Ridley Scott is a filmmaker who doesn’t hold back. At 85 years old, the director of Blade Runner, Alien, and Gladiator has a full career that allows him to say whatever he wants, and he’s making the most of it. While promoting Napoleon, his latest film starring Joaquin Phoenix, he’s been making some quite interesting and harsh statements, and the latest to receive them is none other than Stanley Kubrick.
The director of A Clockwork Orange and 2001: A Space Odyssey is praised throughout the industry as one of the most important filmmakers of all time. However, there is one film that always sparks debate when it comes to him: The Shining. Now, Ridley Scott has spoken about this particular film, and it seems he aligns more with the haters than with those who support it.
The book is always better
The director of Gladiator has made it clear that a maxim seems to be repeated, also in the case of The Shining: that the book is always better than the movie. In a promotional interview for Napoleon, Scott was asked about Kubrick, and he has made it clear what he thinks about the film:
“I sincerely believe the book was better. Stanley somehow ruined the house, the place, and the light, and the book is King’s best. King’s book had a much darker and gloomier hotel. The Boiler Room is a monster in the book. All boiler rooms are scary. Stanley deliberately chose to go very bright, very modern. And I thought, why? Immediately, it didn’t work for me. It became an uphill battle against what was a very scary book. I really didn’t want to get to the point where Scatman Crothers says ‘you shine, boy.’ He didn’t use it enough.”
