Wendy

 I've thought a lot about Shelley Duvall over the years. There has been a lot more criticism targeted at Kubrick in the lastest years for his outright horrible behavior towards his lead actress during the arduous shoot of The Shining (1980). Yes, there was a time when filmmakers could provoke the response, a particular performance, they so desire to get the just-right vision in their mind onscreen. But I truly feel now that the treatment left a trauma that never left her, despite her continued work after the film. Yes, the Wendy provided because of Kubrick is a wreck, damaged by the experience in the Overlook. Yes, this vision of human wreckage heightens the resonating power of the film. But at what cost on Duvall? Was it really worth it? I guess big Shining fans might think so. What the film accomplishes in terms of Wendy's struggle with a husband who was already a broken man hiding his feelings of failure and career disappointment in an interview with Overlook's operations manager and the overwhelming nature of her son's "illness" might come across on film as effective and impactful, but personally speaking, the real-life consequence which left Duvall broken doesn't seem worth such a toll.