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this topic is in memory of one of the greatest artist of our time, STANLEY KUBRICK
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Few filmmakers’ work is so instantly recognizable as that of Stanley Kubrick. Beautiful, precise composition. Elaborate tracking shots. Powerful acting. Deep, thought-provoking themes. Kubrick put his unique stamp and vision on every film he made.
Despite his relatively small output, probably no other director made great films in so many different genres, from science fiction (2001: A Space Odyssey) to war films (Full Metal Jacket), historical drama (Barry Lyndon) to comedy (Dr. Strangelove), horror (The Shining) to psychosexual drama (Eyes Wide Shut).
Kubrick’s influence on the art of filmmaking is matched by only a precious few fellow giants, and his body of work will certainly continue to thrill and intrigue audiences, critics and future filmmakers for years to come.
STANLEY KUBRICK: the uncompromising genius, that changed cinema forever
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BIOGRAPHY:
Stanley Kubrick was born in New York, and was considered intelligent despite poor grades at school. Hoping that a change of scenery would produce better academic performance, Kubrick's father Jack (a physician) sent him in 1940 to Pasadena, California, to stay with his uncle Martin Perveler. Returning to the Bronx in 1941 for his last year of grammar school, there seemed to be little change in his attitude or his results. Hoping to find something to interest his son, Jack introduced Stanley to chess, with the desired result. Kubrick took to the game passionately, and quickly became a skilled player. Chess would become an important device for Kubrick in later years, often as tool for for dealing with recalcitrant actors, but also as an artistic motif in his films.
Jack Kubrick's decision to give his son a camera for his thirteenth birthday would be an even wiser move: Kubrick became an avid photographer, and would often make trips around New York taking photographs which he would develop in a friend's darkroom. After selling an unsolicited photograph to Look Magazine, Kubrick began to associate with their staff photographers, and at the age of seventeen was offered a job as an apprentice photographer.
In the next few years, Kubrick had regular assignments for "Look", and would become a voracious movie-goer. Together with friend Alexander Singer, Kubrick planned a move into film, and in 1950 sank his savings into making the documentary Day of the Fight (1951). This was followed by several short commissioned documentaries (Flying Padre (1951), and _Seafarers, The (1952)_ ), but by attracting investors and hustling chess games in Central Park, Kubrick was able to make Fear and Desire (1953) in California.
Filming this movie was not a happy experience; Kubrick's marriage to high school sweetheart Toba Metz did not survive the shooting. Despite mixed reviews for the film itself, Kubrick received good notices for his obvious directorial talents. Kubrick's next two films Killer's Kiss (1955) and Killing, The (1956) brought him to the attention of Hollywood, and in 1957 directed Kirk Douglas in Paths of Glory (1957). Douglas later called upon Kubrick to take over the production of Spartacus (1960), by some accounts hoping that Kubrick would be daunted by the scale of the project and would thus be accommodating. This was not the case, however: Kubrick took charge of the project, imposing his ideas and standards on the film. Many crewmembers were upset by his style: cinematographer Russell Metty complained to producers that Kubrick was taking over his job. Kubrick's response was to tell him to sit there and do nothing. Metty complied, and ironically was awarded the Academy Award for his cinematography.
Kubrick's next project was to direct Marlon Brando in One-Eyed Jacks (1961), but negotiations broke down and Brando himself ended up directing the film himself. Disenchanted with Hollywood and after another failed marriage, Kubrick moved permanently to England, from where he would make all of his subsequent films. Despite having obtained a pilot's license, Kubrick is rumored to be afraid of flying.
Kubrick's first UK film was Lolita (1962), which was carefully constructed and guided so as to not offend the censorship boards which at the time had the power to severely damage the commercial success of a film. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) was a big risk for Kubrick; before this, "nuclear" was not considered a subject for comedy. Originally written as a drama, Kubrick decided that too many of the ideas he had written were just too funny to be taken seriously. The film's critical and commercial success allowed Kubrick the financial and artistic freedom to work on any project he desired. Around this time, Kubrick's focus diversified and he would always have several projects in various stages of development: "Blue Moon" (a story about Hollywood's first pornographic feature film), "Napoleon" (an epic historical biography, abandoned after studio losses on similar projects), "Wartime Lies" (based on the novel by Louis Begley), and "Rhapsody" (a psycho-sexual thriller).
The next film he completed was a collaboration with sci-fi author Arthur C. Clarke 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) is hailed by many as the best ever made; an instant cult favorite, it has set the standard and tone for many science fiction films that followed. Kubrick followed this with Clockwork Orange, A (1971), which rivaled Lolita (1962) for the controversy it generated - this time not for only for its portrayal of sex, but also of violence. Barry Lyndon (1975) would prove a turning point in both his professional and private lives. His unrelenting demands of commitment and perfection of cast and crew had by now become legendary. Actors would be required to perform dozens of takes with no breaks. Filming a story in Ireland involving military, Kubrick received reports that the IRA had declared him a possible target. Production was promptly moved out of the country, and Kubrick's desire for privacy and security have resulted in him being considered a recluse ever since.
Having turned down directing a sequel to Exorcist, The (1973), Kubrick made his own horror film: Shining, The (1980). Again, rumors circulated of demands made upon actors and crew. Stephen King (whose novel the film was based upon) reportedly didn't like Kubrick's adaptation (indeed, he would later write his own screenplay which was filmed as "Shining, The" (1997) (mini).)
Kubrick's subsequent work has been well spaced: it was seven years before Full Metal Jacket (1987) was released. By this time, Kubrick was married with children and had extensively remodeled his house. Seen by one critic as the dark side to the humanist story of Platoon (1986), Full Metal Jacket (1987) continued Kubrick's legacy of solid critical acclaim, and profit at the box office.
In the 1990s, Kubrick began an on-again/off-again collaboration with Brian Aldiss on a new science fiction film called "Artificial Intelligence (AI)", but progress was very slow, and was backgrounded until special effects technology was up to the standard the Kubrick wanted.
Kubrick returned to his in-development projects, but encountered a number of problems: "Napoleon" was completely dead, and "Wartime Lies" (now called "The Aryan Papers") was abandoned when Steven Spielberg announced he would direct Schindler's List (1993), which covered much of the same material.
While pre-production work on "AI" crawled along, Kubrick combined "Rhapsody" and "Blue Moon" and officially announced his next project as Eyes Wide Shut (1999), starring the then-married Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. After two years of production under unprecedented security and privacy, the film was released to a typically polarized critical and public reception; Kubrick claimed it was his best film to date.
Special effects technology had matured rapidly in the meantime, and Kubrick immediately begain active work on Artificial Intelligence: AI (2001), but tragically suffered a fatal heart attack in his sleep on March 7th, 1999.
After Kubrick's death, Spielberg reveleaed that the two of them were friends that frequently communicated discretely about the art of filmmaking; both had a large degree of mutual respect for each other's work. "AI" was frequently discussed; Kubrick even suggested that Spielberg should direct it as it was more his type of project. Based on this relationship, Spielberg took over as the film's director and completed the last Kubrick project.
How much of Kubrick's vision remains in the finished project -- and what he would think of the film as eventually released -- will be the final great unanswerable mysteries in the life of this talented and private filmmaker.
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Trade mark
[Narration] Nearly all of Kubrick's films contain a narration at some point (2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) contains narration in the screenplay and The Shining (1980) has some sparse title cards).
Adapted every film he made from a novel, excluding his first two films, Killer's Kiss (1955), and Fear and Desire (1953).
Often features shots down the length of tall, parallel walls, e.g. the head in Full Metal Jacket (1987), the maze and hotel coridors in Shining, The (1980) and the computer room in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).
His films have a common theme of dehumanization.
Symmetric image composition and long "zooming out" and/or "zooming in" sequences [zoom].
Constructs three-way conflicts [three-way].
Extreme close-ups of intensely emotional faces [faces].
[114]: often uses the number 114 in serial numbers, eg. - It's the name of the decoder in Dr. Strangelove - It's the Jupiter explorer's "licence plate number" in 2001 - Alex is given "Serum 114" when he undergoes the Ludovico treatment
Bathroom: All of Kubrick's films feature a scene that takes place in a bathroom
Known for his exorbitant shooting ratio and endless takes, he reportedly exposed an incredible 1.3 million feet of film while shooting Shining, The (1980), the release print of which runs for 142 minutes. Thus, he used less than 1% of the exposed film stock, making his shooting ratio an indulgent 102:1 when a ratio of 5 or 10:1 is considered the norm.
Beginning Voice-over - Paths of Glory, A Clockwork Orange, and Dr Strangelove all begin with a voice over, and The Killing features narration.
