Stanley Kubrick

 

A Clockwork orangeKirk Douglas in Paths of gloryPeter Sellers in Dr Strangelove

Biography

Stanley Kubrick


Photo of Stanley Kubrick
Art consists of reshaping life but it does not create life, nor cause life

Remarkable:

Stanley turned down directing a sequel to The Exorcist but decided to direct his own horror film: The Shining.

Born:

July 27, 1928

Died:

March 7, 1999

Stanley was born in New York City (USA). As a child he was encouraged by his father to take up still photography as a hobby. He entered the field by selling amateur photos to New York's Look magazine. Together with a friend, Kubrick planned a move into film, and so he sank his savings into making the documentary Day of the Fight (1951).

Kubrick's first real film of note was Killer's Kiss (1955) followed by the dark picture The Killing (1956). His breakthrough came with the antiwar movie Paths of Glory (1957) and so Stanley was asked to replace Anthony Mann as the director of the high-budget multistar epic Spartacus (1960). But Kubrick was at odds with both the cast (especially Kirk Douglas) and the crew. The experience was so unpleasant that he forsook Hollywood altogether and moved to London (UK), where he was based ever since.

He made a series of classic films: the sexualized and uproariously comic Lolita (1962), the black comedy Dr. Strangelove (1964), the science-fiction classic 2001: A space odyssey (1968), and the violent A clockwork orange (1971). After Barry Lyndon (1975), Kubrick's filmmaking pace slowed extremely. He made only three more films in the next twenty-five years. Kubrick died shortly after completing his final film, Eyes Wide Shut

Academy awards

1988 Nominated Writing for: Full Metal Jacket (1987)
1976 Nominated Director for: Barry Lyndon (1975)
1976 Nominated Picture for: Barry Lyndon (1975)
1976 Nominated Writing, Screenplay for: Barry Lyndon (1975)
1972 Nominated Director for: A clockwork orange (1971)
1972 Nominated Picture for: A clockwork orange (1971)
1972 Nominated Writing for: A clockwork orange (1971)
1969 Won Oscar Best Effects for:2001: A space odyssey(1968)
1969 Nominated Director for:2001: A space odyssey(1968)
1969 Nominated Writing for:2001: A space odyssey(1968)
1965 Nominated Director for: Dr. Strangelove (1964)
1965 Nominated Picture for: Dr. Strangelove (1964)
1965 Nominated Writing for: Dr. Strangelove (1964)

Selected Movies:

 

Kirk Douglas in Spartacus

Trivia

Stanley told a friend of his (R. Lee Ermey, the actor who played the drill instructor in Full Metal Jacket (1987)) that Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman were wrecking his movie Eyes Wide Shut. Ermey: “ He told me it was a piece of shit and that he was disgusted with it and that the critics were going to have him for lunch.”. Source / More (Web)

Kubrick disliked his early film Fear and Desire very much, so he bought all the prints of it so no one else could see it.

Actor Kirk Douglas on Kubrick: “A talented shit” (They made Paths of Glory and Spartacus together). Source / More (Book)

In the year 2001, director Steven Spielberg finished A.I. (based on the short story Supertoys Last All Summer Long by Brian Aldiss), the film that had been Kubrick’s final vision. The movie is dedicated to Kubrick’s memory.

In 1991 Spartacus reappeared in movie theaters, newly edited to restore many scenes that had been cut from the 1960 version because of graphic violence and sex.

Kubrick’s screenplay for an epic film, Napoleon (written in the early 70s), was published on the Internet in 2000, and later withdrawn by the executors of the Kubrick estate.

Kubrick received death threats after the release of Clockwork orange targeting himself and his family. He removed the film from circulation in Britain, with the result that the film was not shown again in Britain until its re-release in 2000, after his death.

Stanley turned down directing a sequel to The Exorcist but decided to direct his own horror film: The Shining.

Bibliography