Kubrick's Film To Best Picture example essay topic

"A film is - or should be - more like music than like fiction. It should be a progression of moods and feelings. The theme, what's behind the emotion, the meaning, all that comes later" (Stanley Kubrick) Director Stanley Kubrick was born within the confines of New York on the 26th of July 1928. The son of a physician, he began his career at the relatively young age of 16 when he began working as a freelance photographer for Look Magazine. Around this time the growing in confidence teenager founded a passionate interest in film. After several years as an avid photographer he made a move into moving pictures, directing and producing his first piece entitled ' Day of the Flight ' in 1950.

After this had kicked started his desire for film and the creation of it, he went on to create two more documentaries entitled ' The Flying Padre ' and ' The Seafarers '. The facts about Kubrick's film debut are sketchy to say the least. Obviously the way in which it was filmed, the film title, the name of the director (Stanley Kubrick) are all relatively factual pieces of information to obtain, however, the mystery remains of how Kubrick actually got the money to fund such a project. Some say that the film - ' Fear and Desire ' (1950) - was funded by Kubrick's family, others say that he was head-hunted by a big studio and handed the money (to see what he could do) and then some internet pages will tell you that he attracted investors and hustled chess games.

This just goes to demonstrate the mystery, intrigue, and gossip mongering that was all part of the Kubrick saga. Within the next decade Kubrick would go on to direct two more films, these films would single him out as one of the first true independent film makers - Killer's Kiss (1955) and The Killing (1956). Then came Paths of Glory (1957) starring Kirk Douglas. This film brought him swiftly to the attention of Hollywood, and in 1960 with the backing of Kirk Douglas, Kubrick was drafted in to direct the epic adventure entitled - Spartacus. Kubrick must have made a good impression with these studios right from the very start. This was his first big feature film, it would go on to take 167 days to shoot, employ 10,000 people, and cost $12 million (making it the most expensive movie made in Hollywood at that time).

This film would go on to win the Golden Globe for best picture. However, Douglas and Kubrick clashed during production and this led to Kubrick buying his way out of a three-film deal with Kirk Douglas's production company. In later years Kubrick would go on to practically disown the film and cringe every time its title was mentioned (each big director seems to have one film like this, surprisingly enough with Steven Spielberg the film is Jaws - he cannot stand it). After the struggles he had encountered within the production of Spartacus, Kubrick would come across a new project only a year later to direct Marlon Brando in One-Eyed Jacks (1961), however negotiations for the film totally collapsed. Kubrick disenchanted and sick of Hollywood he left the country completely and moved to England (from where he would make his subsequent films). The extreme creativity and imaginative resources of Kubrick and his work is clearly expressed and promoted to us within his films from 1962 onwards, with the production and release of his first film made in Britain, the controversial Lolita.

In the year in which this film was released there were race riots in America as a black student had enrolled at The University of Mississippi, the scientists behind the discovery of DNA had been awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine and Physiology and Marilyn Monroe had died in unusual circumstances. Society was still very 'stiff-collared', there was not as much media freedom as we have today - no where near, yet Stanley Kubrick directed and released a film which opened with the most erotic scenes displayed on a cinema screen at that time". This film coming from an adaptation of Vladimir Nabokov's celebrated, yet controversial novel written in 1953. It tells of a middle-aged man's unusual sexual passion / obsession for a precocious, seductive girl. The black humour and dramatic story of juvenile temptation and perverse, late-flowering lust was centred on a young girl and a mature literature professor in an aura of incest". Source (web) The topics and themes displayed and portrayed throughout this film were extremely taboo at this time within cinema.

Over decades to come Kubrick would continue to play upon and enjoy shocking audiences with the unexpected and close-to-the-mark (sometimes considered over-the-mark) subject matter. The creativity within this time was the fact that this film should not have been enjoyed, it wasn't allowed, it was considered vile, yet people went to watch it and people still enjoyed it, Kubrick began to give audiences what they weren't usually allowed to have, feel, or hear of. His next piece ' Dr Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb ' (1964) was the most farcical / satirical film made to that day. Described by some critics as a 'cold war masterpiece' the film is set at the height of the tensions between Russia and the United States, when all it would take to destroy the world was one push of a button.

And General Jack D. Ripper (Sterling Hayden) is just the man to do it. This film based on the novel 'Red Alert' by Peter George pokes fun at the military and almost every aspect of the tensions surrounding the cold war. American journalist, Roger Ebert, picks out the message and essence of this film brilliantly: - " Yet out of these rudimentary physical props and a brilliant screenplay (which Kubrick and Terry Southern based on a novel by Peter George), Kubrick made what is arguably the best political satire of the century, a film that pulled the rug out from under the Cold War by arguing that if a 'nuclear deterrent' destroys all life on Earth, it is hard to say exactly what it has deterred". Source (web) This film remains to this day; one of the most scathing comical attacks on the US government, all about a mad general who provokes a nuclear war. Through the art of film showing possibly what could " ve happened if the cold war had turned out differently, only four years before the release of this film, a US spy plane had been shot down over Russian airspace.

