2001: A Space Odyssey, 1968

Directed by Stanley Kubrick
Written by Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke
Starring Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, and Douglas Rain

I saved this for last in my Kubrick retrospective. It was not an entirely satisfying conclusion. I'll just assume that anyone reading this has already seen the movie, or at least knows its story, so be prepared for spoilers.

The part of this movie about the Jupiter mission (culminating with Dave shutting down Hal's higher functions) is a fantastic short science fiction film. I thought that everything with Dave, Hal, and Frank is great. The section on the moon, just before that, is also quite compelling, though it builds to something that was ultimately, for me, unanswered and unsatisfying. The opening section, at the "Dawn of Man," makes for an interesting faux documentary, but I can't say much about it as a piece of narrative film, except that Kubrick presented what I think is a one-dimensional and rather stark view of aboriginal human nature; to me, that seems limited. I found the ending incomprehensible. Unfortunately, that it makes hard to piece the whole film together.

I could say that, like the dark, blank screen at the beginning and end of a film, Kubrick's obelisk throws us back upon ourselves. It is our task to piece together the meaning of humanity and our own lives from our inception to our ultimate destination, and the obelisk represents that demand, which is different from, but related to, the void of space. This is the purpose of the obelisk, and it is also the purpose of film, and all art. Yes, I could say that, and it might even be true. As I consider it, there may be something to it. I just wish his point of view were more explicit and less oblique. I'm not looking for cowboys in white hats killing cowboys in black hats, but something that had a little more in common with Paths of Glory or even Barry Lyndon or The Killing would be more approachable.

Who would have thought that a light could be so frightening?

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A Clockwork Orange, 1971

Directed by Stanley Kubrick
Written by Stanley Kubrick, from the novel by Anthony Burgess
Starring Malcolm McDowell


I watched this again as part of my Kubrick retrospective, and it's been one of the hardest to sit through -- and not always for the intended reasons. The violence is so sadistic that it's almost unbearable. I actually stopped watching it during the "Singin' in the Rain" scene, and then made myself get through that so that because I knew that the worst was almost over. Another difficult thing about this movie is that parts of it are intended as comedy. For example, the principal guard in the prison, played by Michael Bates, is a character who exists often for comic purposes, but there's something incongruous and forced about having this kind of a caricature in the midst of such scathing commentary.

At the same time, the social commentary is astonishing. As a small example, in the scene where we see the demonstration of how Alex has been allegedly cured, the applause for the actor and model who demonstrate the cure -- and their bowing to take credit -- are chillingly perfect.

From another perspective, Malcolm McDowell's Alex is a kind of modern, unrepentant Richard III. Kubrick wants us to share in his delights and miseries with great sympathy, and that's perhaps the most successful and intentionally disturbing aspect of this movie. Like Richard III, we're fascinated and drawn in by the protagonist, but his immoral nature never fades from view. Alex is smart, charismatic, and occasionally sympathetic (primarily when he is the evident victim of his so-called treatment), but, in the end, I found a gap that Shakespeare manages to bridge with Richard or Iago. It's not that Shakespeare makes us like these monsters, but Shakespeare is psychologically revelatory in a way that Kubrick is not. It makes me want to see Malcolm McDowell play one of those parts; if he could bring to it what he brought to this, under the direction of someone such as David Cromer, it would be phenomenal.

In the end, I found this movie somewhat unsatisfying -- or perhaps I could say I had qualms about it. While it is -- as usual -- visually spectacular, I have doubts about the end it's serving. Similarly, for what it intends, the music (primarily by Wendy Carlos) is perfect; and, again, I'm have concerns about what's intended.


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The Shining, 1980

Directed by Stanley Kubrick
Written by Stanley Kubrick and Diane Johnson 
Starring Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, and Danny Lloyd

This movie is amazingly well put together, though that doesn't necessarily mean it's pleasant. As someone who is not a big horror movie fan, I really only wanted to see this (again) because it's Kubrick. That being said, it's pretty astonishing to watch. From literally the first short, it has a disorienting effect and disturbing effect. Kubrick's kind of going wild with the shots -- not that he doesn't always -- but those famous tracking shots following Danny (Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall's son) as he rides his speedy little tricycle around the hall are famous for a reason.

As for the acting, there is a reason why this is one of Jack Nicholson's iconic roles. First, he does all those things that have almost become caricatures of him, except this is one of the movies where he set the pattern, not where it became a gag; take a look at his "It's okay. He saw it on the television." moment for an example. There's also a moment when the camera simply holds on him staring off into space, and it's completely chilling. While we often think of him as a celebrity or an image, the man can act.(Shelley Duvall is good, though I was wondering what it's like to have your role primarily to be terrified and scream a lot -- it's not as much as Fay Wray in King Kong, but it's a lot.)