Involves his wives in his movies. His first wife, Toba Etta Metz Kubrick, was the dialogue director for Stanley's first feature film Fear and Desire (1953). His second wife, Ruth Sobotka Kubrick, was in Killer's Kiss (1955) as a ballet dancer named Iris in a short sequence for which she also did the choreography. Kubrick's third, and final, wife, Christiane Harlan Kubrick, appeared (as Susanne Christian) in Paths of Glory (1957) before she married him as the only female character (a German singing girl) in the movie. She also did some of the now-infamous paintings for Clockwork Orange, A (1971) and some more for Eyes Wide Shut (1999). In addition, her brother, Jan, was Stanley's assistant for Clockwork Orange, A (1971) and the executive producer for all of Kubrick's films starting with Barry Lyndon (1975) and going through Shining, The (1980), Full Metal Jacket (1987) and Eyes Wide Shut (1999). Also, his daughter, Vivian Kubrick, is the little girl who asks for a Bush Baby for her birthday in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).
Almost always uses previously composed music (such as The Blue Danube in 2001 and Beethoven's 9th Symphony for A Clockwork Orange) for his films rather than commissioning an original score to be written.
Almost always shot his films in the standard 1.33:1 ratio. The exceptions were: Spartacus, in Panavision, and 2001: A Space Odyssey, in Cinerama. Much of his films consist of wide-angle shots that give the impression of a wide-screen movie, wide up-and-down as well as wide sideways. From the Killing onward, his films looked increasingly odder, bigger, and more properly viewed from the rows closer to the screen.
His films often story tell about the dark side of human nature.
One of Kubrick's signature shots was "The Glare"--a character's emotional meltdown is depicted by a close-up shot of the actor with his head tilted slightly down, but with his eyes looking up--usually directly into the camera. Examples are the opening shot of Alex in "Clockwork Orange", Jack slowly losing it in "The Shining", Pvt. Pyle going mad in "Full Metal Jacket", Tom Cruise's paranoid thoughts inside the taxicab in "Eyes Wide Shut". Even HAL 9000 has "the glare" in "2001: A Space Odessey".
Uses the first person viewpoint (the character's perspective) at least once in each film. [first-person]
Credits are always a slide show. Kubrick never used rolling credits except for the opening of "The Shining"
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Trivia
Died 666 days before 1 January 2001.
Father-in-law of Philip Hobbs.
Father of Anya Kubrick.
Stepfather of Katharina Kubrick.
Brother-in-law of Jan Harlan.
He wanted to make a film based on Umberto Eco's novel "Foucault's Pendulum" which appeared in 1988. Unfortunately, Eco refused dissatisfied with the filming of his earlier novel Name der Rose, Der (1986) and also because Kubrick wasn't willing to let him write the screenplay himself.
Planned to direct a film called "I Stole 16 Million Dollars" based on thief Willie Sutton. It was to be made by Kirk Douglas's production company Bryna Company but Douglas thought the script was "poorly written". Kubrick tried to get Cary Grant interested which must have proven to be a failure as well. The film ended up never being made.
Wanted to take credit for Dalton Trumbo's screenplay for Spartacus (1960) since Trumbo was blacklisted at the time. Orginally Trumbo was going to use the alias Sam Jackson but so many people knew about him and his alias that they had to figure something else out. Upset at Kubrick's desire to take credit for someone elses work, Kirk Douglas opted to simply credit Trumbo himself. This ended the blacklist.
Often used war, or war like, themes. World War I - Paths of Glory (1957), Cold War - Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964), Vietnam War - Full Metal Jacket (1987). 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) was also said to exist in a nuclear war era and Clockwork Orange, A (1971) seemed to exist in a post apocalyptic era. Spartacus (1960) also had many war themes to it.
Received Luchino Visconti Award in Italy in 1988 for contribution to the cinema.
Was to direct One-Eyed Jacks (1961) but was replaced by Marlon Brando in pre-production.
Rarely gave interviews. Did however appear in a documentary made by his daughter Vivian shot during the making of Shining, The (1980).
Father of Vivian Kubrick.
According to Malcolm McDowell, Kubrick listened to air traffic controllers at Heathrow Airport for long stretches of time, and advised McDowell never to fly.
Refused to talk about his movies on set as he was directing them and never watched them when they were completed.
One of the founders of the Directors Guild of Great Britain.
After reports that "A Clockwork Orange" had inspired real-life gangs of "droogs" in England, and fearing for his safety, Kubrick personally withdrew the film from distribution in the UK, with a proviso that the film was never to be shown in the UK (his adopted homeland) during his lifetime.
His next project, after Eyes Wide Shut (1999), was supposed to be Artificial Intelligence: AI (2001), which was taken over by Steven Spielberg.
Kubrick's dislike of his early film Fear and Desire (1953) is well known. He went out of his way to buy all the prints of it so no one else could see it.
In addition to _Seafarers, The (1952)_ (shot for the Seafarers International Union), Kubrick may have directed another commissioned project in the early fifties, "World Assembly of Youth," for the United Nations, documenting a UN-sponsored gathering in New York City of young people from throughout the world. No copy of the film has been found and it has never been conclusively proven that it even existed in the first place (as with The Seafarers, Kubrick never publicly acknowledged it).
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Personal quotes
"I never learned anything at all in school and didn't read a book of pleasure until I was 19 years old."
"A film is - or should be - more like music than like fiction. It should be a progression of moods and feelings. The theme, what's behind the emotion, the meaning, all that comes later."
"I would not think of quarreling with your interpretation nor offering any other, as I have found it always the best policy to allow the film to speak for itself."
"Anyone who has ever been privileged to direct a film also knows that, although it can be like trying to write 'War and Peace' in a bumper car in an amusement park, when you finally get it right, there are not many joys in life that can equal the feeling."
"Art consists of reshaping life but it does not create life, nor cause life."
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FILMOGRAPHY (every single film he made achieved greeatness)
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1 PATHS OF GLORY (1957)
Stars: Kirk Douglas, Ralph Meeker, Adolphe Menjou, George Macready
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Fast Facts:
Kubrick first read Humphrey Cobb’s 1935 novel Paths of Glory when he was 14.
Cobb based his novel on a true incident that took place in the French army during World War I, when five enlisted men were unfairly executed for mutiny. Years later the men’s families sued the army and won, but were awarded only two francs for damages.
Sidney Howard, the primary screenwriter on Gone with the Wind, adapted the novel into a play, which ran briefly on Broadway in 1935.
In 1956, Kubrick and producer James B. Harris bought the film rights to the novel from Cobb’s widow for $10,000.
Among the actors considered to play Colonel Dax were Richard Burton, James Mason, Gregory Peck and Kirk Douglas, who eventually won the role.
Early drafts of the script contained a happy ending, with Colonel Dax blackmailing General Broulard and freeing the condemned men. However, as filming neared, Kubrick and his collaborators agreed that this would undermine the film’s antiwar message and they returned to the book’s bleak ending.
Although the story takes place in France, the film was shot at the Geiselgasteig Studios near Munich, Germany.
The German girl who sings near the end of the movie was played by a young actress named Susanne Christian, who later married Kubrick.
Safe in their picturesque chateau behind the front lines, the French General Staff passes down a direct order to Colonel Dax (Kirk Douglas): take the Ant Hill at any cost. A blatant suicide mission, the attack is doomed to failure. Covering up their fatal blunder, the Generals order the arrest of three innocent soldiers, charging them with cowardice and mutiny. Dax, a lawyer in civilian life, rises to the men’s defense but soon realizes that, unless he can prove that the Generals were to blame, nothing less than a miracle will save his clients from the firing squad.
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CRITICS:
>A compelling masterpiece from world-class director/writer Stanley Kubrick and screenwriters Calder Willingham and Jim Thompson, Paths of Glory is a blistering indictment of military politics and "an unforgettable movie experience" (Newsweek).
"Wherein have I done wrong?"
– General Broulard (Adolphe Menjou)
"Because you don’t know the answer to that question, I pity you."
– Colonel Dax (Kirk Douglas)
"One of the greatest antiwar films ever made."
– THE MOTION PICTURE GUIDE
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2 SPARTACUS (1960) (that film influnced the make of GLADIATOR)
Stars: Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons, Charles Laughton, Peter Ustinov, John Gavin, Tony Curtis
Director: Stanley Kubrick
plot: The rebellious Thracian Spartacus, born and raised a slave, is sold to Gladiator trainer Batiatus. After weeks of being trained to kill for the arena, Spartacus turns on his owners and leads the other slaves in rebellion. As the rebels move from town to town, their numbers swell as escaped slaves join their ranks. Under the leadership of Spartacus, they make their way to southern Italy, where they will cross the sea and return to their homes. Meanwhile, in Rome, the slave revolt has become a deciding factor in the power struggle between two senators: the republican Gracchus and the militarist Crassus, each of whom sees the fortunes of the rebellion as the key to his own rise to power or humiliating defeat. As the two statesmen attempt to aid, hinder and manipulate the rebels for their own benefit, Spartacus and his followers press on toward freedom.
Fast Facts:
Spartacus was based on a 1952 novel by Howard Fast, detailing a true account of a gladiator who led a slave uprising against Rome in 73 BC.
The script was written by Dalton Trumbo, an Academy Award®-winning screenwriter who had been jailed and blacklisted for refusing to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee in the late 1940s.
