On Stanley Kubrick’s Films: Ape or Machine?

By Guy Kortsarz

This Book presents analysis of the Stanley Kubrick's Movies

• Language: English
• Publisher: Guy Kortsarz
• Release date: Feb 29, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224598267

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On Stanley Kubrick’s Films: Ape or Machine?

Guy Kortsarz

March 2024 Copyright @ 2024 Guy Kortsarz

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Table of Contents

1. On Kubrick the man

1.1 Introduction

1.2 People Talking About Kubrick

2. Kubrick the director

2.1 The Road to Fame

2.2 The Wish for Full Control

2.3 Memorable scenes

2.4 Odyssey Films Versus Angry Films

2.5 Frequent tools and themes

2.6 Kubrick and Philosophy

3. The philosophy of war: Fear and Desire

4. Machine-proof plan goes wrong in The Killing

4.1 Introduction

4.2 Disorientation

4.3 Fatalistic tools

4.4 The Lucky and the Unlucky

4.5 The Reasons the Plan Fails

5. A machine-proof plan fails in Barry Lyndon

5.1 Introduction

5.2 Some of the plot

5.3 Style: A strategy for fatalism

6. Human nature in Spartacus

6.1 Introduction

6.2 Some of the plot

6.3 Are we Animals?

7. An indirect answer to this question. From Killers Kiss

7.1 Animal nature

7.2 Introduction to Killer’s Kiss

7.3 Some of the plot

7.4 Are We Animals?

8. The wrong way to act. The right way to act: Paths of Glory

8.1 Style

8.2 Some of the Plot

8.3 The proper behavior

8.4 Spielberg loses Kubrick

8.5 The movie and Francois Truffaut

8.6 The words of the German song

9. Why do we kill? The Shining

9.1 A Live Hotel, Thinking Only About Itself

9.2 Narrative horror

9.3 Cinematic horrors

9.4 Fatalism of the Narrative

9.5 The cinematic language of fatalism

9.6 Slight social critic

9.7 Why do we kill?

10. But why are we doomed to kill? 2001: A Space Odyssey answers

10.1 Introduction

10.2 Don’t learn about computers from movies

10.3 A comment about God

10.4 Avoiding Classical Cinematic Language

10.5 The Dawn of Men

11. Any alternative to being apes? A Clockwork Orange

11.1 Knowing Beauty, Knowing Evil

11.2 Introduction

11.3 Kubrick’s Philosophy: Ape or Machine?

11.4 The Lucky and the Unlucky Return

11.5 Alex, the attractive Monster

11.6 More style against content

11.7 Kubrick doesn’t like Alex

11.8 Hypocrisy

12. The machine and the human switch places: 2001: A Space Odyssey

12.1 Ape or machine again

12.2 The trip to the moon

12.3 Faltering HAL: The chess game

12.4 Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite

13. Why are we not saved by our intelligence? Dr. Strangelove

13.1 Introduction

13.2 Style and Sexual Jokes

13.3 Why did we nuke the Soviets?

13.4 The film’s names

13.5 On the plane with Major Kong

13.6 Buck and Company

13.7 Secret Sharing

13.8 Back to Buck

13.9 Talking to the Soviet Prime Minister

13.10 The Doomsday Machine

13.11 Dr. Strangelove

13.12 The End of the Grim Ripper

13.13 The fatalism of bad luck

13.14 Dr Strangelove can walk

13.15 Rage against the machine

14. Losing your identity. On Full Metal Jacket

14.1 Introduction

14.2 The duality of men

14.3 The individual versus the group: Leonard

14.4 A core covered by metal

14.5 John Wayne John

14.6 Style versus content: a sexual macho in basic training

14.7 War and fun

14.8 Animal Mother

14.9 Crazy Earl

14.10 The sniper

14.11 Losing Your Personality

15. Appendix. The Enigma of Eyes Wide Shut

15.1 Introduction

15.2 All Sex and Nudity Feels Wrong

15.3 A directing strategy: Green, Blue, Red, and Pounding the Piano

15.4 The film’s name

16. What is the film about?

17. Summary

17.1 Critics and Directors Rank Kubrick’s Films

17.2 What can we learn from Kubrick’s films

1. On Kubrick the man

1.1 Introduction

Born in the Bronx, in 1928 Kubrick was a bad student. He didn't manage to get into any college. He said nothing that they taught me interested me. He read at least one book each week. And was informed on a wide range of subjects. He was a professional engineer. He patented several inventions. Most of them for his film 2001: A Space Odyssey, from 1968. He also invented a special wide lens for his film Barry Lyndon from 1975, with NASA's help.

He knew a lot about physics, philosophy, and literature but more than all history. He learned everything about cinema, especially the cinematography. Those who knew him said that he was informed on almost every subject. I read an interview where he discussed subjects unrelated to cinema such as the army and people who claim to spot alien ships.

As a young man, he was interested in photography. He worked as a photographer in Look Magazine. His first job. He was age of 17 and worked there until the age of 21. Then he became a director. After achieving fame, Kubrick didn’t grant interviews at least not on television or even radio. I heard one radio interview by him done after he finished Dr. Strangelove in 1964 and before he finished 2001: A Space Odyssey. But these two films made him famous and later he refused public interviews. Anyone who wanted to interview him had to go to his home and the interview was not recorded. He became a recluse. And hardly left home. He once called a specific cinema house and asked to remove the two first rows since you can’t see the film from there. He was a licensed pilot but developed a fear of flying after a plane he flew almost crashed.

