Shelley Duvall as wendy what the hell

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Mel217

Well-Known Member
Mar 10, 2017
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The Misunderstood Perfection of Shelley Duvall in Kubrick’s The Shining – This Is Horror
The above is an excellent (IMO) take on Duvall as Wendy from someone who has watched the film many times and used to despise her in the role as Movie Wendy; a different person than King had painted in the book.
I don't worship the ground Kubrick walked on and I've never seen much of his work, but I know from reading about (him) and his almost obsessive need for perfectionism that casting Duvall (on his part) was not an accident or a mess up. He saw something there that he wanted to portray and I think the author of the article above hits on an important point.
 

HedlessChickn

Booger Eater Extraordinaire
Jun 14, 2015
554
2,027
KC
The Misunderstood Perfection of Shelley Duvall in Kubrick’s The Shining – This Is Horror
The above is an excellent (IMO) take on Duvall as Wendy from someone who has watched the film many times and used to despise her in the role as Movie Wendy; a different person than King had painted in the book.
I don't worship the ground Kubrick walked on and I've never seen much of his work, but I know from reading about (him) and his almost obsessive need for perfectionism that casting Duvall (on his part) was not an accident or a mess up. He saw something there that he wanted to portray and I think the author of the article above hits on an important point.

That was a beautiful read on her.

The very first time I ever saw this movie I saw her as the abused partner in an abusive relationship.

Maybe I recognized as such even as far back as a quarter century ago because I had seen it in my own household.
 

Mel217

Well-Known Member
Mar 10, 2017
904
5,756
That was a beautiful read on her.

The very first time I ever saw this movie I saw her as the abused partner in an abusive relationship.

Maybe I recognized as such even as far back as a quarter century ago because I had seen it in my own household.

Such agreement from here...you live through it, you "see" it in situations you would have otherwise been blind to.
 

Mel217

Well-Known Member
Mar 10, 2017
904
5,756
Great article. Thanks for posting that and I think that's absolutely correct. It's easy to hate or be annoyed by Wendy. We're supposed to be annoyed by her and that helps propel the viewer down the madness trail with Jack.

Kings book touched on it but it's a good representation of the typical enabler fashion; the addict's signals are so subtle and the reaction from the enabler is usually over the top which paints THEM in a bad light to anyone on the outside.
 

Great Dane

Well-Known Member
Sep 8, 2017
73
319
The Land of Cheese
I love her overly exaggerated facial expressions, especially when the hotel starts to reveal itself. Ok, all kidding aside, one good thing I will say about Ms. Duvall is when Jack's axe finally breaks through the door, her scream and mask of fear still give me the chills to this day, even after seeing the movie ten zillion times.