Trumbo had written several films using pseudonyms or "fronts" while under the blacklist, but by putting Trumbo’s name on Spartacus, Kirk Douglas and Universal effectively ended the blacklisting practice.
Stanley Kubrick replaced director Anthony Mann (El Cid) after only one week’s shooting.
The film cost $12 million, was shot in 167 days and employed over 10,000 people.
The battle scenes were filmed in Spain, using thousands of soldiers from the Spanish army. However, their battle cries and shouts were actually the sounds of the rooting section at Michigan State University.
The film was nominated for six Academy Awards®, winning for Cinematography, Costume Design, Art Direction and Supporting Actor (Peter Ustinov).
In 1992, Spartacus was restored by acclaimed film restorer Robert A. Harris (with backing from Steven Spielberg, Stanley Kubrick and Universal) at a cost of nearly $1 million.
Harris restored five minutes of footage that had been cut from the initial release print (including the bath scene between Tony Curtis and Laurence Olivier), along with the original overture, entr’acte and exit music.
When Harris restored the famous bath scene between Olivier and Curtis, the sound had to be rerecorded. Since Olivier was dead by then, Oscar® winner Anthony Hopkins (The Silence of the Lambs), known for his dead-on Olivier impersonation, recorded the scene opposite Tony Curtis.
This presentation of the powerful film classic features an additional five minutes of footage cut from the film’s original release, plus the original overture and extended soundtrack. Director Stanley Kubrick tells the tale of Spartacus (Kirk Douglas), the bold gladiator slave, and Varinia (Jean Simmons), the woman who believed in his cause. Challenged by the power-hungry General Crassus (Laurence Olivier), Spartacus is forced to face his convictions and the power of Imperial Rome at its glorious height.
The inspirational true account of man’s eternal struggle for freedom, Spartacus combines history with spectacle to create a moving drama of love and commitment.
CRITICS: "Gladiators don’t make friends. If we’re ever matched in the arena together, I have to kill you."– Draba (Woody Strode)
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3LOLITTA (1962)
plot: Middle-aged novelist Humbert Humbert rents a room in Charlotte Haze's house after he falls passionately in love with her daughter Lolita. There are three slight problems, though - one, Charlotte is madly in love with him (unrequited, needless to say); two, Lolita is only fourteen; three, there's a very peculiar figure by the name of Clare Quilty who keeps popping up in the most unexpected places (and sporting equally unexpected accents), who seems to have a similarly unhealthy interest in Lolita...
Stars: James Mason, Shelley Winters, Peter Sellers, Sue Lyon
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Fast Facts:
Vladimir Nabokov’s controversial, sensational novel Lolita was originally published in France in 1955, making its official U.S. debut three years later.
Kubrick and his producing partner, James B. Harris, purchased the rights to the novel for $150,000, a large amount at that time.
Their first attempt at a screenplay adaptation, written by Calder Willingham, ended with Humbert and Lolita getting married, a concession to the censorship standards at that time.
However, no one liked this ending and Kubrick decided to try to be as faithful to the book as the standards would allow. The major change was to make Lolita a young teenager, older than the twelve-year-old in the book.
Among the actors considered to play Humbert were Laurence Olivier, David Niven and James Mason, who eventually won the part.
Sue Lyon, a 14-year-old actress from Iowa, was cast as Lolita, after Kubrick had looked through photos of over 800 young girls.
Peter Sellers, heavily booked at the time, shot all his scenes as Quilty during 14 days around Christmas of 1960.
The film was a hit when it was released in June of 1962, garnering acclaim for Kubrick’s direction and the performances of James Mason, Peter Sellers and Shelley Winters.
Newly arrived in Ramsdale, New Hampshire, European émigré Humbert Humbert is smitten. He plans to marry Charlotte Haze. That way he’ll always be close to his dear one — Charlotte’s precocious daughter!
Filmmaker Stanley Kubrick explores the theme of sexual obsession (a subject he would revisit 37 years later in Eyes Wide Shut) with this darkly comic and deeply moving version of Vladimir Nabokov’s novel. James Mason plays devious, deluded Humbert: wedded to needy Charlotte (Shelley Winters); rivaled by the ubiquitous Clare Quilty (chameleonlike Peter Sellers); and enraptured to his gelatinous core by the blithe teen (Sue Lyon) with that "lovely, lyrical, lilting name" — Lolita
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4 Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
(A DARK COMEDY, A MASTERPIECE, ONE OF THE GREATS FILMS EVER)
comment: This movie is a masterpiece of it's time. It illustrates (ironically) the madness that was reality. Peter Sellers shines as never before in his roles and adds an outstanding comedic touch to this excellent movie. HILARIOUS COMEDY lol
PLOT: U.S. Air Force Colonel Jack Ripper goes completely and utterly mad, and sends his bomber wing to destroy the U.S.S.R. He suspects that the communists are conspiring to pollute the "precious bodily fluids" of the American people. The U.S. president meets with his advisors, where the Soviet ambassador tells him that if the U.S.S.R. is hit by nuclear weapons, it will trigger a "Doomsday Device" which will destroy all plant and animal life on Earth. Peter Sellers portrays the three men who might avert this tragedy: British Group Captain Lionel Mandrake, the only person with access to the demented Gen. Ripper; U.S. President Merkin Muffley, whose best attempts to divert disaster depend on placating a drunken Soviet Permier and the former Nazi genious Dr. Strangelove, who concludes that "such a device would not be a practical deterrent for reasons which at this moment must be all too obvious". Will the bombers be stopped in time, or will General Jack Ripper succeed in destroying the world ?
Cast:
Peter Sellers .... Capt. Lionel Mandrake/President Merkin Muffley/Dr. Strangelove
George C. Scott .... Gen. 'Buck' Turgidson
Sterling Hayden .... Brig. Gen. Jack D. Ripper
Keenan Wynn .... Col. 'Bat' Guano
Slim Pickens .... Maj. T.J. 'King' Kong
Peter Bull .... Russian Ambassador Alexi de Sadesky
Directed by the great
STANLEY KUBRICK
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critics:
"You can’t fight in here, this is the War Room!"
– President Merkin Muffley (Peter Sellers)
"…(A) brilliant black comedy, which seems better with each passing year."
– Leonard Maltin’s MOVIE & VIDEO GAME
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5 2001: a space odyssey (1968)
(THE best scifi movie of all time, no starwars, no startrek, no nothing)
comment: i have seen a lot of movies in my day..but this is THE ONLY FILM that kept me thinking about it from the day i saw it
plot:This movie is concerned with intelligence as the division between animal and human, then asks a question; what is the next division? Technology is treated as irrelevant to the quest - literally serving as mere vehicles for the human crew, and as a shell for the immature HAL entity. Story told as a montage of impressions, music and impressive and careful attention to subliminal detail. A very influential film and still a class act, even after 25 years.
This movie is concerned with intelligence as the division between animal and human, thenThe monoliths have been watching us. They gave us the "evolutionary kick in the pants" we needed to survive at the Dawn of Time. In 1999, we discovered a second monolith on the moon. Now, in the year 2001, the S.S. Discovery and its crew, Captains Dave Bowman and Frank Poole, and their onboard computer, HAL-9000, must discover what alien force is watching us...
Moon explorers encounter a monolith that points them to a destination near Jupiter. In flashback, we see another size of the monolith playing a key role in human evolution, i.e., we learn how to kill. An expedition is launched to investigate the Jupiter possibility. Two young astronauts and a bunch in suspended animation spend months in space, passing their time partly in communicating with the human-like brain of their ship's computer, HAL. HAL malfunctions and causes the death of all the suspended animation passengers as well as one of the "awake" astronauts; the other one barely survives and figures out how to disable HAL. He arrives alone at the Jupiter destination and undergoes a series of cinematographically confusing experiences that amount to his final appearance on the screen as a giant fetus.
Visually 2001 has (for its time) the best special effects the film world has ever seen. It was (excuse the pun) an astronomical evolutionary jump forward, not only visually but also in way a film flows. It's totally unique; the use of music to propel the awe-inspiring plot and intellectual narrative is quite brilliant. Where as before music was mostly used to control the audience emotions.
Some of the shots and camera work in this film are GENIUS. THE FAMOUS JUMP SHOT, the Leopard with the light reflecting off its retinas as it consumes a dead Zebra. The beautiful space scenes, coupled with just the right use of eerie/spectacular music send shivers of wonder and awe down the spine.
The plot is a great one, I especially love the beginning and indeed the whole back bone of the story which suggests that we as a race did not come to be through just evolution or just divine intervention, BUT BOTH!!! This is the over riding plot in the film which comes to a conclusion in the end. But more on the end later.....
HAL is strangely in my opinion the best character in the film. In that he is the most complex and is the hardest to understand. Did HAL "EVOLVE" into something more than a computer??? And therefore doesn't it seem normal that he would indeed try to protect himself against being shut down my Dave and the others???? I feel the whole story is a superb intellectual battle, between HAL and the humans (which is also a physical battle), HAL and himself (against his programming)......and most importantly the humans fighting with their inner beliefs as they start to gain an insight into where their past and indeed their future originated and originates.
