Well, this is certainly an odd one and out of left field.
In an interview with the Toronto Sun, David Cronenberg (Crash, The Fly) had some very choice words about filmmaking legend Stanley Kubrick – in particular his work on his adaptation of Stephen King’s The Shining.
“I think I’m a more intimate and personal filmmaker than Kubrick ever was. That’s why I find The Shining not to be a great film. I don’t think he understood the [horror] genre. I don’t think he understood what he was doing. There were some striking images in the book and he got that, but I don’t think he really felt it. In a weird way, although he’s revered as a high-level cinematic artist, I think he was much more commercial-minded and was looking for stuff that would click and that he could get financed. I think he was very obsessed with that, to an extent that I’m not. Or that Bergman or Fellini were”.
King himself has also gone on the record many times about his displeasure at Kubrick’s interpretation of his novel. He even went as far as to write and direct a TV movie version that he felt was more in keeping with the book.
Kubrick will be getting his own exhibit at next year’s Toronto Film Festival.
Do you think Cronenberg is right in his comments? Sound off in the comments below….
Originally published November 5, 2013. Updated April 15, 2018.
