Over the years, many people have found Overlook Hotel. Jack takes his wife, Wendy, and their son, Danny, with him to the hotel, but the place has some evil forces living in it.
In Kubrick fashion, The Shining is packed with symbolism and metaphors, and he deliberately left many things unexplained. There are a lot of behind the scenes stories (not exactly fun or pleasant) that have added to Kubrick’s legendary reputation as an extreme perfectionist and a filmmaker who was very protective of his work – case in point, there’s an alternate ending to The Shining that will never be seen because he ordered the footage to be destroyed.
But something many viewers might not know is that there are two different cuts of The Shining, and one works better than the other simply because it got rid of some footage (almost a half-hour's worth) that, upon watching the shorter version, turned out to be unnecessary and messed with the vibe of the film. So cutting out all the extraneous scenes honed in on the core story much better.
The Shining's European Version Is 25 Minutes Shorter
The European version of The Shining is actually shorter and is the one that turned out to be better. The reason behind this final cut varies, with producer (and Kubrick’s brother in-law) Jan Harlan sharing Kubrick decided to cut some scenes because the film wasn’t well received and Warner Bros. complained about its length and ambiguity. Others say that Kubrick thought Europeans were smarter than Americans and didn’t need scenes that provided background to some characters and situations. Whatever the reason, the shorter version works because it’s more effective in building suspense.
Among the scenes cut from the American version are Danny being attended by the doctor after his “episode” in the bathroom (after Jack gets the job, and the first time Danny and the audience see the blood coming out from the elevator), a part from Jack and Watson’s meeting at the hotel, less footage of Dick Hallorann’s attempts to get to the hotel, and Wendy’s encounter with a group of skeletons at the lobby. Editing out the scene with the doctor is one of the biggest improvements Kubrick could have done, as he cut with it references to Danny’s imaginary friend Tony, Jack's alcoholism, and how he injured Danny in a drunken rage. Without previous knowledge of Jack’s anger issues and history of abuse towards Danny, his downfall into madness is scarier and less something that was already in him.
The shorter version of The Shining is an experience of its own, and it could be the one that changes the mind of those who are not fully convinced by it. When comparing both, it becomes clear that the first cut (as in: the American version) had a lot of excess scenes that even though they work (except, maybe, the skeletons scene. But that’s up to every viewer) it would be better if they were cut.
