining in which we learned some of the original alternate endings that were explored by the director and his creative team the other versions of the ending included wendy killing jack, jack killing danny, and even one in which dick hallorann was one of the real villains of the story. A space odyssey, trainspotting a clockwork orange, almost every heist movie pays tribute to the killing, alice in wonderland the shining or house of cards eyes wide shut. The shining deleted scenes help explain that mystery ending. Doctor sleep is a sequel to both the shining film and novel, and it achieved this by changing and explaining the shining movie s ending.
Ending of the shining explained watch the explanation of the ending of the classic horror movie, the shining. Dec 24, 2018 what we know for sure is that kubrick wanted the hotel to look authentic rather than like a traditionally spooky movie hotel. In the shining, who is the woman in room 237 screenprism. The woman in 237 is one of the many elements of the shining 1980 that are intentionally left ambiguous by stanley kubrick, but were explained in greater detail in the novelization the womans name is mrs. However, the book and movie differ in some key areas, like how the iconic ending of the movie. The aforementioned sequel, doctor sleep, got a cinematic adaptation that serves as both a sequel to the shining novel and kubricks film, in a way.
Stephen kings novel doctor sleep was published in 20 and is a sequel to one of his most famous works. 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 breaking the 180 degree rule to establishing genres like science fiction and satirical comedy. 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. Sep 05, 2017 recently, the producer and screenwriter of stanley kubricks the shining still deemed the best horror movie ever, by some opened up about the process of making the film, and revealed some pretty. It encapsulates the white mans lust for blood and conquering, from a race of people to ones own family. Its no secret that stephen king disliked the changes director stanley kubrick made for the shining movie, but kubrick once outlined his reasoning. The title of the novel was inspired by the john lennon song instant karma. Mental floss reported that an original epilogue was shown on the first weekend of the movies run but was swiftly removed by kubrick. Theres barely any ambiguity about the end, since it only exists if we are certain of any one explanation, but there isnt one in this case. Plenty of people have watched the shining 1980 to reach the end and find themselves thinking, what exatly was the shine.
And learn which pixar movie is basically an ode to the shining in 6 mindblowing easter eggs hidden in famous movies. Director sam hargrave on what really happened the best comedies of the 21st century so far every nonthor chris hemsworth performance ranked, from worst to best. Ultimately, the genius of the shining is that the ending can mean almost anything you want it to mean. With hereditary now in theaters, we take a look at the dark, disturbing, and twisted ending and try to explain what the hell happened to the characters. The shining novel and film work best as separate pieces, and each ending has a different meaning. Interpretation since the movie is so extensive, lets discuss about three independently primary talking points. We told you above the shining 1980 ending explanation with almost all theories. The photograph at the end of stanley kubricks the shining. The shining is a 1980 horror film produced and directed by stanley kubrick and cowritten with novelist diane johnson. This walkthrough is going to take serious dexterity and patience to totally unravel the nuances and complexities hidden within this treacherous landscape. This week, on a reddit thread titled frames from the hospital scene from the original ending of the shining, a fan unearthed three continuity polaroids that show scenes from the film s deleted epilogue.
How does the ending of the shining differ from stephen kings novel. The film is based on stephen kings 1977 novel of the same name. Traces of his films can even be seen decades after their release. At first, it feels like a traditional horror setup a guy gets hired to spend the winter in an enormous. Below, executive producer jan harlan and screenwriter diane johnson who wrote the script with kubrick explain in greater detail than ever before how the legendary director considered several very different. Screenplay for the deleted original ending of the shining when the film was first released, a hospital epilogue was located between the shot of jack frozen in the snow and the long dolly shot through the lobby that ends on the july 4, 1921 framed photo. The director chose to end the movie with jack killing halloran, which later led to him trying to murder his wife and son. The interpretation of the ending is going to depend a lot on your interpretation of the film. In an interview with ew, producers jan harlan and diane johnson explain the steps that were taken in making the film.
How the shining movies ending differs from the book. Subscribe to our youtube channel to see the bloodcurdling lengths kubrick put his crew through in 7 movies that put insane amounts of work into small details, and watch other videos you wont see on the site. Everything in the film has been leading up to this moment, and if the audience doesnt get a satisfying payoff, the movie could be doomed. Stanley kubricks the shining has one hell of an ending.
As the film develops, it becomes more mysterious, ambiguous, threatening, and hallucinatory. The true story behind the legendary lost ending of the. All major motion pictures feature it, due to certain union policies about credits. At the end of the shining, why is jack in the photo of the. The shining s ending left a lot to viewers interpretation, mostly the photograph at the end, and the fate of danny and wendy was left unclear they escaped during a snowstorm so, really, anything could have happened. Signing a contract, jack torrance, a normal writer and former teacher agrees to take care of a hotel which has a long, violent past that. The shining s ending left a lot to viewers interpretation, mostly the photograph at the end. Every nonthor chris hemsworth performance ranked, from worst to best. I had the opportunity to reach past the kubrick film all the way back to the ending of the shining the novel, the ending that king never got, he said. The shining came to a close with jack freezing to death after getting. Published in 1977, it is kings third published novel and first hardback bestseller. 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. Kubrick went broad with the meaning of his shining movie. Nov 11, 2019 doctor sleep is a sequel to both the shining film and novel, and it achieved this by changing and explaining the shining movies ending.