And now the ending, well Kubrick did say in interviews that I have heard that he didn't intend to puzzle people so much with the ending, its just the way it came across. But he was really very pleased that that's what happened. He never let on what he thought the ending meant (One of his prime principles in his films was to let the audience make up their own mind.) In my opinion its really quite simple and beautiful, Dave is transported though hyper space (either through mind or body, its a matter of opinion) then once their in this strange place in space or his mind, keeps seeing the black monolith and every time he touches it he seems to get older, then he finally ceases to hold a human from and his body dies of old age. Transporting him to a higher level of being.
In short no film has made me think and indeed ponder as much as this one. The visuals, music, and narrative are the best I've ever seen. The only fault is the acting, there's nothing bad about it but there's also nothing great about it. Maybe Stan wanted that know who knows>
THIS IS NOT A FILM ITS SOMETHING ELSE, SOMETHING WONDERFUL, THAT I DOUBT WILL EVER BE EXPERIENCED AGAIN.
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i highly recommend you see this site, its INCREDBLE, it explains a lot of things: http://www.kubrick2001.com/
"I tried to create a visual experience, one that bypasses verbalized pigeonholing and directly penetrates the subconscious with an emotional and philosophical content...I intended the film to be an intensely subjective experience that reaches the viewer at an inner level of consciousness, just as music does...You're free to speculate as you wish about the philosophical and allegorical meaning of the film.
" STANLEY KUBRICK
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this is a MUST SEE FILM...this is a great great visual film , that to me, in which i study filmmaking and watched over 1000 of movies..that film in particular, left my mouth wide open b/c of its creativity, its ENDLESS MEANINGS, and how it is so advanced for its time
SEE TRAILER: http://www.turnerclassicmovies.com/Multimedia/Popup/0,,11279|23032,00.html
it took kubrick 5 years to make this film and took the WORLD 35 years to understand it
2001 a space odyssey== the ultimate trip
comments: perhaps one of the most confusing films of all time, but also to others one of the
greatest visual films ever made..the GENIUS STANLEY KUBRICK was behind the invention of this great classic...the film is either LOVED or HATED..you cant take a middle position when you see it and i dare you..
this film was V ERY ADVANCED for its time..it came out in movies in 1968 , and due to its success , it showed up again in cinemas...this is a movie everyone must see\
the music became a famous operatic one too, the score of the film is used in the program
OSCAR that shows up in CH. 2 egypt...its the music of that film
Brilliant, Not for everyone
2001: A Space Odyssey is my favorite film. Although when I first saw it I thought it was boring and the ending truly made no sense to me. Then I read a few explanations and theories on the ending and watched it again and grew to love it. It is my favorite film mainly because when I first saw it it was like nothing I had ever seen before and the thought that it was made in 1968 blew my mind. This movie is definitely not for everybody, it requires you to think and be open minded and that is exactly what makes me respect it so much.
"Open the pod bay doors, HAL."
– David Bowman (Keir Dullea)
"Still the grandest of all science-fiction movies."
– Owen Gleiberman, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
Stars: Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Exclusive Tribute: by Anthony Frewin, Assistant to Stanley Kubrick, 1965-69 and 1980-99
Credits: 2001 Complete Cast and Crew Credits Published for the First Time
Fast Facts:
2001 began life as the short story The Sentinel, written by Arthur C. Clarke in 1950.
Clarke and Kubrick, who had been introduced by a mutual friend, began collaborating on a screenplay about man and extraterrestrials. Clarke suggested they base it on that story, which detailed a surveying expedition finding an alien artifact buried on the moon.
Clarke later wrote a novel based on the screenplay for 2001, which was released in July 1968, three months after the film’s debut.
After seeing a documentary entitled To the Moon and Beyond at the 1964 New York World’s Fair, Kubrick hired one of its special effects technicians, Douglas Trumbull, to work on 2001.
Although released in Cinerama, 2001 was not shot with three cameras but with one camera on 70mm film with a special anamorphic lens to widen the image.
Dr. Haywood Floyd’s daughter, seen on the videophone asking for a "bush baby," was played by Kubrick’s five-year-old daughter Vivian.
The HAL-9000 computer originally was named Athena and was supposed to have a female voice.
British actor Nigel Davenport and American actor Martin Balsam both recorded HAL’s dialogue before Kubrick eventually settled on Douglas Rain as the computer’s calm, rational voice.
The name HAL is an amalgam of "heuristic" and "algorithmic," the two main processes of learning.
With the exception of two baby chimpanzees, all of the apes in the beginning of the film were played by mimes, dancers and actors in costumes.
All of the "Dawn of Man" scenes, except for "Moonwatcher" demolishing the tapir skeleton with a bone, were shot on an indoor set using an elaborate front projection system created especially for the film.
The main Discovery set was built by aircraft manufacturer Vickers-Armstrong inside a 12-meter by two-meter drum designed to rotate at five km per hour. It cost $750,000.
Composer Alex North, who worked with Kubrick on Spartacus, wrote and recorded 40 minutes of original music that carried the film from the beginning up to the moon expedition. However, Kubrick later decided to use prerecorded classical music for the film.
Kubrick cut 19 minutes from the film’s original 158-minute running time after its New York premiere, mostly to speed up the pacing.
The film cost $10.5 million, a large sum at the time, but grossed over $21 million in its initial release, making it one of the studio’s biggest hits.
Kubrick earned Academy Award® nominations for Best Director and Best Screenplay, and won his only Oscar® for Best Special Visual Effects. The film also received a nomination for Best Art Direction.
2001: A Space Odyssey is a countdown to tomorrow, a road map to human destiny, a quest for the infinite. It is a dazzling, Academy Award®-winning visual achievement, a compelling drama of man vs. machine, a stunning meld of music and motion. It may be the masterwork of director Stanley Kubrick (who co-wrote the screenplay with Arthur C. Clarke)…and it will likely excite, inspire and enthrall for generations.
To begin his voyage into the future, Kubrick visits our prehistoric ape-ancestry past, then leaps millenia (via one of the most mind-blowing jump cuts ever conceived) into colonized space, and ultimately whisks astronaut Bowman (Keir Dullea) into uncharted realms of space, perhaps even into immortality. "Open the pod bay doors, HAL." Let the awe and mystery of a journey unlike any other begin
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6- A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (1971)
(some claim to be one of kubricks best films)
plot: In a futuristic Britain, a gang of teenagers go on the rampage every night, beating and raping helpless victims. After one of the boys quells an uprising in the gang, they knock him out and leave him for the police to find. He agrees to try "aversion therapy" to shorten his jail sentence. When he is eventually let out, he hates violence, but the rest of his gang members are still after him.
Stars: Malcolm McDowell, Patrick Magee, Adrienne Corri, Miriam Karlin
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Fast Facts:
The film is based on the novel A Clockwork Orange, published by Anthony Burgess in 1962.
Burgess based most of the Droogs’ slang on Russian, calling it "nadsat," which is the Russian word for "teen."
When the novel was published in America, the publisher deleted the original final chapter of the book, in which Alex grows up, becomes disenchanted with violence, gets married and has children.
Stanley Kubrick read the American version and persuaded Warner Bros. to buy the rights for $200,000 in 1969.
The nude mannequins in the opening Korova Milkbar scenes were created by sculptress Liz Jones, who also created the Star Child for the ending of 2001: A Space Odyssey.
With only a $2-million budget, Kubrick resorted to many documentary-style techniques during the filming, including recording the sound "live" on the set, shooting with only natural light and using a wheelchair for tight tracking shots.
A Clockwork Orange originally earned an X rating from the Motion Picture Association of America for its sexuality and violence. It became the second X-rated film (after Midnight Cowboy) to earn a Best Picture Academy Award® nomination.
A year after its release, Kubrick replaced thirty seconds of the film in order to get the rating changed to an R.
The film caused a scandal when it was released in England, and was blamed for several deaths and acts of violence. In 1974, Kubrick asked Warner Bros. to remove the film from distribution in England and it was not shown there (legally) again until 2000.
The New York Film Critics named A Clockwork Orange the Best Film of 1971, and Kubrick Best Director. It earned four Oscar® nominations, for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Film Editing.
Stomping, whomping, stealing, singing, tap-dancing, violating. Derby-topped teddy-boy hooligan Alex (Malcolm McDowell) has his own way of having a good time. He has it at the tragic expense of others.
Alex’s journey from amoral punk to brainwashed proper citizen forms the dynamic arc of Stanley Kubrick’s future-shock vision of Anthony Burgess’ novel. Unforgettable images, startling musical counterpoints, the fascinating language used by Alex and his pals — Kubrick shapes them into a shattering whole. Hugely controversial when first released,
A Clockwork Orange won the New York Film Critics Best Picture and Director honors and earned four Academy Award® nominations, including Best Picture. The power of its art is such that it still entices, shocks and holds us in its grasp
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Few filmmakers’ work is so instantly recognizable as that of Stanley Kubrick. Beautiful, precise composition. Elaborate tracking shots. Powerful acting. Deep, thought-provoking themes. Kubrick put his unique stamp and vision on every film he made.
