SCENE 3 : A FRAGMENT OF A PICTURE

Then moving onto the second part of the interview where Jack is introduced to Bill Wilson. In the European cut of the film, personally supervised by Kubrick, parts of this scene were cut. Other scenes were removed, for reasons which Kubrick has never really explained. However, revising films after their release is something that Kubrick frequently did. Approximately 20 minutes were excised from 2001 a few days after its release and have never been restored. In the European version of the film, Kubrick removed approximately 29 minutes. These cuts serve to accelerate the film and make it a pacier experience, perhaps stung by reviews that suggested it wasn�t a horror thriller, but more of a leisurely stroll : however, by executing these deletions, Kubrick removed several aspects of the film that are far clearer and expanded upon. Altogether the European cut is no less powerful, but nowhere near as rich and deep an experience.

To the untrained eye these missing scenes are not noticable, however, the cuts do appear to be at odds with the flow of the film. The cuts tend to be quite abrupt, whereas many scene transitions are achieved with crossfades in the American version : the pace of the horror is unhurried. The Overlook has all the time in the world. After Jack and Wendy and Danny are gone it will be there - waiting for the next winter.

During the extended version of the interview, Torrance describes himself as a writer, but as we see, he isn�t a writer, but like many in the artistic trade aspires to be one, yet is without an idea, or the discipline to forge one. Plenty of ideas : such as killing your family, but no good ones.

Whilst this cut �works�, to the close watcher of the film, a second character appears without introduction, whereas almost every character with a speaking part in the film - and some such as The Overlook Hotel, and The Hedge Maze without - is explicitly introduced to the Torrances, and by implication, the viewer.

The latter part of this interview touches upon the incidents involving Charles Grady. As we will see later, this is the first foreboding of the true nature of The Overlook hotel, and, like all evil is presented with an air of being a merely factual footnote, without drama or import.