This time around for my formal film study I decided to stray from my repeated viewing of French films. For this formal film study I am looking at films directed (and mostly written by) Stanley Kubrick.
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| Kubrick on the set of Barry Lyndon |
A master of filmmaking, Kubrick is known for both his directing and his writing. Films like Full Metal Jacket stand as icons of the postwar film era.
Before this film study I had not seen any of Kubrick's films. That is part of the reason I became so interested. While I had heard of films like 2001: A Space Odyssey. and the cult classic A Clockwork Orange, I decided to start with Kubrick's lesser known film Barry Lyndon, then I proceeded to watch The Shining, A Clockwork Orange, and Dr. Strangelove.
Kubrick's films are nothing like big box office hits Iron Man 3 or Spiderman. Kubrick's films force audiences to question the world around. From questioning the notions of life, love, and romance in Barry Lyndon to crime and punishment in A Clockwork Orange, Kubrick's films struck me on a deeper level provoking more thoughts in my mind than my philosophy class did last semester.
Having said that, this was not necessarily how I felt when I began watching Barry Lyndon on a Friday night home alone. Like many great movies Barry Lyndon starts slow. Based on the Novel by William Makepeace Thackeray, this film began with me feeling like I was back in English 2 Honors reading A Tale of Two Cities. After some slow yet important character development however, I began to fall in love with Ryan O'Neal's trials and tribulations as a man on the rise from a humble background in an Irish village. Take a look:
I began with a picaresque epic only to be stunned next by the futuristic, sardonic satire A Clockwork Orange:
Crazed, dazed, and confused. That is how I felt after sitting through Kubrick's strange piece with my girlfriend. This movie leaves me with very few words left to say. How can I describe such a purely strange movie? One thing is for sure Kubrick is a master of metaphor and symbolism with his cinematography and directing. "Stanley Kubrick was known for exerting complete artistic control over his projects; in doing so, he reconceived the genres in which he worked,"(Lacma).
Kubrick was not only a jack of all trades he was a master. One way to try and glimpse the genius within Kubrick's films is to look at a scene from Dr. Strangelove. Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. Throughout Dr. Strangelove Kubrick presents us with subtle satirical symbols regarding violence and the use of the atomic bomb. "Peace is our profession," reads the billboards outside of an army base that is being attacked by its own country's army. In the following scene notice how the intertwined long shots of the war room and the "big board" dwarf each individual character and make the entire group seem idiotic.
"Working in a vast range of styles and genres spanning from black comedy to horror to crime drama, Kubrick was an enigma, living and creating in almost total seclusion, far away from the watchful eye of the media. His films were a reflection of his obsessive nature, perfectionist masterpieces which remain among the most provocative and visionary motion pictures ever made," (NY Times).
In every Kubrick scene I have watched there is an uncanny attention to detail and care for every element. This care and love for his films leads to an emotional ride for audiences of Kubrick's films. Be it Barry Lyndon, A Clockwork Orange, or Dr. Strangelove, it is the subtleties in Kubrick's work that make his films such masterpieces.
Glad you got a lot of your "Kubrick experience," Mark. Sounds like the movies had a real impact on you. As you indicate, Kubrick's films require some thought; clearly, he's doing much more than entertaining us with his films--he requires that we ask questions and think about the answers. Good work with this.
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