Stanley Kubrick Biography

Stanley Kubrick biography: Stanley Kubrick quote: “Part of my problem is that I cannot dispel the myths that have somehow accumulated over the years. Somebody writes something, it's completely off the wall, but it gets filed and repeated until everyone believes it. For instance, I've read that I wear a football helmet in the car.” - Stanley Kubrick

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Career Highlights

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Stanley Kubrick Career Overview

Stanley Kubrick’s legend is almost as significant as the work he created. What brought upon these mythic depictions of Kubrick was his lack of interest in the public life. While most directors are responsive to interviews from the press Kubrick rarely responded to the medias inquiries. This lack of public attention of course only lead to the media calling him a recluse, a megalomanic and even crazy. One report accused Stanley of shooting a fan on his property and shooting him again for bleeding on his lawn. But why have these stories become part of the mythos of Stanley Kubrick? Is it purely by reputation? Or are a majority of these stories true? An easy way is to dissect these myth’s are to analyze the work that the man has created.


Early Works

Stanley began his career as a photographer for the popular magazine “Look” in 1946 covering a variety of subjects including jazz and boxing. It was during his stint at “Look” when Kubrick turned to film and began work on his first project entitled “Day at the Fight” based upon the boxing matches he covered at “Look” magazine. His passion for photography moved to cinematography where Stanley began making short form documentaries for cash. Looking to finance his first feature his father Jacques Kubrick cashed in his life insurance to help Stanley produce his first feature. This film gained Stanley recognition among producers including James B. Harris who would help Stanley produce several of his upcoming projects.

If there were a sign to Kubrick’s “madness” it would be that he was a perfectionist in truest since of the word. In Kubrick’s 1956 film “The Killing”, cinematographer Lucien Ballard was about to shoot a scene that required a long dolly shot. Stanley had initially set the camera mount up and Lucien changed the rig without Kubrick’s permission. Upon seeing the setup was different than initially planned Kubrick asked why he did it. Lucien responded that it would be the same effect but would be easier for him to manipulate the camera. Hearing this Stanley replied very quietly, “Move the camera back to where it was with the same lens. If you have a problem with that, then leave my set.” There was never any issues after that altercation.

Kubrick’s next work was “Paths of Glory”, a World War I production staring Kirk Douglas. His work with “Paths of Glory” lead him to direct the epic “Spartacus” under Douglas’ insistence to the studio heads. Douglas also was a producer on the film which lead to Kirk and Stanley butting heads several times over the production. It was the only film in which Kubrick did not receive a writing credit and was later quoted as saying that he would never again create a film without final cut.


Lolita and Strangelove

Kubrick’s next two projects would be some of his most controversial works. “Lolita” based on Vladmir Nabokav’s “obscene” novel of the same title was thought to be almost impossible to film. The subject matter intrigued Kubrick and knowing that the film could not be shot in accordance to the source material Stanley hired Nabokav to work on the screenplay. This film also put Kubrick in touch with comedian Peter Sellers who Stanley would hire for his next project. Upon release of “Lolita” the Catholic Censor Board banned the film in many parts of the country. Although the film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, a majority of the film was cut out leaving most of the sensitive subject matter up to viewer interpretation.

His next project however “Dr. Stangelove” was a complete turn from “Lolita”. Filmed during the height of the Cold War “Dr. Stangelove” was a comedy based upon nuclear disaster. Again, it was Kubrick’s attention to detail that made the film stand out including meticulous set design and lighting. His research for the project was also extremely demanding with Kubrick reading over fifty books on nuclear war. Renowned satirist Terry Southern was hired to help co-write the feature and the picture began shooting with Sellers playing four of the principal roles, later having to bow out of playing Major Kong due to an injury.

On set George C. Scott was known to but heads with Kubrick who was only a months younger than he was. But during their down time the two would play chess, a game in which Stanley used to hustle in Washington Square park in New York. Stanley always won, but it was the way for the two stop their squabbling and take out their aggressions. The game of chess seems to be an easy analogy for most people who knew Stanley to describe his particular mindset. Calculating, precise, and cautious it was these descriptions that seem to define Kubrick to those who knew him well.


2001 and Beyond

With Kubricks next project “2001: A Space Odyssey”, Kubrick was allowed total freedom to choose and create his next project. With total freedom at his command there was a shift in the amount of time it took Kubrick to develop his projects. What originally took several months to shoot now expanded into years in production. With this unlimited freedom Kubrick’s now famous eccentric behavior began to reach the public.
Teaming up with Arthur C. Clarke, who wrote “The Sentinel” the original short story in which “2001” is based, Kubrick’s cinematic language came to full force with “2001”. With no dialogue until the first twenty minutes, using a score based on already created classical music, and silence scattered throughout Kubrick pushed the limits of the science fiction genre as well as his crew who work tirelessly to appease his demanding tastes. In particular the “star gate” sequence which made many of his crew never want to work in cinema again. The film took two years to make and Kubrick was editing the project all the way up to the opening night premiere.

Kubrick’s next project was “A Clockwork Orange” based on the novel by Anthony Burgess. Although not as technically savvy as “2001” by any means the film caused a major stir after it was released. Again Kubrick had full control over the project having a total production schedule of close to three years. A majority of the work done on “A Clockwork Orange” was in pre-production with Kubrick taking photographs of parts of London to use in the film and even taking still shots of actors wearing their wardrobe to decide on which outfit worked best. The actual production of the film on set was Kubrick’s quickest in his entire filmography.

