It's about time I wrote something serious for this site. I owe it to Kris and Oscar and many other patrons of this art.

I grew up on Stanley Kubrick. From the first Kubrick film I actually saw in a theater (I was too young to see "Lolita"), which was "Paths of Glory" through "Spartacus", "2001", "Clockwork Orange", "Barry Lyndon", and "The Shining"; Kubrick has been my barometer as to the future of film. He always was an innovator, a pioneer, leading the way to show an aspect of film not yet attempted. As much as Wells and Hitchcock used camera work and sets to innovate, so Kubrick did with lenses, aspect and score manipulation. He completely took over a project, making it a "Kubrick" vision. Every title he put his name to (after '55) is distinct and completely different from all his other projects. Unlike Ford who specialized in Westerns, or Hitchcock for suspence: Kubrick defied definition. He existed in all the genres he put his heart and technical genius into. In the end, Kubrick left a series of personal statements, which also happen to tell a story.

Starting in 1955 with "The Killing" (I'll let someone else discuss his earliest work. In my mind, something came alive within Kubrick from "The Killing" on. Whether it was his mood or ambition is a matter of conjecture. However, from that time on, Kubrick began to demonstrate the Kubrick style), and going through "Eyes Wide Shut" in 1999, Stanley Kubrick began to make his mark in film history as the great innovator.

In "The Killing", Kubrick joined the ranks of other innovative filmmakers like John Huston and Billy Wilder in tackling the "film noir" genre. Yet Kubrick cast Sterling Hayden and gave him a personality that stuck with the actor to his death.

Kubrick's early anti-war statement in "Paths of Glory" made his film controversial. While most war pictures were patriotic, Kubrick chose to show war in far more hostile terms, ridiculing the military bureaucrasy and the over-regulated governments which create them.

He followed that film, with a religiously themed epic, on the scale of "The Ten Commandments" only far less pedantic or ostentatious. "Spartacus" is not the story of a slave. It is the question of philosophy... what is freedom? More importantly, "Who considers themselves free?" Is freedom of movement the same thing as freedom of expression? Rather bogged down with semantics in places, Douglas puts in a performance of a lifetime, not to be missed.

Did Vladimir Nabokov whisper sweet nothings into his ear one night? Who knows! All I can say is that with "Lolita", Kubrick again emerges out of nowhere to establish himself as a director/writer/producer capable of looking at new controversial subjects and tackling them in a way that will be entertaining. The perverse weaknesses of man become all too clear with Kubrick at the helm.

President Kennedy helped to increase tension between the superpowers, when he authorized the botched "Invasion via the Bay of Pigs". From that moment on, there was a period in American history where the real fear of nuclear annihilation was acted out in theater and on the screen. Kubrick firmly plants tongue in cheek to bring humor together with poignancy along with one of his favorite "intense" actors, Sterling Hayden, playing the deranged General.

Moving on to the film Rick Sanford told me was "the greatest film of all time" (and he is no fan of science fiction), backed up by Ron Havers, of the L. A. County Art Museum, in his room one night. Rick and I had many fights over coffee at 3 a.m. on Hollywood Blvd. about "2001: A Space Odessey". I'm paraphrasing these two fine gentlemen, but the argument went something like this:

Rick: "There was no film like it before it was made."
Ron: "It was totally unique."
Bill: "What about "Destination Moon" or "Forbidden Planet?"
Rick: "It's not the same."
Ron: "No, not the same."
Rick: "The apes were too believable. Everything about that movie was unique. Kubrick invented things that had never even been attempted. It changed the way we all look at film..."

And so it went on into the night. I liked it, but...

"A Clockwork Orange" was just a commentary on the decay of urban life; again, Kubrick tells us that no matter how safe we may all feel in our modern houses with electronic security, there is no safe port from violence and sadism. They have permeated many aspects of society.

"Barry Lyndon" I only went to see because of the innovative filmming techniques he used; like having Zeiss invent a superfast lens for a film camera to allow photography in candlelight, trying to replicate the feel of "night life" in the 17th Century, or when ever it was... who cares. Kubrick failed. Next film.

Stephen King always scares the @#$% out of me; and suffice it to say, Kubrick was so successful that to this day, people still use Nicholson's performance in mimicry.


In looking back on his career, and this is pure speculation, I wonder if Kubrick felt he did not make as powerful an anti-war statement as he could have by today's uncensored standards. "Full Metal Jacket" is a powerful film, filled with Kubrick's touch in probing deep inside his character's psyche and revealing more than is almost bearable to watch. I believe he relished in making his audiences squirm at times.

His final work is arguably controversial, especially about its efficacy for sex or relationships. For many years, in countless interviews, Stanley secretly and then openly expressed the desire to make a very expensive and elaborate porn film. He wanted to show the act of making love in all its "Hollywood" glory on the screen with no restrictions. At last, there would be artistic freedom. Imagine a porn film by Stanley Kubrick! What happened over time is that reality sunk in. In order to get his "porn" movie financed, he would have to depend more and more on conservatives who would want "trims", keep the rating an "R" versus an "X". This form of corporate manipulation was something he loathed. I believe he was forced to cave. While "Eyes..." is facinating at times, there is a rather boring side to it that spoils the point Kubrick was trying to make about relationships and how easily they can deteriorate (among other ideas in the film).

Kubrick is one of my heros growing up. I was always first in line to see his films, and the last one to criticize anything he did or accomplish. He will always be the "great innovator" to me, blazing new directorial trails, helping young filmmakers to develop the same kind of passion for vision and foresight he once posessed.