One of the world’s most popular authors reveals his favourite films made of his work.
Deadline have published an interview with multi-million selling author Stephen King, in which he talks about the films of his work that he both loves and loathes.
It’s a massively revealing piece in which King heaps praise on the likes of The Shawshank Redemption and Stand By Me, but is not so kind when it comes to another perceived cinematic masterpiece – The Shining.
Speaking about the fact that he never made a deal with a film studio that he regretted, King said: “I never did, because to me it was always a case of go on out there and do the best picture that you can and if it was a success like Carrie or The Dead Zone, I can say, you know, that’s my story.
“Stand by Me, there’s another one, Shawshank Redemption, Misery.
“I’ve had a lot of things where I felt, been able to feel really pleased about the outcome. And if it doesn’t work so well, I can say, well, they went out and they gave their best shot but I didn’t have anything to do with it. I’m just a bystander in this car wreck.”
Expanding on both Shawshank and Stand By Me, and his love for them, he added: “I like, well I have a number that I like, but I love The Shawshank Redemption and I’ve always enjoyed working with Frank (Darabont). He’s a sweet guy. Frank. And I love the Rob Reiner thing, Stand by Me.”
However, he admits that he didn’t ‘care for’ Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of The Shining, and agreed with negative reviews when the film came out.
“I think The Shining is a beautiful film and it looks terrific and as I’ve said before, it’s like a big, beautiful Cadillac with no engine inside it,” he said.
“In that sense, when it opened, a lot of the reviews weren’t very favorable and I was one of those reviewers. I kept my mouth shut at the time, but I didn’t care for it much.”
The reason he felt that way came down to the central character of Jack Torrance, as depicted by Jack Nicholson.
“The character of Jack Torrance has no arc in that movie. Absolutely no arc at all,” he added.
“When we first see Jack Nicholson, he’s in the office of Mr. Ullman, the manager of the hotel, and you know, then, he’s crazy as a shit house rat. All he does is get crazier. In the book, he’s a guy who’s struggling with his sanity and finally loses it.
“To me, that’s a tragedy. In the movie, there’s no tragedy because there’s no real change. The other real difference is at the end of my book the hotel blows up, and at the end of Kubrick’s movie the hotel freezes. That’s a difference.
“But I met Kubrick and there’s no question he’s a terrifically smart guy. He’s made some of the movies that mean a lot to me, Dr. Strangelove, for one and Paths of Glory, for another. I think he did some terrific things but, boy, he was a really insular man.
“In the sense that when you met him, and when you talked to him, he was able to interact in a perfectly normal way but you never felt like he was all the way there. He was inside himself.”
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ with Aideen McQueen – Faith healers, Coolock craic and Gigging as Gaeilge
