I saw The Shining when I was 8 years old and have watched it countless times over the decades. It NEVER entered my mind that Shelly Duval was "annoying" or "bad" in the film AT ALL. In particular, I think every single performance in this movie is outstanding and not just because I watched it as a child. Anyone who actually knows how a mother would act and/or has been through a traumatic experience can completely empathize with Duval's performance. She was excellent.
Wholeheartedly agree! I watched this as a kid myself and back then I thought of Wendy as kind of a frightened badass, I also read the novel a few years, noticed some differences in personality, but thought pretty much the same thing about her. I really feel bad for Shelly Duval honestly
I always thought, that the movie purposely, portrayed her character as weak. It added to the audiences’ fears, because we didn’t know if she was capable of protecting Danny.
I love that even the hotel underestimates Kubrick’s Wendy. “Your wife appears to be stronger than we imagined Mr. Torrance; somewhat more resourceful. She seems to have got the better of you.” Hate/evil always underestimates Love.
I agree with you, I don’t think he wanted us to have complete faith in her. It gave me an extra sense of suspense because I wasn’t sure if she was capable, of standing up to Jack.
I feel like people always gave Shelly Duvall’s Wendy shit and called her a blabbering idiot. But in reality, she handles the boiler, knows how to work the radio, can actually take care of her son and have fun with him, and takes breakfast up to Jack in bed. Jack on the other hand, plays handball, thinks about drinking, can’t write for shit, sleeps in, and doesn’t do any of the caretaking. Wendy is an actual adult. Jack is just an old kid.
I've never seen the mini-series (or read the book), but I've always thought Duvall's performance was excellent. Wendy was freaked out by things which would freak most people out in that situation. Also, full disclosure, I may have been predisposed to be sympathetic to her since I had already seen Duvall in five or six Robert Altman movies, where she was always good. (You want to see her give a good performance as a completely unsympathetic character? See Nashville. 🙂 )
If Wendy isn't portrayed as scared shitless, how can the audience be expected to get scared by what's going on? Shelley Duvall's portrayal -- however different it might be from the novel -- is of a woman who was in a tenuous relationship with her husband from the get-go, and it only goes downhill from there, after that one day of them putting on appearances for Ullman and Watson on CLOSING DAY. Jack, in Kubrick's film, intended to terrify and then murder Wendy and Danny long before he took the job as the Overlook's winter Caretaker. He lied to Ullman about not having known about the Grady tragedy -- and we know this because he tells 'Delbert' Grady that he recognizes him from the picture of 'Charles' Grady in the newspapers . . . something that would have been in-the-news only in the winter of '70/'71, shortly after that tragedy occurred, and well before Jack married Wendy and fathered a son by her. Jack isn't a sane man who goes 'crazy' because of the evil hotel; he's the evil, murderous man who wants to become one of the permanent ghostly 'masters' of "the House" -- the "Others" whom Grady mentions -- which he can only achieve by doing what Charles Grady did in order to achieve HIS permanent status there: murder his family, then commit suicide. Delbert Grady reincarnated as Charles Grady, and when he murdered his wife and daughters (then committed suicide), he was able to transcend the cycles of Reincarnation, having offered up blood sacrifices to the Powers-That-Be who are spiritually in charge of the Overlook. THAT is what Jack is seeking for himself, what he'd begun planning ever since that newspaper story about Charles Grady jogged his past-life memories of the Overlook from his subconscious mind. A single man at that time, Jack knew he had to find a (preferably meek and easily-dominated) wife with whom he could have at least one child . . . waiting just long enough for Danny to be old enough for the "Denver people" in charge of the Overlook to consider it okay for the Torrance family to spend a winter there. In 1970, Jack was merely a jerk -- an asshole at worst. Once he began to remember having once been a wealthy aristocrat in a past life, Jack -- intuiting that he'd have to emulate Charles Grady in order to re-acquire that former status -- became a murder-minded villain. He planned on terrorizing and murdering Wendy and Danny before he'd even met the former and begotten the latter. This, of course, differs from King's novel significantly, where Jack is a decent man who becomes twisted by the evil influence the hotel has on his vulnerabilities. Kubrick's conception of Jack shows that he was, at heart, a vile, evil bastard of a man who lived a lie -- pretending to be a pleasant enough fellow during his Interview with Ullman, but hiding his true, evil self until there's nothing that can be done about it . . . save the unforeseen intervention of that "n*gger cook" Hallorann.