Despite his relatively small output, probably no other director made great films in so many different genres, from science fiction (2001: A Space Odyssey) to war films (Full Metal Jacket), historical drama (Barry Lyndon) to comedy (Dr. Strangelove), horror (The Shining) to psychosexual drama (Eyes Wide Shut).
Kubrick’s influence on the art of filmmaking is matched by only a precious few fellow giants, and his body of work will certainly continue to thrill and intrigue audiences, critics and future filmmakers for years to come.
STANLEY KUBRICK: the uncompromising genius, that changed cinema forever
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BIOGRAPHY:
Stanley Kubrick was born in New York, and was considered intelligent despite poor grades at school. Hoping that a change of scenery would produce better academic performance, Kubrick's father Jack (a physician) sent him in 1940 to Pasadena, California, to stay with his uncle Martin Perveler. Returning to the Bronx in 1941 for his last year of grammar school, there seemed to be little change in his attitude or his results. Hoping to find something to interest his son, Jack introduced Stanley to chess, with the desired result. Kubrick took to the game passionately, and quickly became a skilled player. Chess would become an important device for Kubrick in later years, often as tool for for dealing with recalcitrant actors, but also as an artistic motif in his films.
Jack Kubrick's decision to give his son a camera for his thirteenth birthday would be an even wiser move: Kubrick became an avid photographer, and would often make trips around New York taking photographs which he would develop in a friend's darkroom. After selling an unsolicited photograph to Look Magazine, Kubrick began to associate with their staff photographers, and at the age of seventeen was offered a job as an apprentice photographer.
In the next few years, Kubrick had regular assignments for "Look", and would become a voracious movie-goer. Together with friend Alexander Singer, Kubrick planned a move into film, and in 1950 sank his savings into making the documentary Day of the Fight (1951). This was followed by several short commissioned documentaries (Flying Padre (1951), and _Seafarers, The (1952)_ ), but by attracting investors and hustling chess games in Central Park, Kubrick was able to make Fear and Desire (1953) in California.
Filming this movie was not a happy experience; Kubrick's marriage to high school sweetheart Toba Metz did not survive the shooting. Despite mixed reviews for the film itself, Kubrick received good notices for his obvious directorial talents. Kubrick's next two films Killer's Kiss (1955) and Killing, The (1956) brought him to the attention of Hollywood, and in 1957 directed Kirk Douglas in Paths of Glory (1957). Douglas later called upon Kubrick to take over the production of Spartacus (1960), by some accounts hoping that Kubrick would be daunted by the scale of the project and would thus be accommodating. This was not the case, however: Kubrick took charge of the project, imposing his ideas and standards on the film. Many crewmembers were upset by his style: cinematographer Russell Metty complained to producers that Kubrick was taking over his job. Kubrick's response was to tell him to sit there and do nothing. Metty complied, and ironically was awarded the Academy Award for his cinematography.
Kubrick's next project was to direct Marlon Brando in One-Eyed Jacks (1961), but negotiations broke down and Brando himself ended up directing the film himself. Disenchanted with Hollywood and after another failed marriage, Kubrick moved permanently to England, from where he would make all of his subsequent films. Despite having obtained a pilot's license, Kubrick is rumored to be afraid of flying.
Kubrick's first UK film was Lolita (1962), which was carefully constructed and guided so as to not offend the censorship boards which at the time had the power to severely damage the commercial success of a film. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) was a big risk for Kubrick; before this, "nuclear" was not considered a subject for comedy. Originally written as a drama, Kubrick decided that too many of the ideas he had written were just too funny to be taken seriously. The film's critical and commercial success allowed Kubrick the financial and artistic freedom to work on any project he desired. Around this time, Kubrick's focus diversified and he would always have several projects in various stages of development: "Blue Moon" (a story about Hollywood's first pornographic feature film), "Napoleon" (an epic historical biography, abandoned after studio losses on similar projects), "Wartime Lies" (based on the novel by Louis Begley), and "Rhapsody" (a psycho-sexual thriller).
The next film he completed was a collaboration with sci-fi author Arthur C. Clarke 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) is hailed by many as the best ever made; an instant cult favorite, it has set the standard and tone for many science fiction films that followed. Kubrick followed this with Clockwork Orange, A (1971), which rivaled Lolita (1962) for the controversy it generated - this time not for only for its portrayal of sex, but also of violence. Barry Lyndon (1975) would prove a turning point in both his professional and private lives. His unrelenting demands of commitment and perfection of cast and crew had by now become legendary. Actors would be required to perform dozens of takes with no breaks. Filming a story in Ireland involving military, Kubrick received reports that the IRA had declared him a possible target. Production was promptly moved out of the country, and Kubrick's desire for privacy and security have resulted in him being considered a recluse ever since.
Having turned down directing a sequel to Exorcist, The (1973), Kubrick made his own horror film: Shining, The (1980). Again, rumors circulated of demands made upon actors and crew. Stephen King (whose novel the film was based upon) reportedly didn't like Kubrick's adaptation (indeed, he would later write his own screenplay which was filmed as "Shining, The" (1997) (mini).)
Kubrick's subsequent work has been well spaced: it was seven years before Full Metal Jacket (1987) was released. By this time, Kubrick was married with children and had extensively remodeled his house. Seen by one critic as the dark side to the humanist story of Platoon (1986), Full Metal Jacket (1987) continued Kubrick's legacy of solid critical acclaim, and profit at the box office.
In the 1990s, Kubrick began an on-again/off-again collaboration with Brian Aldiss on a new science fiction film called "Artificial Intelligence (AI)", but progress was very slow, and was backgrounded until special effects technology was up to the standard the Kubrick wanted.
Kubrick returned to his in-development projects, but encountered a number of problems: "Napoleon" was completely dead, and "Wartime Lies" (now called "The Aryan Papers") was abandoned when Steven Spielberg announced he would direct Schindler's List (1993), which covered much of the same material.
While pre-production work on "AI" crawled along, Kubrick combined "Rhapsody" and "Blue Moon" and officially announced his next project as Eyes Wide Shut (1999), starring the then-married Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. After two years of production under unprecedented security and privacy, the film was released to a typically polarized critical and public reception; Kubrick claimed it was his best film to date.
Special effects technology had matured rapidly in the meantime, and Kubrick immediately begain active work on Artificial Intelligence: AI (2001), but tragically suffered a fatal heart attack in his sleep on March 7th, 1999.
After Kubrick's death, Spielberg reveleaed that the two of them were friends that frequently communicated discretely about the art of filmmaking; both had a large degree of mutual respect for each other's work. "AI" was frequently discussed; Kubrick even suggested that Spielberg should direct it as it was more his type of project. Based on this relationship, Spielberg took over as the film's director and completed the last Kubrick project.
How much of Kubrick's vision remains in the finished project -- and what he would think of the film as eventually released -- will be the final great unanswerable mysteries in the life of this talented and private filmmaker.
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Trade mark
[Narration] Nearly all of Kubrick's films contain a narration at some point (2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) contains narration in the screenplay and The Shining (1980) has some sparse title cards).
Adapted every film he made from a novel, excluding his first two films, Killer's Kiss (1955), and Fear and Desire (1953).
Often features shots down the length of tall, parallel walls, e.g. the head in Full Metal Jacket (1987), the maze and hotel coridors in Shining, The (1980) and the computer room in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).
His films have a common theme of dehumanization.
Symmetric image composition and long "zooming out" and/or "zooming in" sequences [zoom].
Constructs three-way conflicts [three-way].
Extreme close-ups of intensely emotional faces [faces].
[114]: often uses the number 114 in serial numbers, eg. - It's the name of the decoder in Dr. Strangelove - It's the Jupiter explorer's "licence plate number" in 2001 - Alex is given "Serum 114" when he undergoes the Ludovico treatment
Bathroom: All of Kubrick's films feature a scene that takes place in a bathroom
Known for his exorbitant shooting ratio and endless takes, he reportedly exposed an incredible 1.3 million feet of film while shooting Shining, The (1980), the release print of which runs for 142 minutes. Thus, he used less than 1% of the exposed film stock, making his shooting ratio an indulgent 102:1 when a ratio of 5 or 10:1 is considered the norm.
Beginning Voice-over - Paths of Glory, A Clockwork Orange, and Dr Strangelove all begin with a voice over, and The Killing features narration.
Involves his wives in his movies. His first wife, Toba Etta Metz Kubrick, was the dialogue director for Stanley's first feature film Fear and Desire (1953). His second wife, Ruth Sobotka Kubrick, was in Killer's Kiss (1955) as a ballet dancer named Iris in a short sequence for which she also did the choreography. Kubrick's third, and final, wife, Christiane Harlan Kubrick, appeared (as Susanne Christian) in Paths of Glory (1957) before she married him as the only female character (a German singing girl) in the movie. She also did some of the now-infamous paintings for Clockwork Orange, A (1971) and some more for Eyes Wide Shut (1999). In addition, her brother, Jan, was Stanley's assistant for Clockwork Orange, A (1971) and the executive producer for all of Kubrick's films starting with Barry Lyndon (1975) and going through Shining, The (1980), Full Metal Jacket (1987) and Eyes Wide Shut (1999). Also, his daughter, Vivian Kubrick, is the little girl who asks for a Bush Baby for her birthday in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).
