"If It Can Be Written, Or Thought, It Can Be Filmed"

I haven't posted a word-heavy blog in a long while but there are two reasons. One, I have been working a lot and haven't really had time to write anything, but more importantly, two, in my spare time I have been going to the effort to watch the genius of Stanley Kubrick, as I realised a few weeks back I hadn't actually seen many of his films, even though I was fascinated by him. So a week went by and I managed to watch 6 of his feature films, starting from as early as 1956, a documentary, and also read the book Life In Pictures by his wife Christiane. But first, before I get into the films, here is a little about the man himself.

In his early years, Kubrick started as a photographer, getting himself an apprenticeship with Look magazine. While also doing this, he managed to "hustle" local chess clubs to gain scraps of money before later on going into movies, started by filming three short documentary subjects. These were Day Of The Flight, Flying Padre and The Seafarers (all of which I will try and watch for a later Kubrick blog). His photography clearly helped in his later films, which showed perfectionism and some of the most incredible imagery ever created. His first two feature films, Fear and Desire and Killer's Kiss, got him noticed among the film industry, but the first of his that I watched was the 1956 crime heist movie, The Killing.

The Killing, 1956

The Killing was actually the last film of the week I watched but one of the most enjoyable and exciting. The Killing sees a group of men try and steal up to $2million from a race track, with a less-than-easy plan. And they have to do it while the femme fatale of the story, brilliantly played by Marie Windsor, tries to get in on the action. It's a classic storyline, and the non-linear structure has become a staple of modern day cinema, clearly influencing Tarantino in his films Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, but the most enjoyable thing about this movie is the excellent camera movements and shots that show Stanley Kubrick was special from the start. His extensive tracking shots that really get the pace going early on, to his clever use of mirrors in the chess club scene really show his perfectionist attitude towards filmmaking. Kubrick was known for re-takes over and over again to get things right, but if they produce shots like these then I don't think anyone should complain. The lead in The Killing, perfectly played by the stern Sterling Hayden, later played a role in Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove, which I will get onto soon, after talking about Kubrick's next movie, a World War One film.

Paths Of Glory, 1957

Like The Killing, Paths Of Glory was adapted from a novel, this time of the same name, which became a trademark for Kubrick. All his films apart from his first two and 2001: A Space Odyssey where adaptations. Paths Of Glory takes place mainly in the French trenches at World War One. Kubrick's innovative tracking shots really work in this film, showing the long, muddy trenches and also the large battlefields where many were gunned down. Kirk Douglas, an actor who Kubrick went on to work with again in Spartacus, really shines in this role and doesn't hold anything back, with my favourite shot a long track of Col. Dax walking through his troops, not once flinching at the explosions around him. The film carries on, as Col. Dax realises that a whole wave of soldiers hasn't gone forward in a planned attack. Realising this, Brig. Gen. Paul Mireau (George Macready) decides to execute soldiers in order to teach them a lesson. It's a brutal story telling film, and was on of the first to really show how bad the war really was. Trust it to be Stanley Kubrick to be the first at doing that.

Dr. Strangelove, Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love The Bomb, 1964

After Paths Of Glory, Kubrick went on to make Oscar winning films Spartacus and Lolita, but I did not manage to watch these two in my Kubrick week. Instead, the next film in line was his dark, war comedy, Dr. Strangelove. Peter Sellers was a well-known comedic actor, and he had already played a part in a Kubrick film in Lolita, so Stanley knew what he was going to get when he cast him in three roles (originally four) in this. Sellers plays Captain Lionel Mandrake, President Merkin Muffley and the title role of crazy German-born scientist, Dr. Strangelove, with his alien hand. The film starts off slow, and kicks in when General Jack D. Ripper (Sterling Hayden) decides to initiate an attack on the Soviet with nuclear weapons as he is paranoid about a certain Communist conspiracy. Not wanting a nuclear war and a doomsday, it's down to the President and his men to try and stop the attack from happening. It is a brilliantly made and written piece of film, but it wasn't constantly laugh out loud funny. There are moments, especially with Strangelove himself, that really do get a tickle out of you, and some clever visual gags near the start of the film. My favourite part of the film was the very end though, with a hilarious line and gag to end on before the credits suddenly role. Kubrick seems to have a knack for making the last line of the film stay in your mind, but I won't ruin it for people who should see this.

