Stanley Kubrick

Despite the negative and nasty reviews, herds of people thirty years and under were going to see it.  In his book, Stanley Kubrick-A Biography,  Vincent LoBrutto had this to say, “At one screening a young man ran down the aisle during the Star Gate sequence and crashed through the screen screaming, “I see God!”  The smell of burning marijuana permeated theaters packed with young people, their pupils dilated, their minds stimulated with the power of pure film.”

Kubrick had told Rolling Stone, “I have to say that it was never meant to represent an acid trip.  On the other hand a connection does exist.  An acid trip is probably similar to the kind of mind-boggling experience that might occur at the moment of encountering extraterrestrial intelligence.  I’ve been put off experimenting with LSD because I don’t like what seems to happen to people who try it.”

The film grossed more than $40 million worldwide, going on MGM’s top three list with Gone With the Wind and Dr. Zhivago. 

After filming several of his films in England, Stanley decided to stay there permanently and live in the countryside of Hertfordshide.  With the huge success of 2001 and wealth there was bound to be a down side. 

 After a near fatal plane incident it is believed Stanley became afraid to fly and therefore stopped going back to the US.  In addition he instructed his drivers never to drive over 35 miles per hour. He was so paranoid of the doctors in England that when he needed oral surgery he paid for his longtime doctor who lived in the Bronx to fly to England and perform the operation.

While 2001 was making Stanley millions he was already thinking about his next project.  He became obsessed with the life of Napoleon. The film would never be made however because of comments Stanley received from rival foreign filmmakers stating, “If you work with these people we’re going to kill you.”

His next project would come from the book A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess.  Stanley got Warner Bros. to buy the rights for $200,000.  Stanley adapted this book into a screenplay all by himself.  The movie was set in the future and was about how criminals were treated in the future.  It featured some extremely racy scenes in which the main character Alex, played by Malcolm McDowell, committed rapes and brutal crimes.  For the nature of some of the scenes the movie was first branded an X rating by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA).  Andrew Sarris of the Village Voice gave a horrible review of the movie that read, “What we have here is simply a pretentious fake.” 

Most of the reviews expressed how they were very disturbed by the movie and it definitely wasn’t ready for the USA.  It was very popular in Europe, especially England.  This popularity sparked a series of acts of violence in England that were so heinous the film was banned for twenty years. 

After A Clockwork Orange audiences were patiently waiting for Kubrick’s next masterpiece. He kept a tight lid on his next movie however, and no one really knew what the mastermind was up to yet.  It was called Barry Lyndon, based on William Makepace Thackery’s The Luck of Barry Lyndon.  For the starring role Kubrick chose Ryan O’Neal.  The movie premiered on December 18, 1975.  It grossed over $11 million, which did much better (once again) than most critics had predicted.  Michael Billington of the London Illustrated News wrote, “Barry Lyndon is an egocentric film, made by a man who has lost touch with his peers, his critics and his audience.” 

Although the film was a mediocre success in the US, in Europe it is hailed as one of the best films of all time. 

Once again Stanley would be taking advantage of some of the technological advances (such as Steadicams) in his next film The Shining. The movie was based on a Stephen King novel in which a man gets writers block and goes crazy and tries killing his wife and son.  Shelley Duvall played the wife in the movie and the husband was played Jack Nicholson.  Shelley was not quite equipped to handle all that comes with working with Stanley Kubrick.  He was really tough on his actors.  He tried getting everything out of them.  Stanley constantly verbally abused the timid actress.  After Duvall messed up a take Stanley erupts, “There’s no desperation!  We’re fucking killing ourselves out here and you’ve got to be ready!”  She has always been a little hostile towards Kubrick since the movie.

During production a set caught on fire costing $2.5 million to rebuild.  When things finally got back on track the movie premiered on May 23, 1980 and did very well in the US.  The use of the Steadicam in the movie was groundbreaking for chase scenes.

After the movie was released Stanley’s good friend and colleague John Alcott, cinematographer, died of a heart attack at the age of 55. 

On March 10, 1984 Stanley becomes a father-in-law when his daughter Katharina at the age of thirty marries caterer, Philip Eugene Hobbs. 

Full Metal Jacket was released on June 26, 1987 and in the first ten days it made over $5 million. In its first fifty days, the film grossed $38 million.  The film didn’t get bad reviews which was almost a first for Kubrick, and was also one of his best selling movies. 

For his next project Kubrick was thinking of a movie about the fall of the Berlin Wall, but he felt it was going to be too similar to Schindler’s List.  So he moved on. Next he was thinking of a movie called AI (Artificial Intelligence) which was supposed to be something like Waterworld.  Kubrick didn’t think the technology was ready for what he wanted however, and he therefore placed this movie aside as well.  After seeing Jurassic Park he had a change of heart.  Before he could get started on AI, Dream Story by Arthur Schnitzler’s came to him.

The screenplay took the name Eyes Wide Shut and starred Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman.  It was a story about fantasy, trust, and marriage.  This movie had some trouble getting an R rating because of some risky sex scenes, so during the editing process bodies had to be placed in the way of some sex scenes that were thought to be too explicit. 

The great director never lived to see this one hit the big screen.  Just one month before it was released on March 7, 1999 Stanley Kubrick, age 70,  died of natural causes in his sleep in Harpenden, Hertfordshire, England, United Kingdom.  The movie was the first number one at the box office for Kubrick.  Some critics argue that it may not have ended out the way he wanted it to because he was always a big part of the editing process.

As for AI, director Stephen Spielberg is going to pick up where Kubrick left off.