Kubrick by Kubrick

Description: In 1968, film historian Michel Ciment published the first study in French about Stanley Kubrick in the film journal Positif. After A Clockwork Orange was released, in 1971, the normally reticent Kubrick granted him an interview for L’Express newsmagazine. More interviews with Ciment followed over the next ten years. The audio recordings of these dialogues are accompanied by stills and stylised digital recreations of sets from Kubrick’s movies. There are also film clips, archival television interviews with collaborators (mostly actors) and old televised reviews by critics such as Gene Siskel and Barry Norman.

Merits: No one can deny Kubrick’s brilliance or his perseverance. With the amount of celluloid he could expend on a single scene, contemporaries such as John Cassavettes would have enough for an entire feature. As many actors attest, he was a perfectionist who would not flinch at repeating more than a hundred takes until he achieved the result he wanted. Kubrick moved to the United Kingdom to escape Hollywood’s censorship and interference He shot mostly in studios close to his home. At Childwickbury Manor he installed his own editing suite so he could retreat there after shooting. Despite the tight control he wielded, it appears that many decisions were made on the set. While there is ample discussion of Kubrick’s technique and what he found interesting in stories and characters, we learn almost nothing about Kubrick the man. He seems to have been a very private person. There are no interviews with family or friends (bar a brief appearance by his wife to explain why he does not make public statements.) As Ciment says, “one cannot become Kubrick’s intimate friend.” Perhaps the only private morsel is a brief clip of a home movie where the pubescent Kubrick is seen playfully harassing his baby sister.

Rating: Suitable for general audiences.

Programming considerations: Consider billing with one of Kubrick’s films.

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