A Clockwork Orange, 1971

Known around the world for being one of the most controversial films ever made, Kubrick had to pull this film from theatres in England due to his family receiving death threats. Many years later, everyone had seen it and now it has become a cult classic, with the iconic imagery of the four droogs walking around causing havoc in a dystopian and futuristic Britain. While watching the documentary Stanley Kubrick's Boxes I really began to get a sense of how much he worked on a movie before getting to the finished product. For example, Kubrick took hundreds of photographs of two of the droogs wearing different hats, just to get the right image in the film he wanted of a gang of thugs who's favourite pasttimes are violence and rape. Going on from this, in the film Eyes Wide Shut, which I will review soon, he got his photographer to take pictures of hundreds of doors for one very short scene. Even more amazing is that even after all the hundreds of doors were photographed, Kubrick went on to creating a set anyway, for a scene that lasts about five seconds. Some say his reclusive behaviour and his perfectionist nature are often reflected in his films, and some of the carefully planned shots in A Clockwork Orange do show that. Kubrick was never afraid to be controversial, leaving nothing out from the novel of the same name, and this is probably why his family received those death threats. The infamous "Singin' In The Rain" scene still makes me uneasy every time I hear the song, the use of Beethoven really showed Kubrick's fascination with classical music and the iconic imagery will be worn by people, many who have probably never even seen the film.

The Shining, 1980

One of Stanley Kubrick's most famous films, The Shining sees Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) take his family of three up to a large, secluded hotel in order to be the caretakers in off-season. Many people know this film for it's one very famous shot and line ("Here's Johnny!") while others can see Kubrick's delicate filmmaking stamp printed all over. With the large hallways and huge areas to work in, Kubrick had a field day with all his tracking and dolly shots that shine all the way through this film. There isn't too much I can say on this film that everyone doesn't already know. Some trivia? Danny Lloyd never knew he was actually in a horror film until four years after filming. He

thought it was a drama. The scene with him seeing the twins was edited, and Kubrick just told him to look down an empty hallway scared. As a horror film, there aren't many "jumpy" moments which is all audiences seem to crave nowadays in horror, but instead, just eerie moments that make you uneasy as much as possible. The music, the over-the-top acting (which Kubrick insisted on) and the storyline itself, all play a huge part in why this is one of the greatest horror films. Even though I said no properly scary moments, what's inside room 237 is terrifying.

Eyes Wide Shut, 1999

This is the last film I watched in my Kubrick marathon and the last film he ever made, when he died, four days after showing a screening to his family and friends, of a heart attack in his sleep. While Eyes Wide Shut is a slow burner, once it gets into a flow it's impossible to stop watching. Before watching I thought I'd be distracted from the big Hollywood talent of Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman on screen, but as the film progressed I just lost myself. Even though I got lost in the film, I actually think Eyes Wide Shut is my least favourite of all I watched, which is saying something. The storyline is dramatic, but dragged out. The Shostakovich score is superb, but overused. Like I said before though, Kubrick had a knack for the last words in his films being memorable, and Eyes Wide Shut is no different.

Alice: I do love you, and there's something very important we need to do as soon as possible.

Bill: What's that?

Alice: Fuck.

Trust Stanley Kubrick's last ever word on his last ever film to be a cuss. I watched six Stanley Kubrick films in the past few days and every single one of them was near perfect in their own way, and showed that Kubrick could get to any genre and near enough make it his own, be it war with Paths of Glory, comedy with Dr. Strangelove, horror with The Shining, Kubrick was a master behind the camera and what he produced in front of it. I shall be revisiting Kubrick's work for a later blog, where I will talk about his other work such as 2001: A Space Odyssey, Killer's Kiss, Spartacus, Barry Lyndon and Lolita. I can't wait.