7th March, 1999, saw the death of Stanley Kubrick...
15 years ago today, 7th March 1999, the great auteur Stanley Kubrick died, aged 70. The man’s work will always be regarded as some of the most influential in the world of cinema of all time. He never seemed to make an easy film, a film that clearly followed the Hollywood formula, he always pushed the audience to their limits. Kubrick’s first film Day of the Fight (1951) was financed by him, he also directed, shot, edited and even acted in the film, an inspiration for any budding filmmaker. The film showed immediately that he had a knack for telling a story as well as showing us his ability to adapt the ‘rules’ for cinema, giving us a prelude to his future filmmaking.
My first introduction to Kubrick was A Clockwork Orange (1971). The film was met with much controversy worldwide. It was suggested that the macabre subject matter was relevant in some murder cases, leading to Kubrick asking Warner Bros. to remove it from the UK. Regarding the accusations he stated that,
‘To try and fasten any responsibility on art as the cause of life seems to me to put the case the wrong way around. Art consists of reshaping life, but it does not create life, nor cause life.’
(Paul Duncan: Stanley Kubrick: The Complete Films p.136, Taschen GmbH, 2003)
This is apparent in many of Kubrick’s films, as is his desire to wow the audience with his cinematography and camera tricks. Kubrick worked with John Alcott in some of his major films including 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, Barry Lyndon and The Shining. The two of them pushed the limits of the film camera and set design, making some of the most iconic scenes in cinema history. The scene in 2001 jumps out to me, the one in which Dr. Frank Poole seems as if he is running around the spaceship. There is no use of green screen or computer technology in this film, it is the clever camera work and the ingenious set built by hand that makes this scene come alive.
There is no doubt for me that Kubrick is one of the best directors that Western cinema has seen. It is because of him that I have such a love of film and therefore it is a good day to sit back, enjoy some of his great films and remember the great man.
by Russell Farnham
I completely agree with Kubrick’s comments here, but also for me felt as if A Clockwork Orange did ‘reshape’ my view of cinema and opened my eyes to what film could be. The use of editing, sound, lighting and mise-en-scène enforced the subject matter upon the viewer. For me, there is no way that the film would have been met with as much controversy if it wasn’t made in such a breathtaking way. For example, the homage to Sergei Eisenstein in the Beethoven’s 9th scene, not only is a piece of cinematic genius but alludes to a religious statement in such a subtle way that the untrained eye could miss it. It was this ability to make such suggestions that made me a Kubrick fan.
