Essential Kubrick, with A-Z

His essential films in year order.

My top 5:
2001: A Space Odyssey
Dr Strangelove
The Shining
Barry Lyndon
Paths of Glory

A-Z

*A.I.Artificial Intelligence* subject of interest to Kubrick, film project taken on by Spielberg
*Actors* given prominence, worked with and on extensively
*Ambition* mastered the combination of art and finance
*Animals*; Kubrick loved his cats and dogs
*Apollo 11* Dark secrets, The Shining
*Autocratic*
*Bathrooms* (+ toilets)
*Chess*, Kubrick love of, The Killing, Lolita, 2001, mix of intuition and calculation
*Classical music*; regular use of pre-recorded classics rather than new scores
*Claustrophobia*
*Cold War*: Dr Strangelove, The Shining
*Commercial success*- rare for such an individualist auteur, hence the control the studios allowed him
*Conformity/Individuality*
*Contrasts*; meticulous realism/flamboyant expressionism, enlightenment/violence (films full of oppositions).....
*Control*- Kubrick expected and had unusual amount of control. Spartacus was a less personal exception
*Couples* under strain, The Killing, Lolita, Barry Lyndon, The Shining, Eyes Wide Shut
*Criticisms* of his work as cold, misanthropic, divorced from reality, of Clockwork Orange (unfairly, though it is brutal) as Fascist.
*Cynicism*
*Demanding* of collaborators, who often found him gruelling
*Details*
*ESP*, a Kubrick interest
*Eyes*
*Family cameos* Kubrick's daughter Viviane, step-daughter Katharina and wife Christiane in several films
*Family* discord, under attack from within or without
*Fantastic elements* e.g The Shining: reincarnation, vampirism, telepathy, second sight, ghosts, Eyes Wide Shut..
*Flying*: Kubrick's fear of..
*Free will*, eg Clockwork Orange
*Front Projection effects*- 2001 (using Scotchlite)
*Freud*, influence of
*Game-playing*
*Geometry*
*Genocide* The Shining
*Genre* range- comedy, sci-fi, war, horror, crime, historical, documentaries...
*Historical fractures*; crisis and fall, world on the brink of collapse
*Home*- where Kubrick's heart was, close to family and career, with editing room, projection room...and rarely travelled.
*Human destiny*; 2001 and Dr Strangelove give wondrous/startling alternatives
*Humour* as a means of exploring the universal neuroses, power structures, bombast..
*Immortality*
*Innovation*, originality, pushing boundaries; important to Kubrick, who consciously avoided genre repetition from one film to the next.
*Irony*, including incongruous use of light pop music
*Isolation* (and of Kubrick's own lifestyle in England)
*Knowledge*; on a vast range of subjects.
*Labyrinth*
*Libertarian*, criticisms of the state
*Lipsett*, Arthur, Canadian avant-garde director admired by Kubrick
*Love and Death*
*Machinery*
*Madness*, delirium..
*Masks*, disguise, play-acting, false appearances, mask-like facial expressions...
*O*; number of directing Oscars
*One-Eyed Jacks*: western on which Brando took over direction
*Ophuls, Max* influence on Kubrick, fluid camera, e.g Paths of Glory
*Order and disorder*
*Names*- absurdity of Strangelove characters, in satirical tradition (e.g Gulliver's Travels)
*Napoleon*; unmade film
*Native American* burial ground setting of The Shining's Overlook Hotel, trampled over by USA
*Natural Lighting*, or the simulation of natural light
*New York* birthplace, 1928
*Nietzsche*, 2001
*Novelistic length*, novels as source
*Nuclear destruction*
*Nudity*- females in The Shining, Eyes Wide Shut, Barry Lyndon, A Clockwork Orange
*Numbers*
*Paintings*, influence on Barry Lyndon (e.g Gainsborough, de la Tour)..
*Parallel Walls*
*Perfectionism*
*Pessimistic* view of humankind? (or hidden optimism)
*Photography*- background and interest in
*Political* mix; not a socialist, New Labourist, communist, anarchist or fascist, but an independent range of liberal and more conservative views.
*Preparation*; multiple takes, rehearsals
*Primitive instincts* of humankind, aggressive, not keeping up with science, misplaced pride in "civilisation"
*Reason/Passion, Rationality/Unconscious*
*Romantic*; an element of grand visionary romantic in Kubrick
*Science* as a danger as well as advance
*Sets*, importance of; vast sets, UK as Vietnam and New York..
*Self-referencing*: films often referring to previous
*Sexuality* marred, anxious, exploitative, aggressive (including rape), cold, deviant, complex..
*Slapstick*, the custard pie fight (that wasn't ) in Dr Strangelove
*Spatial exploration*, as well as space exploration
*Speech* slow mannered delivery
*Steadicam*: The Shining
*Strong colour* schemes: rich warm dangerous reds, cool blues, lush purples..
*Super-technician*, Kubrick wanted to master everything
*Surrealism* elements e.g in Eyes Wide Shut
*Symmetry*: e.g in construction of Clockwork Orange, Barry Lyndon and Eyes Wide Shut (major 18 minute scenes)
*Technology*
*Theatricality*
*Tracking shots*, reverse tracks
*Violence* and the state
*Voice-over*
*War* including in family life, domestic arena
*Writers*- preference for writers/source novelists as collaborators, rather than professional screenwriters
*Zoom* e.g Barry Lyndon

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