Also, I don't usually go for listicles, but I enjoyed this one. I was reassured to know that Danny Lloyd (the boy playing Danny) didn't know that he was in a horror movie. Also, there a pointer to The Timberline Lodge in Oregon, which Kubrick used for some shots of the hotel itself; for establishing shots (such as the disorienting one that opens the movie), he used Glacier National Park in Montana.

There's something so Kubrick about having
the incongruous dropped ceiling in that scene.

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The Killer's Kiss, 1955

Directed by Stanley Kubrick
Written by Stanley Kubrick
Starring  Jamie Smith, Irene Kane, and Frank Silvera

(Part of the ongoing Kubrick series)

This is Kubrick's second picture, and it's definitely an improvement on the first, Fear and Desire, but it's still what one would call "an early work." It's a decent story and one can see how he could go from this to The Killing. There are a few things that make this movie stand out.

First, the fight at the end is great: it has the feeling of a real fight, not a Hollywood fight. It's set in a mannequin warehouse, which makes for both some incredible images and also for a wild card quality to the fight. There's a sense that, not only could it go either way, but that anything could happen.

Second, the boxing match is also quite something; on the one hand, it looks like so many boxing matches in so many movies, but I think it's because Kubrick created that form in this movie (and I'll bet Scorsese used this match as the basis for so many of the pieces in Raging Bull). Third, as you'd expect, it looks great -- and in the way that a young director, working on the cheap, has figured out -- not with everything that he could bring to bear for Barry Lyndon or 2001.

A couple of interesting side notes: 

According to the Wikipedia entry, United Artists forced Kubrick to recut the movie with a happy ending. This isn't surprising to me -- as, frankly, I was surprised that the movie had the happy ending that it did.

Even though these are the first shots of New York in one of his features, this New York and the New York of Eyes Wide Shut (which, apparently, was mostly a reconstruction on a Pinewood studios set) have a similar feeling to them. Plus ça change...

One of the many amazing shots
in the mannequin warehouse

 

 

 

 

 

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The Killing, 1956

Directed by Stanley Kubrick
Written by Stanley Kubrick and Jim Thompson
Starring Sterling Hayden, Coleen Gray, and Elisha Cook, Jr.

(The second in a series of posts on Stanley Kubrick's movies.)

This is Kubrick's third feature, and it's a great watch. It's clearly indebted to The Asphalt Jungle, and is also its own picture. Sterling Hayden shines in this movie, and it's easy to understand why Kubrick would later cast him so memorably in Dr. Strangelove. Elisha Cook, Jr. stands out in a fine cast, with the doomed sense of his marriage (with Marie Windsor as his wife) driving much of the story. 

As for the narrative, it's not linear, which is particularly striking in a film from the '50's. While The Killer's Kiss and Fear and Desire (his first two features) both have some stunning moments, this is the first movie where there's the feeling of watching something special. 

Surely the most iconic image in the whole picture

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Barry Lyndon, 1975

Directed by Stanley Kubrick
Written by Stanley Kubrick (from the Thackeray novel)
Starring  Ryan O'Neal and Marisa Berenson

This is the first in a series of posts about Stanley Kubrick's movies, as I've been conducting an informal retrospective of his works over the past number of months. I'm writing about this movie first, because it has made the strongest impression on me so far, along with The Killing. I'm not finished yet, so we'll see what else strikes me.

Simply put, I was floored by this movie.While the acting is fine, but not stunning, everything else is outrageously good. And to say that the acting is not as good as everything else is paramount to saying that it was the worst part of one of the best movies I've ever seen, so it was still far better than the acting in most movies. I don't think of Ryan O'Neal or Marisa Berenson as fantastic actors, but they do very good work. Kubrick holds the camera on them -- and everyone else -- for extended shots, so that we can see every flicker of an emotion that passes across their faces for a long time. They're able to sustain their presence through those extended periods.

And that brings us to the cinematography. This is one of the most beautiful movies I've ever seen. Kubrick used NASA lenses so that he could shoot in natural light and create a naturalistic eighteenth century feeling -- and the results are amazing.

Because of the clarity and beauty of the shots, Kubrick is able to sustain the static or languid camera use. When he shows us a field in summer, we can practically feel the moisture in the air. It's really stunning.

The story, while not original and somewhat episodic, is captivating. Barry is not sympathetic, but he is fascinating. The narration and title cards make clear where the story is going, so there is a sense of fatalism that pervades the story. In that sense, this almost feels as it were a cautionary tale, but Kubrick never says that and is never heavy-handed about it.

The music is also phenomenal.

Reverend Runt,
one of the most authentic-lookning characters,
in one of the many perfect shots

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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