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Post by Eddie Love on Sept 5, 2010 10:21:14 GMT -5
I watched this off TCM last night and really enjoyed it -- good call. I blanched a little at the running time, but it really moves. Clearly, it doesn't have the virtuoso film making of THE SHINING, but its not overburdened with stylistics either. The kid in it is excellent, Bette Davis gives a nicely understated performance and what a weird and effective presence Karen Black was. Dan Curtis may not be a great director, but I love that the tone is enigmatic without being frustrating and that the climax is downbeat, yet not nihilistic.
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Post by Derrick on Sept 8, 2010 0:02:55 GMT -5
I watched this off TCM last night and really enjoyed it -- good call. I blanched a little at the running time, but it really moves. Clearly, it doesn't have the virtuoso film making of THE SHINING, but its not overburdened with stylistics either. The kid in it is excellent, Bette Davis gives a nicely understated performance and what a weird and effective presence Karen Black was. Dan Curtis may not be a great director, but I love that the tone is enigmatic without being frustrating and that the climax is downbeat, yet not nihilistic. I'd really like to know if Stephen King saw this before he wrote THE SHINING as the two of them have a lot of similarities and would make a good double feature for Halloween viewing. |
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Post by tombitd on Sept 8, 2010 5:54:43 GMT -5
I'd really like to know if Stephen King saw this before he wrote THE SHINING as the two of them have a lot of similarities and would make a good double feature for Halloween viewing. I think the time frame doesn't quite work--King must've already been working on the book by the time the film came out. However, an argument could be made that he might've been influenced by the novel itself.... |
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Post by james on Sept 8, 2010 6:58:50 GMT -5
Whether he read the book or saw the film before working on The Shining, King's inspiration for the novel was a vacation he took with his wife at the Stanley Hotel in Colorado in 1974. They visited the day before the hotel closed for the winter, and they were the only guests in this large, mostly empty building. I don't think it's possible that the film influenced his novel, except in superficial ways; like Tom said, the time frame is too tight. King worked on the book for several years. There's other things in King's book that are too personal for him to be an imitation (the work of writing, alcoholism, anxiety of being a parent).
Regarding the similarities between the movies, the ending of Kubrick's film isn't in the book at all. Another question worth asking is if Kubrick saw the film of Burnt Offerings before he started shooting The Shining.
James
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Post by Derrick on Sept 8, 2010 10:41:38 GMT -5
Whether he read the book or saw the film before working on The Shining, King's inspiration for the novel was a vacation he took with his wife at the Stanley Hotel in Colorado in 1974. They visited the day before the hotel closed for the winter, and they were the only guests in this large, mostly empty building. I don't think it's possible that the film influenced his novel, except in superficial ways; like Tom said, the time frame is too tight. King worked on the book for several years. There's other things in King's book that are too personal for him to be an imitation (the work of writing, alcoholism, anxiety of being a parent). Regarding the similarities between the movies, the ending of Kubrick's film isn't in the book at all. Another question worth asking is if Kubrick saw the film of Burnt Offerings before he started shooting The Shining. James I think that's a better question to be asked than mine. And yeah, the similarities between the Kubrick version of THE SHINING and BURNT OFFERINGS are more obvious than the ones between King's novel and BURNT OFFERINGS. I think that both of them work well at their core: the disintegration of a once-loving and tight family group using a haunted house as a metaphor for the emotional turmoil and anguish the family is going through. |
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Post by Derrick on Jul 26, 2011 16:23:59 GMT -5
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