The film tackles hard issues, in particular the rape sequence with Alex and his gang of “droogs” ram shackling most of London. “A Clockwork Orange” was a very big success for Warner Brothers, their marketing campaign was also designed by Kubrick which again shows his persistence in achieving exactly what he wanted for the film. But the film’s groundbreaking subject matter took a hit after copy cat crimes from the film were reported in British newspapers. With Stanley never responding to the press the media attacked him for not taking action so he asked Warner Brothers to pull the picture from England. Warner Brothers obliged and the film was not seen in Britain for close to 27 years.

His next project seemed to be a complete shock to those who witnessed Kubricks “A Clockwork Orange”. “Barry Lyndon” was a period piece based on William Thackeray’s 1844 novel “The Luck of Barry Lyndon”. This film is another prime example of how Kubrick’s perfectionist attitude made many people on set have grief. Kubrick insisted on using only natural light throughout the production with many scenes using candles as the main source of light in the scene. To achieve the effect he wanted Stanley made a special camera with the lowest F-stop on a motion picture camera so that the candles in the scene would illuminate the entire frame.

Not only were candles a main concern but in many of the scenes lights pour through windows and cracks, and the scenic landscapes gush with vibrant color. Kubrick also used a zoom lens for a majority of his shots which gives the film a flat dimension reminiscent of classical paintings. The shooting schedule for the film was three hundred days and was shot in Ireland and England.

“I have a wife, three children, three dogs, seven cats. I'm not a Franz Kafka sitting alone and suffering.”


Kubrick's Later Works

After directing “Barry Lyndon” Kubrick was met with harsh critical response to his film. Although the movie won four Academy Awards it failed to meet any box office ambitions the studio was hoping for. His next project was “The Shining” based on the Stephen King novel. It was with this film that he was hoping the achieve both critical and box office success.

During the filming of “The Shining” Kubrick was again very demanding of his actors. Kubrick was especially harsh on Shelly Duvall who had to do over seventy takes of one scene just to appease the director. Also, the actor Scatman Crothers was forced to do 120 takes of the scene where he “shines” in his bedroom. The actual shooting of the production was intense as well, Kubrick shot and developed over a million feet of film. The film runs at 142 minutes meaning that he only used 1% of the total footage used in the final product.

The film was mixed critically upon its release. Although it did well enough at the box office returning the studios initial investment plus an additional twenty two million in revenue. Stephen King has been reported to say that he was not happy with the over all piece. Kubrick during the making of the film also called Stephen often during the middle of the night to ask him bizarre questions.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x98qcNZ8Fz0

After “The Shining” Kubrick’s next project would be the Vietnam film “Full Metal Jacket”. It would be a total of seven years from the release of “The Shining” to the release of “Full Metal Jacket”. Kubrick wanted to make a “Vietnam” film, but his relentless pre-production mentality caused the film to become delayed. Part of this was due to Kubrick announcing in US papers that any actor who wanted to audition could send him a video tape to try and be in the film. Vincent D’Onofrio who played the role of “Pyle” gained seventy pounds to help portray his character in the film. Thousands jumped on the opportunity like D’Onofrio did, and here is an example of some of the auditions that came in through the mail.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGyAYkUNosM

Because of the long production of a “Full Metal Jacket” several other films were created about Vietnam including Oliver Stone’s “Platoon” which won Best Picture the same year “Full Metal Jacket” was up for contention. It would be another twelve years until Kubrick released his next film “Eyes Wide Shut.” But during this time Kubrick had been working on a film about the Holocaust entitled “The Aryan Papers”. The script had been completed but during Kubricks pre-production planning Steven Spielberg released “Schindler’s List” and Kubrick pulled the project. Kubrick had also began work on the film “A.I.: Artificial Intelligence” but shelved it because technology had not been up to speed for what he wanted to film. He eventually handed over the project to Spielberg figuring that it would be a film more to his technical expertise.

Before the release of “Eyes Wide Shut” Stanley Kubrick passed away in his home in England on March 7th, 1999. The film had been edited and waiting to be released by the time of his death and friends and family said that he was happy with the end result. His daughters had even said that Kubrick was willing to meet with members of the press to discuss his latest film and his career but his unexpected death put that to a halt. The film received favorable reviews but many people saw the film to be too slow and daunting. But other critics thought it to be standard Kubrick at its finest. Stanley Kubrick was 70 years old when he died.

So, although there had been myths about this legendary director and his eccentric behaviors the one thing that anyone can look back at is the films themselves. Martin Scorsese has been quoted to say that, “One of his films equals ten of other peoples.” It was his eye for detail that has made his films memorable and his persistence of perfection that made his myth grow.

For those who still think of a deranged egomaniac sitting in the directors chair, I offer this speech that Kubrick give to the Directors Guild of America upon receiving the D.W. Griffith award for Lifetime Achievement.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3p1T3sVX4EY

Also, here is a great BBC documentary about Kubrick’s many “boxes” which contain thousands of pictures and documents for research in his films.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5739282975440441779

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