The Shining
The Shiningis packed with memorable scenes that have become part of pop culture , and one of them was save by the movie ’s spark advance actor , Jack Nicholson . Many of Stephen king ’ works have been adapt to film , though not all of them have had the same succeeder as their source material . Such is the case ofThe Shining , which was adapted to the prominent screen in 1980 , directed by Stanley Kubrick and co - compose by him and novelist Diane Johnson . AlthoughThe Shiningis widely regarded as one of the best repugnance movies ever made , it ca n’t really be considered an adaptation of King ’s novel due to the many changes made to it .
Kubrick’sThe Shiningtook the novel ’s charactersand the story ’s basis to make a psychological movie lay out in the Colorado Rockies , follow a frustrated writer and recovering alcoholic named Jack Torrance ( Jack Nicholson ) as he gradually recede his saneness . Jack Torrance is now one of Jack Nicholson ’s most pop function , but he did a lot more than bringing Jack and his battle to life , as he also pen one of Jack ’s most unforgettable scenes , and it was all due to a personal issue he had to deal out with a couple of years prior .
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Why Jack Nicholson Wrote The Shining’s Typewriter Scene
In the bookBecoming Jack Nicholson : The Masculine Persona from Easy Rider to The Shining , by Shaun R. Karli , it ’s explain that some of the movies Jack Nicholson had starred in had scenes that related to his liveliness , andThe Shiningwas no exception . In Kubrick ’s celluloid , there ’s a scene where Jack is trying to work as he struggles with writer ’s block , and afterhis wife , Wendy ( Shelley Duvall ) , approach him , he reacts aggressively towards her , screaming at her to not bother him while he ’s type . In an interview with theNew York Times , Nicholson unveil that he wrote that view himself , as that ’s what he was like when he got divorced ( from his co - star inThe Terror , Sandra Knight , in 1968 ) , so he stream all the frustration and the pressure he felt into that specific scene between Jack and Wendy .
Nicholson and Knight had one girl , born in 1963 , so Nicholson matte the pressure of “ being a kinfolk man with a girl ” and continuing his career as an role player and writer . Nicholson recalled that he had bear a job to act in a movie in the day and write a motion picture at nighttime , so when he was on his “ picayune corner ” , his married woman walked in on what was “ unbeknownst to her , this maniac ” , so he told Kubrick about it and the scene was spell into the movie . In an interview with critic Michael Ciment , Nicholson said that , while film that specific scene , he recalled logical argument he had with Knight , so the typewriter scene is very , very personal to him .
What Stephen King Thinks About Jack Nicholson’s Jack Torrance
Stephen King has n’t been diffident when it comes to sharing hisopinion on Kubrick ’s take onThe Shining , and he also had some words to say about Jack Nicholson ’s molding as Jack Torrance . King was n’t on table with the idea of casting Nicholson as it would leave in the interview promptly guess that Jack Torrance would go insane , due to Nicholson ’s famous theatrical role inOne Flew Over the Cuckoo ’s Nest . King feel that the office requiredan “ everyman ” in club to make his descent into craziness more formidable , and suggested John Voight or Michael Moriarty for it . Kubrick actually honk Nicholson before he finished reading the novel , as he felt he was the correct scene for the role . While Stephen King ’s worries are apprehensible , in the end , Jack Nicholson work one of the most memorable performancesin the horror genre , and his interpretation of Jack Torrance was a lot more personal to him than it seems .
Next : Why Stanley Kubrick Refused To Read Stephen King ’s The Shining Script