Almost always uses previously composed music (such as The Blue Danube in 2001 and Beethoven's 9th Symphony for A Clockwork Orange) for his films rather than commissioning an original score to be written.
Almost always shot his films in the standard 1.33:1 ratio. The exceptions were: Spartacus, in Panavision, and 2001: A Space Odyssey, in Cinerama. Much of his films consist of wide-angle shots that give the impression of a wide-screen movie, wide up-and-down as well as wide sideways. From the Killing onward, his films looked increasingly odder, bigger, and more properly viewed from the rows closer to the screen.
His films often story tell about the dark side of human nature.
One of Kubrick's signature shots was "The Glare"--a character's emotional meltdown is depicted by a close-up shot of the actor with his head tilted slightly down, but with his eyes looking up--usually directly into the camera. Examples are the opening shot of Alex in "Clockwork Orange", Jack slowly losing it in "The Shining", Pvt. Pyle going mad in "Full Metal Jacket", Tom Cruise's paranoid thoughts inside the taxicab in "Eyes Wide Shut". Even HAL 9000 has "the glare" in "2001: A Space Odessey".
Uses the first person viewpoint (the character's perspective) at least once in each film. [first-person]
Credits are always a slide show. Kubrick never used rolling credits except for the opening of "The Shining"
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Trivia
Died 666 days before 1 January 2001.
Father-in-law of Philip Hobbs.
Father of Anya Kubrick.
Stepfather of Katharina Kubrick.
Brother-in-law of Jan Harlan.
He wanted to make a film based on Umberto Eco's novel "Foucault's Pendulum" which appeared in 1988. Unfortunately, Eco refused dissatisfied with the filming of his earlier novel Name der Rose, Der (1986) and also because Kubrick wasn't willing to let him write the screenplay himself.
Planned to direct a film called "I Stole 16 Million Dollars" based on thief Willie Sutton. It was to be made by Kirk Douglas's production company Bryna Company but Douglas thought the script was "poorly written". Kubrick tried to get Cary Grant interested which must have proven to be a failure as well. The film ended up never being made.
Wanted to take credit for Dalton Trumbo's screenplay for Spartacus (1960) since Trumbo was blacklisted at the time. Orginally Trumbo was going to use the alias Sam Jackson but so many people knew about him and his alias that they had to figure something else out. Upset at Kubrick's desire to take credit for someone elses work, Kirk Douglas opted to simply credit Trumbo himself. This ended the blacklist.
Often used war, or war like, themes. World War I - Paths of Glory (1957), Cold War - Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964), Vietnam War - Full Metal Jacket (1987). 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) was also said to exist in a nuclear war era and Clockwork Orange, A (1971) seemed to exist in a post apocalyptic era. Spartacus (1960) also had many war themes to it.
Received Luchino Visconti Award in Italy in 1988 for contribution to the cinema.
Was to direct One-Eyed Jacks (1961) but was replaced by Marlon Brando in pre-production.
Rarely gave interviews. Did however appear in a documentary made by his daughter Vivian shot during the making of Shining, The (1980).
Father of Vivian Kubrick.
According to Malcolm McDowell, Kubrick listened to air traffic controllers at Heathrow Airport for long stretches of time, and advised McDowell never to fly.
Refused to talk about his movies on set as he was directing them and never watched them when they were completed.
One of the founders of the Directors Guild of Great Britain.
After reports that "A Clockwork Orange" had inspired real-life gangs of "droogs" in England, and fearing for his safety, Kubrick personally withdrew the film from distribution in the UK, with a proviso that the film was never to be shown in the UK (his adopted homeland) during his lifetime.
His next project, after Eyes Wide Shut (1999), was supposed to be Artificial Intelligence: AI (2001), which was taken over by Steven Spielberg.
Kubrick's dislike of his early film Fear and Desire (1953) is well known. He went out of his way to buy all the prints of it so no one else could see it.
In addition to _Seafarers, The (1952)_ (shot for the Seafarers International Union), Kubrick may have directed another commissioned project in the early fifties, "World Assembly of Youth," for the United Nations, documenting a UN-sponsored gathering in New York City of young people from throughout the world. No copy of the film has been found and it has never been conclusively proven that it even existed in the first place (as with The Seafarers, Kubrick never publicly acknowledged it).
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Personal quotes
"I never learned anything at all in school and didn't read a book of pleasure until I was 19 years old."
"A film is - or should be - more like music than like fiction. It should be a progression of moods and feelings. The theme, what's behind the emotion, the meaning, all that comes later."
"I would not think of quarreling with your interpretation nor offering any other, as I have found it always the best policy to allow the film to speak for itself."
"Anyone who has ever been privileged to direct a film also knows that, although it can be like trying to write 'War and Peace' in a bumper car in an amusement park, when you finally get it right, there are not many joys in life that can equal the feeling."
"Art consists of reshaping life but it does not create life, nor cause life."
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FILMOGRAPHY (every single film he made achieved greeatness)
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1 PATHS OF GLORY (1957)
Stars: Kirk Douglas, Ralph Meeker, Adolphe Menjou, George Macready
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Fast Facts:
Kubrick first read Humphrey Cobb’s 1935 novel Paths of Glory when he was 14.
Cobb based his novel on a true incident that took place in the French army during World War I, when five enlisted men were unfairly executed for mutiny. Years later the men’s families sued the army and won, but were awarded only two francs for damages.
Sidney Howard, the primary screenwriter on Gone with the Wind, adapted the novel into a play, which ran briefly on Broadway in 1935.
In 1956, Kubrick and producer James B. Harris bought the film rights to the novel from Cobb’s widow for $10,000.
Among the actors considered to play Colonel Dax were Richard Burton, James Mason, Gregory Peck and Kirk Douglas, who eventually won the role.
Early drafts of the script contained a happy ending, with Colonel Dax blackmailing General Broulard and freeing the condemned men. However, as filming neared, Kubrick and his collaborators agreed that this would undermine the film’s antiwar message and they returned to the book’s bleak ending.
Although the story takes place in France, the film was shot at the Geiselgasteig Studios near Munich, Germany.
The German girl who sings near the end of the movie was played by a young actress named Susanne Christian, who later married Kubrick.
Safe in their picturesque chateau behind the front lines, the French General Staff passes down a direct order to Colonel Dax (Kirk Douglas): take the Ant Hill at any cost. A blatant suicide mission, the attack is doomed to failure. Covering up their fatal blunder, the Generals order the arrest of three innocent soldiers, charging them with cowardice and mutiny. Dax, a lawyer in civilian life, rises to the men’s defense but soon realizes that, unless he can prove that the Generals were to blame, nothing less than a miracle will save his clients from the firing squad.
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CRITICS:
>A compelling masterpiece from world-class director/writer Stanley Kubrick and screenwriters Calder Willingham and Jim Thompson, Paths of Glory is a blistering indictment of military politics and "an unforgettable movie experience" (Newsweek).
"Wherein have I done wrong?"
– General Broulard (Adolphe Menjou)
"Because you don’t know the answer to that question, I pity you."
– Colonel Dax (Kirk Douglas)
"One of the greatest antiwar films ever made."
– THE MOTION PICTURE GUIDE
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2 SPARTACUS (1960) (that film influnced the make of GLADIATOR)
Stars: Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons, Charles Laughton, Peter Ustinov, John Gavin, Tony Curtis
Director: Stanley Kubrick
plot: The rebellious Thracian Spartacus, born and raised a slave, is sold to Gladiator trainer Batiatus. After weeks of being trained to kill for the arena, Spartacus turns on his owners and leads the other slaves in rebellion. As the rebels move from town to town, their numbers swell as escaped slaves join their ranks. Under the leadership of Spartacus, they make their way to southern Italy, where they will cross the sea and return to their homes. Meanwhile, in Rome, the slave revolt has become a deciding factor in the power struggle between two senators: the republican Gracchus and the militarist Crassus, each of whom sees the fortunes of the rebellion as the key to his own rise to power or humiliating defeat. As the two statesmen attempt to aid, hinder and manipulate the rebels for their own benefit, Spartacus and his followers press on toward freedom.
Fast Facts:
Spartacus was based on a 1952 novel by Howard Fast, detailing a true account of a gladiator who led a slave uprising against Rome in 73 BC.
The script was written by Dalton Trumbo, an Academy Award®-winning screenwriter who had been jailed and blacklisted for refusing to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee in the late 1940s.
Trumbo had written several films using pseudonyms or "fronts" while under the blacklist, but by putting Trumbo’s name on Spartacus, Kirk Douglas and Universal effectively ended the blacklisting practice.
Stanley Kubrick replaced director Anthony Mann (El Cid) after only one week’s shooting.