Within the late sixties early seventies, Kubrick would go on to make two defining pieces of work which would arguably cement his reputation within the directorial annuals of time. These pieces of work entitled '2001: A Space Odyssey' (1968) and 'A Clockwork Orange' (1971) would go down in history as classics in their field, but perhaps for two different reasons. Both films (as almost every Kubrick film was) were taken from previously written stories (The Sentinel written by Arthur C. Clarke and A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess). They both achieved cult status, however, one claiming this through sheer cinematic brilliance at that time (2001) and the other because it had been banned for its scenes of sheer violence and brutality (A Clockwork Orange).

"If 2001 has stirred your emotions, your subconscious, your mythological yearnings, then it has succeeded". Stanley Kubrick 1968 Source (web) Kubrick depicts several encounters mankind has with alien intelligence, from the dawn of Man four million years ago to the title year - when an alien artefact is found on the Moon. An expedition tracking its radio signal is launched to Jupiter with mysterious, haunting results. Production began in England in December 1965. By May of 1966 the live action scenes were finished and the crew spent the next year and a half filming the special effects. Originally budgeted at $6 million, mastering the 205 special effects shots pushed the final cost of the film to $10.5 million.

During editing major changes took place. A documentary prologue in which scientists discuss the possibility of extraterrestrial intelligence was eliminated and narration explaining the Dawn of Man sequence was also cut, making 2001 the first Kubrick film without narration. This done so as not to take anything away from the viewer with regards to the shockingly accurate space-age scenes depicted within the film. This film was released an entire year before the first moon landings (July 20th 1969 - First Moon Landing) and had shockingly accurate imagery even before the visual facts had been transmitted back to Earth a year later.

Kubrick's film almost predicting the future in a way. The creativity and imagination of Stanley Kubrick, in this case almost acting as a modern day Nostradamus, but in the fact that he produces the visual goods and doesn't merely shout and holler. This man will show you, and in 2001 he did". In January 1960 Anthony Burgess was incorrectly diagnosed with a terminal brain tumour and told he had just twelve months to live. In a drugs-driven literary frenzy he wrote a brace of novels so that his family might gain from his publishing advances".

Commenting on one of this books that he had created within this time span he said... " It was the most painful thing I've ever written, that damn book... After that I had to learn to start loving again". (Anthony Burgess author of A Clockwork Orange) Source (Pages 103/104 Your Face Here / Ali Cattrall & Simon Wells) So from that we see that the story was produced into a novel by a man who thought he was dying, angry and bitter at the world, he wanted to point out and graphically describe all of the planets wrong doings and faults. He did just that, producing 'A Clockwork Orange' which director Stanley Kubrick would go on to make his own, once completed the film would go on to be banned from the UK for almost three decades. Was it worth it?

Yes, would be the conclusion. The film achieved cult status. The more you try and ban something, the more you try and suppress the viewing of it, the more people ultimately want to see it, it is human nature. That is how 'A Clockwork Orange' has survived the test of time through sketchy pirate copies and imported foreign versions, now after years and years of isolation the ban is lifted and you can purchase it on DVD from your local Woolworth's, how times have changed.

By today's standards and theories, the film is quite mild, but could still be highly relevant to today's society within it's thinking, especially with the rise of theft and violent crimes in this country. Kubrick has also been recognised by the academy in his time. Period drama 'Barry Lyndon' (1975) was nominated for seven academy awards (The most amount of nominations for any Kubrick film). This was a change in direction for Kubrick as his previous two films had been futuristic, only to throw himself straight into a period piece.

Despite the nominations 'Barry Lyndon's cored zero with regards to Oscars. The reason for this being 'One Flew Over The Cuckoos nest' which had not only beaten Kubrick's film to best picture but also beaten films such as Jaws and Star Wars (Showing the Lucas and Spielberg train taking an early beating). The versatility and intrigue continued when five years later he changed genre yet again, delving into a Stephen King novel - The Shining (1980). This film was a success within the viewing figures, but critics were not so charming, and the film received no accredited praise.

Some say that Kubrick was offered the chance to direct the 'Exorcist 2' just previous to the beginning of filming The Shining, though this has never been confirmed. This film was described as: - ' The first epic horror film ' by Jack Kroll of Newsweek. This film is also famous for another first in moving picture history, that of the Steadicam. The piece of filming equipment invented by Garrett Brown, for which he won a Science and Technical Academy Award in 1978. This piece of equipment first being used on this horror film, allowing Kubrick more freedom, and his camera crew greater movement to film and create the flowing, eerie scenes down every orifice and corridor of the hotel. This film plays entirely around the theme of a man going mad.

