2000: A
Film Odyssey
The Films of
Stanley Kubrik
Introduction
Throughout his career,
Stanley Kubrick had been hailed as one of the best directors in history, but critics in his time had largely ignored him or were exceptionaly '
fair', and chances are that it was because he was so far ahead of his time with graphic film-making (
A Clockwork Orange,
Dr. Strangelove and
Full Metal Jacket). The world then was not ready for such an
honest portrayal of the
darker side of human nature, and people were, and largely still are, afraid to admit that in every single human there is a
violent animal which
floats to the surface in times of
struggle.
Detractors have often labeled Kubrik’s films as
profane and
violent, but
free speech, if anything, means the right to tell people what they don’t want to hear.
The latter of the aforementioned films,
Full Metal Jacket, did meet with
worldwide acclaim by
critics as ‘the best film ever made about war’ –(www.imdb.com) , and even garnered several Oscar nominations. But this can be attributed to the fact that the film was released in 1987, to a more educated and readily accepting
public.
Kubrik’s strength, however, is not only the fact that he made breakthrough
films, but also that he has a steady worldwide fan base numbering in the tens of
millions, which had helped to drive him in making such great films.
However,
fans alone have never convinced him to do one thing or the other,
Kubrik has been known for making films that require thought to comprehend and make you think when it’s all over, and above all, he expressed what he wanted people to see.
Even with the world’s eye on him,
Stanley Kubrik somehow managed to keep his private life out of the
media and
print. Therefore most of this paper will focus on his films rather than his life.
Part 1: The Fledgling Film-maker
1951 – Day of the Fight
Kubrik had worked full-time as a
photographer in Look magazine after his graduation, and there, on one of his assignments, he had met boxer Walter
Cartier. Using all of his savings, Kubrik later directed, edited, and
sequenced his first film, a 16 minute
documentary short on Walter Cartier.
He later sold Day of the
Fight and all the rights to RKO for their
This is America series, providing Kubrik with enough profit to put away as savings aside from his job at Look.
1951 – Flying Padre
Shortly after Day of the Fight, Kubrik quit his job and began to take his film-making
passion seriously, directing, editing, and sequencing another short documentary about Father Fred Stadtmueller, who flew around his 400 mile parish in his one-
engine private
plane.
His second short had been financed by RKO, who were pleased with his previous success and featured Flying Padre in their
Pathe Screenliner series.
1953 – The Seafarers
After a period of
inactivity, Kubrik was hired by the
Atlantic and Gulf Coast District of Seafarers International Union to direct, edit, and sequence his first film in color, a 30 minute industrial documentary entitled The
Seafarers.
1953 – Fear and Desire
1955 – Killer’s Kiss
Kubrik had
directed, edited, sequenced, and financed his first feature-length (68 minutes) film by collecting donations from his
relatives,
netting $13,000, and his second (64 minutes) by the same method, grossing $40,000.
1956 – The Killing
For his
third film, Kubrik had found James B. Harris to produce it, someone he would be working with for the next
several years. The
Killing had been adapted to film from a
novel, and was the first studio film for 28 year-old Kubrik, and also featured a large $320,000 budget and several acclaimed
actors.
1957 – Paths of Glory
Kubrik’s
partnership with Harris would continue to flourish when they were
teamed with Calder Williangham and Jim Thompson to write a
screenplay for a
film version of Humphrey Cobb’s
Paths of
Glory. There wasn’t a single studio that would agree to the project until
Kirk Douglas agreed to
star. The eventual product was a film that proved to be the blossoming director’s first fan hit and is regarded as one of the greatest war films ever made.
Part 2: The New Guy
1960 – Spartacus
Kirk Douglas, Kubrik’s
savior with Paths of Glory, was producing Spartacus in 1959, after two weeks of which the original director was fired and Douglas signed on Kubrik as the new
director. The product of their second coupling proved to be a
critically recognized and even warranted some Oscar
nominations.
1962 – Lolita
Vladimir
Nabokov’s
original novel has been on every school district’s and the Board of Education’s
black list of prohibited books, and deciding to direct the film adaptation was a bold move, even for Kubrik. The novel is the story of a middle-aged man who finds himself
attracted to an acquaintance’s
young daughter and what ensues is a secret and ardent affair between the two. Due to the film’s
nature and U.S. law, the film was shot in Britain, after which, Kubrik moved there
permanently.
1964 – Doctor Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
At the end of
Lolita, Harris broke off from the eight-year partnership and went on to direct his own films, and Kubrik went back to his role as
producer as well as director. The cold war fascinated Kubrik with its ‘delicate balance of terror’ -(pages.prodigy.com) , and he decided to rework
Red Alert into a
dark comedy titled
Dr. Strangelove.
Part 3: The Established Director
1968 – 2001: A Space Odyssey
Arthur C. Clarke is a world-renowned author, and his main claim to fame has been his impressive screenplay for Kubrik’s
cinematic masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey. Not only is this one of the most renowned
films in the history of the genre, but it is also a ‘landmark in film history’ -(pages.prodigy.com) . This superb film received several Oscar nominations and won
one, and the only Kubrik received, for the special effects in the film.
1971 – A Clockwork Orange
Perhaps his most
controversial film, the
violent and graphic imagery provided by Kubrik sends audiences into the mind of Alex, a
serial killer and
rapist, as he struggles against society. Even though the U.S. release gleaned an X rating (
NC-17), many people received the intended message of the film and became
instant fans. Even with the X rating, A Clockwork Orange received three
Oscar nominations, the only film in history to do so, for
writing,
direction, and
production.
1975 – Barry Lyndon
His next project would be am 18th century costume drama, a contrast to his two earlier
futuristic movies. Although this adaptation of William Makepeace Thackery’s novel didn’t succeed financially, it received seven Oscar nominations, including the now pattern-forming three for
writing,
producing, and
direction.
Part 4: The Recognized Visionary
1980 – The Shining
This
classic horror film needs no introduction, the combination of a brilliant film-maker and a great horror novelist produced a truly
superb film that still terrifies audiences to this day. The Shining was a financial
success but sadly, did
not receive any Oscar nominations.
1987 – Full Metal Jacket
Kubrik’s third war film was both
critically
acclaimed and a
financial success that combined
dark humor and the realities of bootcamp. The film was divided into two parts, the first, a journey through U.S. Marine
bootcamp that ends abruptly and violently with the
murder-suicide of a Drill Sergeant and a future private. The second, a retelling of the hell in Vietnam through the eyes of an
infantryman.
Part 5: Epilogue
I chose to focus on his films rather than his life for a greater reason than the fact that he was extremely private and kept his life out of the media, the reason being the fact that Kubrik’s films provide a greater profile of him than any of his actions could. His latest project (Eyes Wide Shut) hasn’t been released, and chances are production of his newest science fiction film (AI) will stop due to his untimely death, that and the fact that any director who even thinks he can fill Kubrik’s shoes will be instantly crucified by the media and fans alike.