There are more ways to scare your audience in terms of what you were first saying. In the book I got scared every time they revealed something to Danny first before they revealed the history behind it, and when it comes to the falling actions the injuries they gave in that fight were BRUTAL and made the scene morbids. In the book Wendy does get scared, but the difference is at the climax she faces what she has to do, and is willing to go to all lengths to savr for son.
@@kevinmay9151 In the book -- which I enjoyed, don't get me wrong -- Wendy is, indeed, portrayed as being less scared-shitless than how Shelly Duvall played the character, true. But a truer-to-the-book portrayal wouldn't have made for as scary an experience for the film's audience, in my opinion. You can try and tell me that Rebecca DeMornay's portrayal of Wendy in the miniseries remake was as effective or even more so in regards to the scary factor, but I thought that ill-conceived version was laughably bad, as cringey as can be, and it all goes to show that although Stephen King is an excellent writer of scary novels, he doesn't seem to have a clue about how to make a scary movie, be it an adaptation of one of his own novels or a wholly original film. Kubrick did what he had to in order to make a classic scary horror film based (loosely) on the source novel. In my opinion.
I never considered this until I read this post, but as soon as I saw the words "scared mouse," it hit me like a lightning bolt: Shelley Duvall's Wendy is like a chain-smoking Mrs. Brisby from The Secret of NIMH, right down to the big eyes and the overbite!
Yes, I look forward to every video he puts out . Event horizon brought me here then I saw the twilight zone videos as well. his content is top class . I've watched his whole channel even if a few shows I haven't seen before .
The Kubrick version will always be better imo BECAUSE he made it his own vision, and not relying solely on the source material and making it much more psychological, metaphorical and thus not just a literal interpretation. The real horror is in what you don't see on screen.
The red and blue Wendy outfit was not “ahead of its time” at all. The bright shirt with matching tights and a babyish pinafore over. It is about as late 70s middle America as you can get. Just, not for an adult. It’s an outfit for a little girl. Look up late 1970s and early 1980s, Romper Room. I did, and I saw a woman saying “I see Chris“ wearing that exact outfit in opposite. Blue tights, blue shirt, and a red pinafore.
The mini-series is a noble effort to convey King's original vision but the problem is that it's just not very good at all. Completely forgettable in fact while Kubrick's film is unforgettable.
The mini series is trash because its faithful to the source material. The movie Jack and Wendy are so utterly believable as characters. King is a shit writer who doesn't understand people. Shelly Duvall is one hell of a good actress.
Kubrick's Wendy was great... was really surprised the actress never got nominated or went on to bigger things. It was really clear what Kubrick wanted in his female protagonist, a trope thats developed since in Ripley in Alien/s etc. & only recently discarded for the much derided Mary-Sue's. The stories about Kubrick's mis-treatment of the actress later is a separate issue!
Shelly Duval is real. That's what makes the movie scary. Nothing takes me out of a horror movie faster than when someone is in a scary situation but doesn't react to it. That's what action movies are for. All of Stephen King's mini-series were boring. I know people like them because they were more faithful to the books, but that's why I hate them even more. When I watch a boring movie that is close to the book, it makes it harder to go back to the book or relive it. I think of a scene that was scary in the book, but now that I've seen it acted badly, it's not that great anymore. There have been faithful adaptations of the books that have made the books better (The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile), so I don't agree with the argument that the mini-series are better because they're his vision. Anyway, Shelly Duval is better.