It is reported that so horrified with the re-written script and storyline Stephen King proclaimed the director knew nothing about horror - controversy following Mr Kubrick yet again. There are visuals showcased throughout the movie that help to depict the haunting aspects of the piece. From the drive to the Overlook to the final chase in the hedge-maze the movie is a feast for the eyes as it is for the mind. The Shining is as psychological as it is horror, toying relentlessly, and expertly with your emotions and expectations throwing something in that's completely unorthodox, keeping the viewer upright and attentive within their seat for the entire film. Kubrick is constantly described as old school style, which builds an eerie atmosphere by exercising total control over the cinematic environment, manipulating everything down to the tiniest detail to suit the needs of the film, yet filming with a detached, detailed eye, as though he were making a documentary about these events. The next film to discuss within the Kubrick list is ' Full Metal Jacket ' this cold, unhappy, harsh film depicts hell on Earth for a group of US Marines.

This film portrays what was probably closer to the truth with regards to US / Vietnam War stories, and how the conflict actually went. Poster slogans helped promote this 'reality bites' image: - " In Vietnam the wind doesn't blow, it sucks! " " Vietnam can kill me, but it can't make me care! " (Poster slogans from Full Metal Jacket (1987) ) Full Metal Jacket was filmed in England from August 1985 to September 1986.

Shooting took just over 6 months but production was shut down for over 20 weeks due to injuries and accidents. The film was made for $17 million. The film ends abruptly, and at first I thought badly. But the way in which the film ends is just how the Vietnam conflict went. It ended bitter and disapprovingly, with nothing really gained, negotiated or solved, a merely expensive (both in human and financial terms) state of affairs. The film is harsh and doesn't turn a blind eye to the atrocities of Vietnam.

Commenting on the brutality and sheer horror he has just witnessed, one of the main characters comments that: - " The dead only know one thing, it's better to be alive " (Private Joker - played by Matthew Moline) This comment sums up almost the entire atmosphere of the film. Kubrick films do not only seem to have characters, a storyline and in some cases special effects, but they all seem to have an atmosphere about them as well, they leave you feeling something, it may not be the same thing as the person sitting next to you watching the film, but something none the less. This film earned an academy award for Best Adapted Screenplay, but was unfortunately beaten by Christopher Lampton's - Dangerous Liaisons, starring Glenn Close and Michelle Pfeiffer. The final film that Stanley Kubrick would ever come to direct would be 'Eyes Wide Shut' (1999) starring (then together) acting couple Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. Just as Full Metal Jacket was, almost this entire film was shot within England, with elaborate and costly sets being constructed and erected within Els tree Studios. The plot goes something like this; Dr. William Harford and his wife Alice have been in a loving marriage for years.

But after a party one night he taunts her by discussing the various times his beautiful female patients have flirted with him. She however reveals to him a steamy but unfulfilled encounter she had with a naval officer sometime ago, this proving to be quite a shock to the young doctor. He soon can't get the images of her and the officer in question making love out of his mind and discovers a variety of overwhelming and frightening temptations which present themselves during his night-time rounds around New York City. There is much within the film to admire, and although the 'blockbuster' fan will not enrapture it, the art-house film reviewer in us all will appreciate Kubrick's final piece. Unfortunately the film flopped at the box office and did not even receive a single nomination at the following Oscars ceremony. However the film produced is a unique piece and will remain the true film that Kubrick would have wanted to make.

Within the context of this question to whether or not Stanley Kubrick could be deemed an auteur, I think the answer is unquestionably 'yes'. Within his (just under) fifty years within the film industry he never once flinched from his standards, and from the way in which he wanted to produce the films in which he was working. During his varied and successful career he stretched himself across many different genres using many different crews, actors and locations, achieving his world of perfection within everything he did, he would not eat or sleep until he was happy with a particular take. He would be the first director to use / debut the now endlessly used Steadicam.

He would amaze and intrigue through the use of psychedelic special effects and shockingly accurate images of a yet-to-be-explored (at the time) space around our Earth. He would produce reality TV within his films, endlessly researching his topics, and going on to produce documentary style films that were shockingly real and acknowledged by the people who were there, especially in the case of Full Metal Jacket. He would also bring controversy and a cult to the youth of Great Britain with the production of a Clockwork Orange. There has been too much press, and too many dedications to this director for him not to be considered an 'auteur' of filmmaking. He never forced his films upon us, and in most cases he never even forced us to accept a conclusion, allowing us merely to make our own minds up, aware that within moving pictures much is given to the images and not a lot to the human mind and thought processes, allowing imagination and intrigue to become a part of viewing again". I would not think of quarrelling with your interpretation nor offering any other, as I have always found it the best policy to allow the film to speak for itself " (Stanley Kubrick 1928-1999).