The film cost $12 million, was shot in 167 days and employed over 10,000 people.
The battle scenes were filmed in Spain, using thousands of soldiers from the Spanish army. However, their battle cries and shouts were actually the sounds of the rooting section at Michigan State University.
The film was nominated for six Academy Awards®, winning for Cinematography, Costume Design, Art Direction and Supporting Actor (Peter Ustinov).
In 1992, Spartacus was restored by acclaimed film restorer Robert A. Harris (with backing from Steven Spielberg, Stanley Kubrick and Universal) at a cost of nearly $1 million.
Harris restored five minutes of footage that had been cut from the initial release print (including the bath scene between Tony Curtis and Laurence Olivier), along with the original overture, entr’acte and exit music.
When Harris restored the famous bath scene between Olivier and Curtis, the sound had to be rerecorded. Since Olivier was dead by then, Oscar® winner Anthony Hopkins (The Silence of the Lambs), known for his dead-on Olivier impersonation, recorded the scene opposite Tony Curtis.
This presentation of the powerful film classic features an additional five minutes of footage cut from the film’s original release, plus the original overture and extended soundtrack. Director Stanley Kubrick tells the tale of Spartacus (Kirk Douglas), the bold gladiator slave, and Varinia (Jean Simmons), the woman who believed in his cause. Challenged by the power-hungry General Crassus (Laurence Olivier), Spartacus is forced to face his convictions and the power of Imperial Rome at its glorious height.
The inspirational true account of man’s eternal struggle for freedom, Spartacus combines history with spectacle to create a moving drama of love and commitment.
CRITICS: "Gladiators don’t make friends. If we’re ever matched in the arena together, I have to kill you."– Draba (Woody Strode)
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3LOLITTA (1962)
plot: Middle-aged novelist Humbert Humbert rents a room in Charlotte Haze's house after he falls passionately in love with her daughter Lolita. There are three slight problems, though - one, Charlotte is madly in love with him (unrequited, needless to say); two, Lolita is only fourteen; three, there's a very peculiar figure by the name of Clare Quilty who keeps popping up in the most unexpected places (and sporting equally unexpected accents), who seems to have a similarly unhealthy interest in Lolita...
Stars: James Mason, Shelley Winters, Peter Sellers, Sue Lyon
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Fast Facts:
Vladimir Nabokov’s controversial, sensational novel Lolita was originally published in France in 1955, making its official U.S. debut three years later.
Kubrick and his producing partner, James B. Harris, purchased the rights to the novel for $150,000, a large amount at that time.
Their first attempt at a screenplay adaptation, written by Calder Willingham, ended with Humbert and Lolita getting married, a concession to the censorship standards at that time.
However, no one liked this ending and Kubrick decided to try to be as faithful to the book as the standards would allow. The major change was to make Lolita a young teenager, older than the twelve-year-old in the book.
Among the actors considered to play Humbert were Laurence Olivier, David Niven and James Mason, who eventually won the part.
Sue Lyon, a 14-year-old actress from Iowa, was cast as Lolita, after Kubrick had looked through photos of over 800 young girls.
Peter Sellers, heavily booked at the time, shot all his scenes as Quilty during 14 days around Christmas of 1960.
The film was a hit when it was released in June of 1962, garnering acclaim for Kubrick’s direction and the performances of James Mason, Peter Sellers and Shelley Winters.
Newly arrived in Ramsdale, New Hampshire, European émigré Humbert Humbert is smitten. He plans to marry Charlotte Haze. That way he’ll always be close to his dear one — Charlotte’s precocious daughter!
Filmmaker Stanley Kubrick explores the theme of sexual obsession (a subject he would revisit 37 years later in Eyes Wide Shut) with this darkly comic and deeply moving version of Vladimir Nabokov’s novel. James Mason plays devious, deluded Humbert: wedded to needy Charlotte (Shelley Winters); rivaled by the ubiquitous Clare Quilty (chameleonlike Peter Sellers); and enraptured to his gelatinous core by the blithe teen (Sue Lyon) with that "lovely, lyrical, lilting name" — Lolita
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4 Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
(A DARK COMEDY, A MASTERPIECE, ONE OF THE GREATS FILMS EVER)
comment: This movie is a masterpiece of it's time. It illustrates (ironically) the madness that was reality. Peter Sellers shines as never before in his roles and adds an outstanding comedic touch to this excellent movie. HILARIOUS COMEDY lol
PLOT: U.S. Air Force Colonel Jack Ripper goes completely and utterly mad, and sends his bomber wing to destroy the U.S.S.R. He suspects that the communists are conspiring to pollute the "precious bodily fluids" of the American people. The U.S. president meets with his advisors, where the Soviet ambassador tells him that if the U.S.S.R. is hit by nuclear weapons, it will trigger a "Doomsday Device" which will destroy all plant and animal life on Earth. Peter Sellers portrays the three men who might avert this tragedy: British Group Captain Lionel Mandrake, the only person with access to the demented Gen. Ripper; U.S. President Merkin Muffley, whose best attempts to divert disaster depend on placating a drunken Soviet Permier and the former Nazi genious Dr. Strangelove, who concludes that "such a device would not be a practical deterrent for reasons which at this moment must be all too obvious". Will the bombers be stopped in time, or will General Jack Ripper succeed in destroying the world ?
Cast:
Peter Sellers .... Capt. Lionel Mandrake/President Merkin Muffley/Dr. Strangelove
George C. Scott .... Gen. 'Buck' Turgidson
Sterling Hayden .... Brig. Gen. Jack D. Ripper
Keenan Wynn .... Col. 'Bat' Guano
Slim Pickens .... Maj. T.J. 'King' Kong
Peter Bull .... Russian Ambassador Alexi de Sadesky
Directed by the great
STANLEY KUBRICK
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critics:
"You can’t fight in here, this is the War Room!"
– President Merkin Muffley (Peter Sellers)
"…(A) brilliant black comedy, which seems better with each passing year."
– Leonard Maltin’s MOVIE & VIDEO GAME
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5 2001: a space odyssey (1968)
(THE best scifi movie of all time, no starwars, no startrek, no nothing)
comment: i have seen a lot of movies in my day..but this is THE ONLY FILM that kept me thinking about it from the day i saw it
plot:This movie is concerned with intelligence as the division between animal and human, then asks a question; what is the next division? Technology is treated as irrelevant to the quest - literally serving as mere vehicles for the human crew, and as a shell for the immature HAL entity. Story told as a montage of impressions, music and impressive and careful attention to subliminal detail. A very influential film and still a class act, even after 25 years.
This movie is concerned with intelligence as the division between animal and human, thenThe monoliths have been watching us. They gave us the "evolutionary kick in the pants" we needed to survive at the Dawn of Time. In 1999, we discovered a second monolith on the moon. Now, in the year 2001, the S.S. Discovery and its crew, Captains Dave Bowman and Frank Poole, and their onboard computer, HAL-9000, must discover what alien force is watching us...
Moon explorers encounter a monolith that points them to a destination near Jupiter. In flashback, we see another size of the monolith playing a key role in human evolution, i.e., we learn how to kill. An expedition is launched to investigate the Jupiter possibility. Two young astronauts and a bunch in suspended animation spend months in space, passing their time partly in communicating with the human-like brain of their ship's computer, HAL. HAL malfunctions and causes the death of all the suspended animation passengers as well as one of the "awake" astronauts; the other one barely survives and figures out how to disable HAL. He arrives alone at the Jupiter destination and undergoes a series of cinematographically confusing experiences that amount to his final appearance on the screen as a giant fetus.
Visually 2001 has (for its time) the best special effects the film world has ever seen. It was (excuse the pun) an astronomical evolutionary jump forward, not only visually but also in way a film flows. It's totally unique; the use of music to propel the awe-inspiring plot and intellectual narrative is quite brilliant. Where as before music was mostly used to control the audience emotions.
Some of the shots and camera work in this film are GENIUS. THE FAMOUS JUMP SHOT, the Leopard with the light reflecting off its retinas as it consumes a dead Zebra. The beautiful space scenes, coupled with just the right use of eerie/spectacular music send shivers of wonder and awe down the spine.
The plot is a great one, I especially love the beginning and indeed the whole back bone of the story which suggests that we as a race did not come to be through just evolution or just divine intervention, BUT BOTH!!! This is the over riding plot in the film which comes to a conclusion in the end. But more on the end later.....
HAL is strangely in my opinion the best character in the film. In that he is the most complex and is the hardest to understand. Did HAL "EVOLVE" into something more than a computer??? And therefore doesn't it seem normal that he would indeed try to protect himself against being shut down my Dave and the others???? I feel the whole story is a superb intellectual battle, between HAL and the humans (which is also a physical battle), HAL and himself (against his programming)......and most importantly the humans fighting with their inner beliefs as they start to gain an insight into where their past and indeed their future originated and originates.