I believe you are into something, and would even go way further, saying that The Shining as a whole is Kubrick's attempt to make "Alice in Wonderland - The most Real Movie ever " . Apart from its truly massive sub-text, where every single lighting, arrangement, and "randomly placed " artifact ( books, pictures, everything) is actually, as bread crumbs in the maze of the movie, integral part of the whole and carries in itself infinite meaning : Kubrick mostly uses Da Vinci's Golden Ratio, instead of the standard center-focused movie shots that aim to create attention of the viewer, as it tends to create a more " natural and harmonic " impression in the viewer. And, when he actually uses center-shots, then it often serves to directly highlight the apparent "unreal-ness" of a situation for the protagonists. - To Jack: " Never forget in a shot to break the 4th wall to the audience, by glimpsing into the camera for a few split frames!" And, in Shelley's direction: " Sorry, but I will have to punish you for not getting it right: We will shoot this same scene for an eternity, until you are 'real' " - .Which, given the massive nervous energy involved, led quite understandably to a mental break-down on Duvall's end.
Ah refreshing after watching the Wendy Theory which is so bad it's painful. In Jack's defense, and Danny, they are seeing things because they have a gift - Jack isn't fully human which is the point. Wendy isn't seeing those things because she doesn't have The Shining. So where I will disagree is that Jack is a man - he's totally not. He's either Baphomet or Pan reincarnated or possessed (Kubrick confirmed the reincarnation deal I do believe). Wendy (Peter Pan). All work and no play make Jack a dull BOY (Neverland). The twins ask Danny to Play. Hedge Maze and minotaur with an axe (Pan's Labyrinth). But the clincher is the As Above/So Below hand sign Jack is making in the photo at the end - it's matching the same symbolism in the artwork of Baphomet found in masonic halls. Seeing it is a Horror movie/book, that's the inspiration. And a lot of people blame the isolation, and sure the location matters because bad things have happened there making the veil weaker to see things for those who are gifted, but it's actually panic by Jack because he's struggling with writer's block and not getting his book done - King self-inserting himself in his works again.
I made a similar video on my channel more focused on the reasons why Kubrick went the direction he did from a storytelling perspective. Would love to hear your thoughts.
Why does Jack treat Wendy badly and Kubrick’s version? Sadly, many men treat their wives like rubbish. It’s because they hate themselves and have no respect for a woman that could love them. But, I believe they always regret it in one way or another.
Shelly Duvall did just as great a job as Jack Nickolson, I didn't see Wendy as a damsel in distress or a woman who couldn't handle herself, she was everyone, any of us would be like that in that situation especially if its your wife/husband trying to kill you and your son, she had flaws and was emotional but she did what she could and saved her son from a terrible fate.
I'd argue that in the novel Wendy is very much much defined by her troubled (HA! THAT'S putting it mildly!!) relationship with her own mother. And that would be impossible to convey in a movie. So, while I might agree that Duvall's portrail is a bit too 'weak' and DeMornay's a bit too 'strong', in a movie you could never actually show what imo drives Wendy in the novel: "What ever I do, I never want to become my mother"
Book Wendy is a mix of both of them where she is frail in the face of her mother like you mentioned but as the story goes on she becomes more stronger when it comes to trying to protect herself and Danny from the hotel and Jack going insane from the hotel
Just to cut to the chase..... Kubrick's film is an artistic masterpiece and King's TV series is unwatchable. King is a good formulaic author who churns out stories and markets them to Hollywood who gets screenwriters to "clean up" into something they can use. King has made a career out of it but it is due to the films that he became famous as an author rather than his works being famous and Hollywood then making films. King should feel completely indebted to Kubrick for taking King's quaint little ghost story and turning it into something outstanding.
Your take on King vs Kubrick Shining is 1000% perfect. I am very impressed with you and I think you should make a video. I dont find many people on youtube that have the brain you do. You are a sharp person. Thanks
Wendy must be so boring I think marriage was Jack’s biggest mistake he should have fun and booze instead of marrying to a boring woman and hobbling himself with a child
