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"One man writes a novel. One man writes a symphony. It is essential that one man make a film." That quote, attributed to writer-director-producer Stanley Kubrick, reflects an artistic autonomy that was rarely granted to filmmakers who move beyond the world of independent filmmaking to the pressures of major studio productions. Kubrick's international reputation as a cinematic genius, however, built to such a peak that the studios eventually allowed him full control over his films, from initial planning through post-production. He responded with a body of work that is instantly identifiable by its imaginative, seemingly intuitive handling of powerful, often difficult themes and the beauty and precision of its imagery.
Kubrick (1928-1999) was born in the Bronx in New York City, the son of a physician who introduced him to chess and photography as a means of stimulating the boy's intellect and thereby helping him achieve better grades in school. Both interests served Kubrick well; chess would become a lifelong preoccupation and provide an artistic motif in his films, while his photographic skills earned him a job as an apprentice with Look magazine while he was still in high school. Kubrick's first film as director, a 16-minute documentary called Day of the Fight (1951), was developed from a photo essay he did for Look and concerns a day in the life of Walter Carrier, a middleweight Irish boxer.
After two more short documentaries Kubrick used money earned in hustling chess games in Central Park and wheedled from relatives to make his first feature film, Fear and Desire (1953), which focuses on a fictitious war. Making the movie in California was an unhappy experience; Kubrick's marriage to high school sweetheart Toba Metz fell apart during filming. However, Kubrick did manage to get the film booked in art-house theaters in New York, where his direction received some critical praise.
Becoming one of the first independent filmmakers, Kubrick next directed two low-budget crime thrillers, Killer's Kiss (1955) and The Killing (1956), that were distributed by United Artists. Kubrick's second wife, Ruth Sobotka, has a small role as a ballerina in Killer's Kiss. They were divorced in 1957.
As he had with Fear and Desire, Kubrick served as his own cinematographer and film editor on Killer's Kiss, co-writing both films with Howard Sackler. Frank Silvera stars in Killer's Kiss as a sadistic dance-hall operator who resorts to murder when one of his girls becomes involved with a prizefighter. The film's gritty film noir atmosphere has been acknowledged as an influence on such directors as Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino.
The Killing, the story of a racetrack robbery gone wrong, afforded Kubrick his first cast of actors with recognizable names and solid credentials: Sterling Hayden, Coleen Gray, Marie Windsor, Elisha Cook, Jr., Vince Edwards and Jay C. Flippen. An array of colorful character actors filled out the minor roles. Again, the form was classic film noir, although Kubrick lent his own signature touches -- a splintered time frame and distinctive photography (by Lucien Ballard) with the emphasis on long takes and tracking shots.
Next came Kubrick's first major studio film, Paths of Glory (1957), produced by United Artists. This powerful anti-war film stars Kirk Douglas as a French colonel in World War I who is ordered by his superiors to lead his men on what is sure to be a suicidal mission, then is faced with defending three soldiers who may be executed for their "cowardice." In 1958 he took a third wife, Christiane, who appears as the German singer in Paths of Glory. They remained married until his death.
After Douglas clashed with director Anthony Mann during the early filming of Spartacus (1960), Kubrick was brought in at the producer/star's request to take over the direction of this $12 million production about a slave revolt against the ancient Roman Empire. Termed "the thinking man's epic," the film reflects Kubrick's sweeping imagination and vivid attention to detail, although he reportedly was not pleased with the final product. Spartacus marked a turning point for Kubrick because it made him resolve never again to make a film over which he did not have complete control.
Kubrick's first foray into dark comedy was Lolita (1962), his adaptation of the Vladimir Nabokov novel about a love affair between a middle-aged man (James Mason) and a nymphet (Sue Lyon). The director's use of black humor was even more startling in Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964). An account of a lunatic general who launches a nuclear attack against Soviet Russia, this wildly original film manages to be both hilarious and disturbing.
Kubrick's imagination soared again with 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), which is structured like a symphony and composed of four "movements" ranging from the Dawn of Man to the Technological Age and beyond. Billed as "the ultimate trip," this meditation on man's relationship to his universe became one of the most controversial -- and popular -- films of the late 1960s.
Kubrick continued to add luster to his reputation as a uniquely gifted filmmaker with such films as A Clockwork Orange (1971), adapted from Anthony Burgess' shocking novel about a futuristic punk (Malcolm McDowell) who indulges in "ultraviolence"; Barry Lyndon (1975), based on the Thackeray novel about an 18th-century rogue; The ShiningFull Metal Jacket (1987), a grueling anti-war film which follows a group of Marine volunteers from boot-camp training to service in Vietnam. Eyes Wide Shut (1999), a psychosexual drama starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, became the first Kubrick movie to open No. 1 at the box office. Kubrick died within a week of completing that film's final edit.
