Making "The Shining"

Now here's something special: a 35-minute documentary by Vivian Kubrick (who was then 17 years old) about the making of The Shining. Vivian was Stanley's daughter, and this documentary shows tons of behind-the-scenes material, as she follows actors through sets, performs interviews, and generally gives us a look at the creative process. Early on, we see Jack Nicholson psyching himself up before an emotional scene -- then the scene itself. It's downright scary how Nicholson works himself up. It's also very surprising seeing Scatman Crothers discussing his relationship with the cast and crew, and frankly bizarre seeing all the stuff related to Shelley Duvall. I remember first seeing this documentary at fellow blogger Ransom's house during college, and thinking, boy, Kubrick kinda thinks Shelley Duvall is dumb!

This documentary was included on some DVD editions of The Shining, and might be pulled down from Google Video because of a copyright claim. In the meantime, it's online in its entirety.

Here's some sample dialogue:

Nicholson: "I'll brush my teeth for you, Viv. I always brush my teeth before I report back in for work." Vivian: "Why?" Nicholson: "Consideration for my coworkers. It's grueling enough without a face full of lamb cutlets. [Brushes teeth.] Mmm. They'll be so grateful to me now."

Warning: of course, this contains tons of spoilers, a little coarse language, and some scary subject matter -- as you'd expect for any documentary involving The Shining.

See also: The Set of "The Shining" is Intentionally Impossible. This is the documentary I referred to in that post, where you see the crazy disorientation caused by actors walking from the set, between flats, to another set.

(Via Kottke.org.)