Stanley kubrick: The exhibition

[Johann]

It was the Joy of Joys for me. The best Christmas present I ever got. I don't know about a catalog- good question.
One of my main goals was to get a poster representing the exhibition. There was none! They didn't create one to sell. But I found a beautiful alternative: the guide that explains the exhibition (in brief) folds out into a "cubed-brick" of images from his films, with a bigger photo of Stanley himself in the center. I'm framing that.

[Chris Knipp]

There is a catalog, but I don't see how to get it.

The tiff store had various Kubrick souvenir items that you might find kitsch like a T short and sweat shirt. In Canadian dollars they look so expensive!

[Johann]

I didn't buy any TIFF gift store Kubrick merch- most items WERE kitchy/tacky and overpriced.
For such a landmark event, you'd think they'd go overboard with all kinds of items but no, it was just a small amount of stuff, all overpriced. The books you could get cheaper elsewhere. The t-shirts were OK, but too pricy to buy. I can make my own Kubrick tees that would destroy what they had.

[Chris Knipp]

The fell down in that respect, then.

[Chris Knipp]

Catalog available from Germany. See here.

[Johann]

If that's the catalogue then it was for sale at TIFF. It looked like one of those University text books "analyzing" his work, so I passed. :)

[Chris Knipp]

You are right, but if it had a lot of nice photos of the items in the exhibition as well, it would be nice to have; I'd have to see it. The cover clearly does show it's connected to your exhibition.

http://www.shop-filmmuseum.de/epages...oducts/b_0019b

[Johann]

It seems like a good book. I'm curious why there's no "actual" EXHIBITION catalog, containing all items and blurbs about the displays. Stanley was heavy into charts and thorough research. It seems a no-brainer.

[Chris Knipp]

So you saw the book and there was no actual photos relating to the exhibition in it? If this was an art exhibition there would be a specific dedicated catalog, for sure, with images. Because it's pretty big. Funny that the catalog ties in with the show but omits that. Some of the info and essays would be interesting to you, too, though, maybe. I once had a little paperback full of info on the making of 2001. It showed a lot of stuff he developed, but didn't use in the film, such as a space toilet. I guess there's a six-book set. This new catalog might have been originated in Germany, where the exhibition originated (Deutsches Filmmuseum, Frankfurt am Main)?

The exhibition is organized by the Deutsches Filmmuseum, Frankfurt am Main, Christiane Kubrick, and the Stanley Kubrick Archive at the University of the Arts London, with the support of Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., Sony-Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.,Universal Studios Inc., and SK Film Archives LLC.

Description of the catalog/catalogue contents from the German website:

The catalogue includes essays by experts of film and theater studies, art history, photography, architecture, design, and music. The book offers interdisciplinary essays while also addressing each of Kubrick's films, which are analyzed from different angles. Interviews as well as pictures and documents from the estate add to the articles, and a detailed filmography and discography complete the publication. With words of greeting from Martin Scorsese und Christiane Kubrick and a preface by Jan Harlan, the catalogue starts with a reflection on the photographic work of young Kubrick followed by a comparative study of the early films. Kubrick's visual handwriting in the "commissioned" work SPARTACUS is assessed, the question "How did they ever make a movie of Lolita?" gets pursued. The War Room in DR. STRANGELOVE OR: HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB is inverstigated and Weegee's photographs from the film's set are represented. Design and branding in 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY are the themes examined furtheron; Kubrick's longtime assistant Anthony Frewin contributes information about a prologue cut out of the film. Another essay presents Kubrick as an "evolutionary engineer of images" with a specific reference to A CLOCKWORK ORANGE. An art historical analysis of BARRY LYNDON precedes two essays on THE SHINING: looking at the different drafts of the screenplay Kubrick's adaptation of Stephen King's novel is reconstructed while attention gets directed to the labyrinthine rooms of the Overlook Hotel. Moreover, the theme of war in FULL METAL JACKET and the "film-theater" in EYES WIDE SHUT get discussed. The never realized projects NAPOLEON and ARYAN PAPERS are presented for the first time. Essays examining Kubrick's innovative use of technical film apparatus and soundtracks round off the catalogue.

Kinematograph no. 20, 2004, 304 pages with many illustrat, 1.230g. ISBN 3-88799-069-2 (English Version).

It was interesting to learn from a text in your photos that some of Kubrick's lenses used for low-light photography in BARRY LYNDON were originally used or derived from lenses developed for NASA to photograph the dark side of the moon. (!)

I think it would be nice to have this catalog anyway, but I don't have money to burn right now. I bought that THE INTERVIEW poster :-)

[Johann]

So you saw the book and there was no actual photos relating to the exhibition in it? If this was an art exhibition there would be a specific dedicated catalog, for sure, with images. Because it's pretty big. Funny that the catalog ties in with the show but omits that. Some of the info and essays would be interesting to you, too, though, maybe.

Yes, I think I missed the boat on that one. I saw the cover of the book and made a decision not to buy it....never judge a book by it's cover....! I never purused the pages...you learn something new everday. :)

[Chris Knipp]

I think we would both like to have that catalog. I'm going to watch for it, see if it turns up for sale somewhere. And seeing this show in your pictures makes me want to go back and watch all Kubrick's films.

[Johann]

Here's a short video about the TIFF exhibition:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=nabokwTUsqw

[Johann]

Here's an interesting video from TIFF of Jan Harlan & Christiane Kubrick introducing EYES WIDE SHUT:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMJR7h3c_E8

[Johann]

And the two stars of 2001: A Space Odyssey introducing the film:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=FANUlAbf0cc

[Johann]

It's interesting what Alan Cumming said about the Exhibition, that Stanley probably wouldn't like it.
I never knew Stanley, so I can't say, but when it was announced I felt he wouldn't like it. It seemed wrong.

But as Christiane Kubrick says, young filmmakers come away from it extremely enriched. I'm not a filmmaker, but I am a film buff, and this exhibition has definitely impacted me in ways I can't even express. You should see what I'm doing to renovate my home with Kubrick items. Stanley's work isn't merely admired by me. I think about him just about every other day. And I never met the man.
That's something. He's got a profound influence on me, an endless source of inspiration.

I have enough skill & knowledge to make a film, but I won't. You heard Christiane...even Stanley Kubrick was under a lot of pressure to not make the films he did. It's no mystery to me why he chose such uncompromising stories. It was a gauntlet thrown down to those who control film distribution: Am I an Artist? Do you respect my filmmaking skills? Then allow me to make the films I see fit. Don't edit me, don't try to "change" anything. Let me do my work and see the result. THAT is what he was saying to studio executives, and by extension, the world at large.

I forget who said it but it's bang-on: The world didn't know what to do with Stanley Kubrick. So the world applauded. And that was the right thing to do.