Kubrick's only Oscar® came for the spectacular visual effects of 2001: A Space Odyssey. He also was nominated for his direction of Dr. Strangelove, 2001, A Clockwork Orange and Barry Lyndon; and for the screenplays of all those films plus Full Metal Jacket. In addition, Best Picture nominations went to Dr. Strangelove, A Clockwork Orange and Barry Lyndon.
by Roger Fristoe
Kubrick (1928-1999) was born in the Bronx in New York City, the son of a physician who introduced him to chess and photography as a means of stimulating the boy's intellect and thereby helping him achieve better grades in school. Both interests served Kubrick well; chess would become a lifelong preoccupation and provide an artistic motif in his films, while his photographic skills earned him a job as an apprentice with Look magazine while he was still in high school. Kubrick's first film as director, a 16-minute documentary called Day of the Fight (1951), was developed from a photo essay he did for Look and concerns a day in the life of Walter Carrier, a middleweight Irish boxer.
After two more short documentaries Kubrick used money earned in hustling chess games in Central Park and wheedled from relatives to make his first feature film, Fear and Desire (1953), which focuses on a fictitious war. Making the movie in California was an unhappy experience; Kubrick's marriage to high school sweetheart Toba Metz fell apart during filming. However, Kubrick did manage to get the film booked in art-house theaters in New York, where his direction received some critical praise.
Becoming one of the first independent filmmakers, Kubrick next directed two low-budget crime thrillers, Killer's Kiss (1955) and The Killing (1956), that were distributed by United Artists. Kubrick's second wife, Ruth Sobotka, has a small role as a ballerina in Killer's Kiss. They were divorced in 1957.
As he had with Fear and Desire, Kubrick served as his own cinematographer and film editor on Killer's Kiss, co-writing both films with Howard Sackler. Frank Silvera stars in Killer's Kiss as a sadistic dance-hall operator who resorts to murder when one of his girls becomes involved with a prizefighter. The film's gritty film noir atmosphere has been acknowledged as an influence on such directors as Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino.
The Killing, the story of a racetrack robbery gone wrong, afforded Kubrick his first cast of actors with recognizable names and solid credentials: Sterling Hayden, Coleen Gray, Marie Windsor, Elisha Cook, Jr., Vince Edwards and Jay C. Flippen. An array of colorful character actors filled out the minor roles. Again, the form was classic film noir, although Kubrick lent his own signature touches -- a splintered time frame and distinctive photography (by Lucien Ballard) with the emphasis on long takes and tracking shots.
Next came Kubrick's first major studio film, Paths of Glory (1957), produced by United Artists. This powerful anti-war film stars Kirk Douglas as a French colonel in World War I who is ordered by his superiors to lead his men on what is sure to be a suicidal mission, then is faced with defending three soldiers who may be executed for their "cowardice." In 1958 he took a third wife, Christiane, who appears as the German singer in Paths of Glory. They remained married until his death.
After Douglas clashed with director Anthony Mann during the early filming of Spartacus (1960), Kubrick was brought in at the producer/star's request to take over the direction of this $12 million production about a slave revolt against the ancient Roman Empire. Termed "the thinking man's epic," the film reflects Kubrick's sweeping imagination and vivid attention to detail, although he reportedly was not pleased with the final product. Spartacus marked a turning point for Kubrick because it made him resolve never again to make a film over which he did not have complete control.
Kubrick's first foray into dark comedy was Lolita (1962), his adaptation of the Vladimir Nabokov novel about a love affair between a middle-aged man (James Mason) and a nymphet (Sue Lyon). The director's use of black humor was even more startling in Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964). An account of a lunatic general who launches a nuclear attack against Soviet Russia, this wildly original film manages to be both hilarious and disturbing.
Kubrick's imagination soared again with 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), which is structured like a symphony and composed of four "movements" ranging from the Dawn of Man to the Technological Age and beyond. Billed as "the ultimate trip," this meditation on man's relationship to his universe became one of the most controversial -- and popular -- films of the late 1960s.
Kubrick continued to add luster to his reputation as a uniquely gifted filmmaker with such films as A Clockwork Orange (1971), adapted from Anthony Burgess' shocking novel about a futuristic punk (Malcolm McDowell) who indulges in "ultraviolence"; Barry Lyndon (1975), based on the Thackeray novel about an 18th-century rogue; The ShiningFull Metal Jacket (1987), a grueling anti-war film which follows a group of Marine volunteers from boot-camp training to service in Vietnam. Eyes Wide Shut (1999), a psychosexual drama starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, became the first Kubrick movie to open No. 1 at the box office. Kubrick died within a week of completing that film's final edit.
Kubrick's only Oscar® came for the spectacular visual effects of 2001: A Space Odyssey. He also was nominated for his direction of Dr. Strangelove, 2001, A Clockwork Orange and Barry Lyndon; and for the screenplays of all those films plus Full Metal Jacket. In addition, Best Picture nominations went to Dr. Strangelove, A Clockwork Orange and Barry Lyndon.
by Roger Fristoe