How Doctor Sleep Extinguished Stephen King And Stanley Kubrick's Eternal Feud

Doctor Sleep (IMDB)

JAKARTA - Stanley Kubrick made an impact on the world when he adapted the legendary work of Stephen King's novelist, The Shining in 1980. Nobody doubts the greatness of Kubrick's work, except for King. The eternal feud has been sparked since then. A feud that had just been healed a few days ago, when Mike Flanagan's Doctor Sleep was released.

There is no doubt to mention King's name as the king of horror novels, just as there is no doubt to call the adaptation of The Shining a horror film that has had the greatest influence on contemporary horror films. In Kubrick's hands, The Shining grew into pop culture that remains solid to this day, 40 years since its release.

Jack Nicholson's unrivaled performances as Jack Torrance, the beauty of the dialogue of the wise chef, Dick Halloran played by Scatman Crothers, REDЯUM, room 237, hexagonal carpet, to the twins and other energy-eating creatures at the Overlook Hotel. The Shining is an intense experience that continues to grip the memory of horror spectacle film lovers.

Jack Nicholson (left) and Stanley Kubrick in the Gold Room (IMDB)

However, despite its brilliance, Kubrick's The Shining was in fact protested all out by King. According to the 72-year-old writer, Kubrick has betrayed his writing. Although he admits that it is very aesthetically pleasing, King said that Kubrick had stripped away the main objectives he wanted to convey through the 1977 novel.

"Kubrick knew what he wanted to do with the story. He hired novelist Diane Johnson to write a screenplay based on what he wanted to emphasize. Then, he (Kubrick) tidied it up himself. I am truly disappointed ... The film has been stripped of the film. its main purpose is to tell a story, "King told the Paris Review

The reason for King's hatred

In another interview with the BBC in 2013, King actually expressed his dissatisfaction with Kubrick's cold approach in The Shining. According to King, Kubrick made The Shining too difficult. In fact, The Shining for King is a work that is intended for everyone.

"I'm not a cold person. I think about one thing that relates to many people in this book. I even want you (readers) to be a part of this (The Shining)," said King.

At least two of Kubrick's decisions disturbed King in the execution of the film The Shining. The first is how Kubrick starts the story in the film. According to King, Kubrick neglected to convey to the audience the background of Jack Torrance, the main character played by the character actor, Jack Nicholson.

This is actually very important for King. Describing Jack's madness without giving any background was very strange to King. According to King, the tragic side of The Shining novel can actually be built through the deepening of the characters in the story.

"Jack Torrance was a crazy person from the start. Kubrick didn't seem to know that. Imagine, how could a tragedy wake up only with Jack appearing in a job interview and suddenly going crazy," said King.

Another decision that is very disappointing for King is how Kubrick ends the story in the film. In the novel, Jack escapes from a 'trance' which drives him crazy to warn Danny and Wendy to run away from Hotel Overlook. After the warning, Jack dies from the explosion of a damaged hotel boiler.

However, in the film, Jack freezes to death after failing to catch up with Danny who escapes from the hedge maze. This is very disappointing for King. According to King, Kubrick arrogantly removes the dramatic element when Jack's human side - engulfed in insanity - tries to save his son and wife.

Redeemed Doctor Sleep

In an interview, Stephen King praised Flanagan's work in the adaptation of Doctor Sleep, the follow-up novel The Shining, which he released in 2013. King even said that Flanagan had succeeded in making up for the things he hated in Kubrick's The Shining.

Flanagan is considered successful in telling the wider world that King built in the universe of The Shining. Doctor Sleep's story focuses on Danny Torrance, the boy who survived the Hotel Overlook disaster. Free from winter terror at Hotel Overlook, little Danny (Roger Dale Floyd) lives with his mother, Wendy (Alexandra Essoe).

Flanagan manages to bridge the stories of Danny and Wendy's past in Kubrick's The Shining with the world he created in Doctor Sleep. Scenes of The Shining are recreated, interleaved between the images that advance to build Doctor Sleep's story.

The whole new world that Flanagan built began when Danny Torrance grew up. Ewan McGregor took on this role. Danny grows up with an all-out escape from his destiny as someone blessed with supernatural abilities, which in Dick's language is called "shining".

Danny spent day after day drunkenly chasing away the whispers that filled his head. Bad habits for normal humans, which turned out to be for Danny, helped save him from being hunted by The True Knot sect. The group is filled with people with the same supernatural abilities as Danny.

In his life, The True Knot hunted people who had shining abilities. All of The True Knot's prey was killed. The supernatural steam of those who died was then sucked by the members of The True Knot to increase their strength and prolong their life.

The hunt for The True Knot lasted until the mid-2000s. In those years, a number of people disappeared - mostly children. In the midst of this precarious situation, Danny suddenly connects with a child with extraordinary strength named Abra Stone (Kyliegh Curran).

The boy gave a message to Danny via telepathy about the dangers that threaten them and all other people capable of shining. There was turmoil inside Danny. He is faced with a past fear and a moral debt that he must pay by saving other talented shining people.

Doctor Sleep not only succeeded in bridging the story of The Shining, but also succeeded in answering a number of fundamental questions that were never clearly described in The Shining. Doctor Sleep has succeeded in paying the most deserved respect for Kubrick and at the same time embodying King's passion to promote the Torrance family story.