Why did Kubrick cut down "The Shining" for international release?

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by C6H12O6, Oct 18, 2011.

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  1. Giant Sea Panda

    Giant Sea Panda Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Zealand
    I'm sure I read that Kubrick preferred the international cut but I can't find the source any more.
     
  2. yesstiles

    yesstiles Senior Member

    What's so great about the novel which was missing from the film?

    I've actually read the novel but it was over 25 years ago and I don't remember.

    I like the movie but yes, it had too many slow unnecessary shots, so maybe I should check out the international version.

    I only do DVD. Is that version available for US audiences on DVD?
     
  3. yesstiles

    yesstiles Senior Member

    As for Shelley Duvall's annoying character in the film, it is interesting to see in the dvd documentary that when she's not in "Wendy" mode (and her mouth isn't gaping open) the actress can often be quite attractive at certain angles. Or maybe I was hallucinating.
     
  4. Texastoyz

    Texastoyz Forum Resident

    Location:
    Texas, USA

    You can say she's got an interesting look. Or at least back then. Not conventionally attractive, but she had something. Of course, with the stress that she had on the set with Kubrick, the look suited her character.

    There are quite a bit of glamour shots on the web to see that she could clean up decently.
     
  5. kevinsinnott

    kevinsinnott Forum Coffeeologist

    Location:
    Chicago, IL USA
    I probably have only seen the US version and not for awhile, but I always enjoyed it. Amidst the horror I found it kind of a black comedy. I thought the characters were well done. I like the line where Jack says, "You've had your whole like to get your life together, Wendy. What good's a few more minutes going to do you now". I thought it was funny. (Hope I remember the lines correctly).

    I'm not a consistent fan of the director. But, I felt he did create a good horror film.
     
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  6. Batigol

    Batigol Active Member

    Location:
    New Haven CT. USA
    I am a sucker for these kinds of things so after watching that first youtube link I viewed a few others. So far I have discovered that the Shining is really about-

    1. The American Indian genocide
    2. The Jewish holocaust
    3. Monetary policy
    4. The "fake" Apollo 11 moon landing which he apparently directed.

    :)
     
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  7. Marc 74

    Marc 74 Senior Member

    Location:
    West Germany,NRW
    I'm only familiar with the short cut version and it's one of my favourite horror movies. Still quite disturbing stuff and for me on a level with "Don't Look Now".

    Bar scene:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KANi65WcB2o
     
  8. vconsumer

    vconsumer Unapologetically 70s

    Location:
    Minnesota
    The Shining has always seemed more of a psychological thriller than horror, like Shutter Island. The only ghosts at the Overlook are in the minds of Jack and his son, two mentally ill individuals.
     
  9. Batigol

    Batigol Active Member

    Location:
    New Haven CT. USA
    But, Shelley Duvalls character also saw the "ghosts".
     
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  10. matthew5

    matthew5 Forum Resident

    Location:
    canada
    and who unlocked the storage room door?
     
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  11. kevinsinnott

    kevinsinnott Forum Coffeeologist

    Location:
    Chicago, IL USA
    Is Wendy supposed to be 'normal' or is she affected?
     
  12. matthew5

    matthew5 Forum Resident

    Location:
    canada
    It' about all those at the same time. :nyah:
     
  13. vconsumer

    vconsumer Unapologetically 70s

    Location:
    Minnesota
    I'll have to watch it again. Been a long time. Remind me when it is that she sees the ghosts.
     
  14. kevinsinnott

    kevinsinnott Forum Coffeeologist

    Location:
    Chicago, IL USA
    I thought it had something to say about how trying to be a dad and breadwinner could make you a little nuts, but that's probably because I was a new dad and freelance writer when I saw it. :laugh:
     
  15. vconsumer

    vconsumer Unapologetically 70s

    Location:
    Minnesota
  16. Batigol

    Batigol Active Member

    Location:
    New Haven CT. USA
    The one that stands out in my mind is toward the end when she sees the character in the bear/dog costume seemingly performing oral sex on a gentleman in one of the rooms. Truly one of the most bizarre and unexplainable scenes in the movie, perhaps in any movie for that matter lol.

    Isn't she also the one that witnesses the blood exploding out of the elevators? It has been a while since I have viewed the movie as well.
     
  17. Batigol

    Batigol Active Member

    Location:
    New Haven CT. USA
    That is probably the biggest unanswered question in the entire plot.
     
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  18. vconsumer

    vconsumer Unapologetically 70s

    Location:
    Minnesota
    I just checked a plot summary. Looks like there are two instances when Wendy witnesses ghostly phenomena (the first of which resembles the orgy scene in Eyes Wide Shut):

    Driven to madness herself, Wendy rushes upstairs looking for Danny. She hears echoes of chanting. Through one of the hotel room's open bedroom doors, she catches a disturbing glimpse of a sexually perverse scene from the hotel's sordid past - another piece of evidence proving the entire family's possession of the 'shining' phenomenon. A man in a dog outfit (with a open bottom) that masks his face, possibly a guest who has wandered up from one of the hotel's ancient costume balls, is stretched out over a formally-dressed male lover on a bed. The decadent sex act of the participants is interrupted - they look up and stare back at Wendy.
    ....
    In the hotel, Wendy, who is now insanely possessed with fear, witnesses enigmatic, troubling sights: Hallorann lying bloodied in the lobby; a tuxedoed, bloody-faced Grady toasting her with a glass and a smile: "Great party, isn't it?"; cob-webbed skeletons of past hotel guests seated in familiar positions; and the vision (familiar to Danny) of the elevator doors releasing torrents of blood.


    I may be missing something else (bad memory), but it appears that up until near the end of the film, it could all be happening in the minds of Jack and son.
     
  19. Batigol

    Batigol Active Member

    Location:
    New Haven CT. USA
    I believe your right and purposely done so that viewer thinks we have it all figured out and then Kubrick intentionally blows the doors off that theory at the end.
     
  20. Purple Jim

    Purple Jim Senior Member

    Location:
    Bretagne
    Having seen the European version when it came out and many time since, I simply saw an cinematic thriller masterpiece. Such a shame that the USA got the wrong film and misunderstood the whole thing.
    It's also pointless to say that it doesn't do the book justice. It's a film adaptation, a different form of artistic expression and it's magnificent.
     
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  21. kevinsinnott

    kevinsinnott Forum Coffeeologist

    Location:
    Chicago, IL USA
    I agree wholeheartedly with this.
     
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  22. vconsumer

    vconsumer Unapologetically 70s

    Location:
    Minnesota
    Kubrick did to the Stephen King novel what Alfred Hitchcock did to the novels and short stories from which some of his films were adapted--a time-honored tradition that Shakespeare participated in too.
     
  23. kevinsinnott

    kevinsinnott Forum Coffeeologist

    Location:
    Chicago, IL USA
    Yes, faithfulness to the book is no guarantee the film will be good. While it can be disappointing to enjoy a book and then see a film that seems to have nothing but the title, a film is always an interpretation of a novel. The risk is always there. I like Hitchcock's 39 Steps more than a later version that may well have been more faithful to the source literature. The Birds is much more literally adapted in its radio dramatization than Hitchcock's film, but I doubt many have even heard it, and fewer still would prefer it.
     
  24. vconsumer

    vconsumer Unapologetically 70s

    Location:
    Minnesota
    A better example is Hitchcock's Vertigo. The crime novel on which it's based has absolutely nothing of the depth of the film.
     
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  25. vconsumer

    vconsumer Unapologetically 70s

    Location:
    Minnesota
    Or better yet, Psycho, based on the Robert Bloch book of the same title.
     
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