And now the ending, well Kubrick did say in interviews that I have heard that he didn't intend to puzzle people so much with the ending, its just the way it came across. But he was really very pleased that that's what happened. He never let on what he thought the ending meant (One of his prime principles in his films was to let the audience make up their own mind.) In my opinion its really quite simple and beautiful, Dave is transported though hyper space (either through mind or body, its a matter of opinion) then once their in this strange place in space or his mind, keeps seeing the black monolith and every time he touches it he seems to get older, then he finally ceases to hold a human from and his body dies of old age. Transporting him to a higher level of being.
In short no film has made me think and indeed ponder as much as this one. The visuals, music, and narrative are the best I've ever seen. The only fault is the acting, there's nothing bad about it but there's also nothing great about it. Maybe Stan wanted that know who knows>
THIS IS NOT A FILM ITS SOMETHING ELSE, SOMETHING WONDERFUL, THAT I DOUBT WILL EVER BE EXPERIENCED AGAIN.
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i highly recommend you see this site, its INCREDBLE, it explains a lot of things: http://www.kubrick2001.com/
"I tried to create a visual experience, one that bypasses verbalized pigeonholing and directly penetrates the subconscious with an emotional and philosophical content...I intended the film to be an intensely subjective experience that reaches the viewer at an inner level of consciousness, just as music does...You're free to speculate as you wish about the philosophical and allegorical meaning of the film.
" STANLEY KUBRICK
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this is a MUST SEE FILM...this is a great great visual film , that to me, in which i study filmmaking and watched over 1000 of movies..that film in particular, left my mouth wide open b/c of its creativity, its ENDLESS MEANINGS, and how it is so advanced for its time
SEE TRAILER: http://www.turnerclassicmovies.com/Multimedia/Popup/0,,11279|23032,00.html
it took kubrick 5 years to make this film and took the WORLD 35 years to understand it
2001 a space odyssey== the ultimate trip
comments: perhaps one of the most confusing films of all time, but also to others one of the
greatest visual films ever made..the GENIUS STANLEY KUBRICK was behind the invention of this great classic...the film is either LOVED or HATED..you cant take a middle position when you see it and i dare you..
this film was V ERY ADVANCED for its time..it came out in movies in 1968 , and due to its success , it showed up again in cinemas...this is a movie everyone must see\
the music became a famous operatic one too, the score of the film is used in the program
OSCAR that shows up in CH. 2 egypt...its the music of that film
Brilliant, Not for everyone
2001: A Space Odyssey is my favorite film. Although when I first saw it I thought it was boring and the ending truly made no sense to me. Then I read a few explanations and theories on the ending and watched it again and grew to love it. It is my favorite film mainly because when I first saw it it was like nothing I had ever seen before and the thought that it was made in 1968 blew my mind. This movie is definitely not for everybody, it requires you to think and be open minded and that is exactly what makes me respect it so much.
"Open the pod bay doors, HAL."
– David Bowman (Keir Dullea)
"Still the grandest of all science-fiction movies."
– Owen Gleiberman, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
Stars: Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Exclusive Tribute: by Anthony Frewin, Assistant to Stanley Kubrick, 1965-69 and 1980-99
Credits: 2001 Complete Cast and Crew Credits Published for the First Time
Fast Facts:
2001 began life as the short story The Sentinel, written by Arthur C. Clarke in 1950.
Clarke and Kubrick, who had been introduced by a mutual friend, began collaborating on a screenplay about man and extraterrestrials. Clarke suggested they base it on that story, which detailed a surveying expedition finding an alien artifact buried on the moon.
Clarke later wrote a novel based on the screenplay for 2001, which was released in July 1968, three months after the film’s debut.
After seeing a documentary entitled To the Moon and Beyond at the 1964 New York World’s Fair, Kubrick hired one of its special effects technicians, Douglas Trumbull, to work on 2001.
Although released in Cinerama, 2001 was not shot with three cameras but with one camera on 70mm film with a special anamorphic lens to widen the image.
Dr. Haywood Floyd’s daughter, seen on the videophone asking for a "bush baby," was played by Kubrick’s five-year-old daughter Vivian.
The HAL-9000 computer originally was named Athena and was supposed to have a female voice.
British actor Nigel Davenport and American actor Martin Balsam both recorded HAL’s dialogue before Kubrick eventually settled on Douglas Rain as the computer’s calm, rational voice.
The name HAL is an amalgam of "heuristic" and "algorithmic," the two main processes of learning.
With the exception of two baby chimpanzees, all of the apes in the beginning of the film were played by mimes, dancers and actors in costumes.
All of the "Dawn of Man" scenes, except for "Moonwatcher" demolishing the tapir skeleton with a bone, were shot on an indoor set using an elaborate front projection system created especially for the film.
The main Discovery set was built by aircraft manufacturer Vickers-Armstrong inside a 12-meter by two-meter drum designed to rotate at five km per hour. It cost $750,000.
Composer Alex North, who worked with Kubrick on Spartacus, wrote and recorded 40 minutes of original music that carried the film from the beginning up to the moon expedition. However, Kubrick later decided to use prerecorded classical music for the film.
Kubrick cut 19 minutes from the film’s original 158-minute running time after its New York premiere, mostly to speed up the pacing.
The film cost $10.5 million, a large sum at the time, but grossed over $21 million in its initial release, making it one of the studio’s biggest hits.
Kubrick earned Academy Award® nominations for Best Director and Best Screenplay, and won his only Oscar® for Best Special Visual Effects. The film also received a nomination for Best Art Direction.
2001: A Space Odyssey is a countdown to tomorrow, a road map to human destiny, a quest for the infinite. It is a dazzling, Academy Award®-winning visual achievement, a compelling drama of man vs. machine, a stunning meld of music and motion. It may be the masterwork of director Stanley Kubrick (who co-wrote the screenplay with Arthur C. Clarke)…and it will likely excite, inspire and enthrall for generations.
To begin his voyage into the future, Kubrick visits our prehistoric ape-ancestry past, then leaps millenia (via one of the most mind-blowing jump cuts ever conceived) into colonized space, and ultimately whisks astronaut Bowman (Keir Dullea) into uncharted realms of space, perhaps even into immortality. "Open the pod bay doors, HAL." Let the awe and mystery of a journey unlike any other begin
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6- A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (1971)
(some claim to be one of kubricks best films)
plot: In a futuristic Britain, a gang of teenagers go on the rampage every night, beating and raping helpless victims. After one of the boys quells an uprising in the gang, they knock him out and leave him for the police to find. He agrees to try "aversion therapy" to shorten his jail sentence. When he is eventually let out, he hates violence, but the rest of his gang members are still after him.
Stars: Malcolm McDowell, Patrick Magee, Adrienne Corri, Miriam Karlin
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Fast Facts:
The film is based on the novel A Clockwork Orange, published by Anthony Burgess in 1962.
Burgess based most of the Droogs’ slang on Russian, calling it "nadsat," which is the Russian word for "teen."
When the novel was published in America, the publisher deleted the original final chapter of the book, in which Alex grows up, becomes disenchanted with violence, gets married and has children.
Stanley Kubrick read the American version and persuaded Warner Bros. to buy the rights for $200,000 in 1969.
The nude mannequins in the opening Korova Milkbar scenes were created by sculptress Liz Jones, who also created the Star Child for the ending of 2001: A Space Odyssey.
With only a $2-million budget, Kubrick resorted to many documentary-style techniques during the filming, including recording the sound "live" on the set, shooting with only natural light and using a wheelchair for tight tracking shots.
A Clockwork Orange originally earned an X rating from the Motion Picture Association of America for its sexuality and violence. It became the second X-rated film (after Midnight Cowboy) to earn a Best Picture Academy Award® nomination.
A year after its release, Kubrick replaced thirty seconds of the film in order to get the rating changed to an R.
The film caused a scandal when it was released in England, and was blamed for several deaths and acts of violence. In 1974, Kubrick asked Warner Bros. to remove the film from distribution in England and it was not shown there (legally) again until 2000.
The New York Film Critics named A Clockwork Orange the Best Film of 1971, and Kubrick Best Director. It earned four Oscar® nominations, for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Film Editing.
Stomping, whomping, stealing, singing, tap-dancing, violating. Derby-topped teddy-boy hooligan Alex (Malcolm McDowell) has his own way of having a good time. He has it at the tragic expense of others.
Alex’s journey from amoral punk to brainwashed proper citizen forms the dynamic arc of Stanley Kubrick’s future-shock vision of Anthony Burgess’ novel. Unforgettable images, startling musical counterpoints, the fascinating language used by Alex and his pals — Kubrick shapes them into a shattering whole. Hugely controversial when first released,
A Clockwork Orange won the New York Film Critics Best Picture and Director honors and earned four Academy Award® nominations, including Best Picture. The power of its art is such that it still entices, shocks and holds us in its grasp
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T h e G o d f a t h e r
MULHOLLAND DR.
THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST
Stanley Kubrick
Alexander the great moveis
Marlon Brando
T h e G o d f a t h e r
MULHOLLAND DR.
THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST
Stanley Kubrick
Alexander the great moveis
Marlon Brando
