“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”
-Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick was born July 26, 1928 in New York. He attended school in New York and though he received poor grades he was considered intelligent. His father Jack Kubrick, gave him a camera for his thirteenth birthday. Stanley became an avid photographer, and would often make trips around New York taking photographs. 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 became a avid movie-goer. In 1950 he gave all of his money into making the documentary Day of the Flight (1951). This was followed by several short commissioned documentaries. By attracting investors Kubrick was able to make Fear and Desire (1953) in California. This was his first featured film.
Kubrick’s next two films Killer’s Kiss (1955) and The Killing (1956) brought him to the attention of Hollywood. In 1957 Kubrick directed Kirk Douglas in Paths of Glory and took over production of Spartacus in 1960.
After grabbing the attention of Hollywood Kubrick soon produced his first UK film. Lolita (1962) was carefully constructed and guided so as to not offend the censorship boards, which as the time had the power to hurt the commercial success of a film.
One of the next films he completed was collaboration with sci-fi author Arthur C. Clarke. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) is hailed by many as the best ever made. A Space Odyssey set the standard and tone for many science fiction films that followed. Kubrick followed this with one of his most well known films A Clockwork Orange (1971), which rivaled Lolita (1962) “for the controversy it generated – this time not only for its portrayal of sex, but also of violence” (IMDb).
Having turned down directing a sequel to The Exorcist (1973), Kubrick made his own horror film: The Shining (1980) (not to be confused with Stephen King’s own screenplay The Shining (1997).)
Kubrick’s subsequent work included Full Metal Jacket (1987) and Eyes Wide Shut (1999), starring the then-married Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. Kubrick claimed it was his best film to date.
In the 1990’s, 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. As time progressed special effects technology had matured rapidly, and Kubrick began work on Artificial Intelligence: AI (2001).
Kubrick tragically suffered a fatal heart attack in his sleep on March 7th, 1999. After Kubrick's death, Spielberg revealed that the two of them were friends. They both had a large degree of mutual respect for each other's work. "AI" the last film Kubrick was working on before he passed away was frequently discussed; Kubrick even suggested that Spielberg should direct it as it was more his type of project. Based on their close relationship, Spielberg took over as the film's director and completed the last Kubrick project.
There are many trademark’s that can be noted within Kubrick’s films. Nearly all of his 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. He often featured shots down the length of tall, parallel walls, for example, the head in Full Metal Jacket, the maze and hotel corridors in The Shining and the computer room in 2001: A Space Odyssey. His films have a common theme of dehumanization. They often tell about the dark side of human nature. His films often had an undercurrent of Dark humor. He has symmetric image composition and long “zooming out” and/or “zooming in” sequences. He also incorporates extreme close-ups of intensely emotional faces. Almost all of Kubrick’s films feature a pivotal scene that takes place in the bathroom.
Throughout his carrier Kubrick had thirteen feature films and three short documentaries. Film Technique by Vsevolod Illarionovich Pudovkin, Stanislavsky Directs by Nikolai M. Gorchakov and Aspects of the Novel by E.M. Forster are books that Kubrick has recommended or expressed admiration for (Stanley).