People invented legends about him since he never denied anything. The most well-known one is that the moon landing was fake and Kubrick shot it. If he was willing at all to meet people outside work, it was for playing chess. He played chess for most of his life. I'm not sure at what level. He directed films like Chess. He was planning ahead many moves. Chess is central to 2001: A Space Odyssey. And has some importance in The Killing from 1956. In 2001: A Space Odyssey an astronaut arrives in a room decorated in an 18th-century French style. The room is filled with squares, like a chessboard.

Kubrick said: About movies, chess is more useful for preventing errors than for inspiring ideas. The ideas come up spontaneously, and the discipline that is needed to evaluate them and put them into practice is tremendous work. Besides many other qualities, chess teaches you how to control your excitement when you see something that looks very good. It teaches you to think before you act and with the same objectivity when in trouble.

When he was young, he played chess for money in New York. Kubrick would have been disappointed to know today’s situation. A computer software called Stockfish is the World champion in chess rated 3500. While the strongest chess player (Magnus Carlson) is rated just above 2800. We don't even understand how the computer plays chess. And we invented the computer. Compared to humans, the computer plays perfect chess. But even the computers we have today will be powerless against the computers of the future.

Chess is that complex. Kubrick used this fact as a metaphor in his films. Those who didn’t like him stated that his films were too cold. Jacques Rivette (a director and previous critic) called Kubrick a machine and said that 2001: A Space Odyssey was a machine making a film on other machines.

When he was a recluse, people didn't know how he looked. Nobody knew that he grew a beard. When someone visited, Kubrick would answer the door, and say that Kubrick was not at home. Since talking to fans was a waste of time in his eyes. He was impersonated by a crook named Alan Conway who was caught very fast. See the film Color Me Kubrick on this incident.

The initial critical response to Barry Lyndon broke his spirit. The reviews were negative at the start. Kubrick was hurt. The public didn't like the film that much either. After this film, Kubrick was not the same person. He said:

They did not notice how much I invested in the film.

He became even more recluse. After The Shining in 1980, he made only two films in 19 years. Fully Metal Jacket from 1987, and Eyes Wide Shut from 1999, after 12 years without directing a single movie. His last film Eyes Wide Shut was met, at best, with mixed reviews and at the end of the day, disappointed the critics. Even though, this film has many fanatic supporters.

He was known as a difficult director. In Spartacus from 1960, Kirk Douglas brought Kubrick to direct a script that was not his. Kubrick was 32 and had to direct actors such as Kirk Douglas, Laurence Oliver, Peter Ustinov (who won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor) John Gavin, Jean Simmons, Charles Laughton, and Tony Curtis. All of them were not only good actors but legends. Kubrick was not impressed or intimidated by them. Nor did he treat them with respect. He was already completely sure of his abilities. The large budget, more than any film up to this time, 12 million dollars, didn’t impress him. He did not bother to change clothes after a day of shooting. At the time, this was considered inappropriate. The actors felt disrespected. Douglas started yelling at Kubrick, to get dressed. After this experience, Kirk Douglas called him a talented shit. They parted ways.

As a reaction, Kubrick never made another film in the USA ever again. He moved to England and retained full control over all his future films. His films made money. Therefore, the producers left him alone. In the shooting of The Shining, he mistreated Shelly Duvall to the point of abuse. Several actors were taken aback by the large number of takes he used.

He is one of the most controversial filmmakers in history. Kubrick’s films are known but hardly anything is known about the man.

1.2 People Talking About Kubrick

Spielberg is perhaps Kubrick’s only famous friend. It started with 2001: A Space Odyssey. Spielberg went to watch the film with some friends on drugs. Watching this film on drugs is a tradition. Maybe because of the Stargate scene. Spielberg said that after the film, he felt intoxicated by the film. In 1980, they met. This was the time Kubrick completed The Shining. At the start, Spielberg didn’t like The Shining. And admitted that to Kubrick. With time and upon further viewing, Spielberg changed his mind and The Shining became one of Spielberg’s favorite movies. After 1980, Kubrick often invited Spielberg to his home and they talked. They spoke about films and actors they loved.

Before directing a film Spielberg asked Kubrick for advice. Kubrick was not easy with him. With questions such as:

Why do you want to make the film? How will you make it?

And then said about some of the film’s parts:

This sounds boring.

He challenged Spielberg to make a better film. And at times, it worked. While Kubrick was treated as a role model by the new generation of Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen, Spielberg, F.F Coppola, David Lynch, and others, it’s more surprising to learn that Kubrick himself admired some of the films of the same directors. He loved Woody Allen’s film Annie Hall from 1977, The Godfather by F.F. Coppola from 1982, and E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial by Spielberg from 1982. But his favorite film was Eraserhead by David Lynch. Lynch's favorite film was Lolita from 1962, by Kubrick.

From Spielberg, I learned that Kubrick did not like compliments. Spielberg told Kubrick that Schindler's List’s shooting style is based on Dr. Strangelove. This was meant as a compliment but Kubrick changed the subject. He didn’t let anyone in the set call him a genius. People all around the world thought he was a genius, But Kubrick hated it when they spoke in this way. Some actors never forgave him for not staying in touch with them after the film. For instance, Malcolm Mcdowell. He kept in touch with other of his actors, for example, Jack Nicholson. Nicolson always wanted to make another film with Kubrick, but it was not to be.

Kidman and Cruise who worked in his last film Eyes Wide Shut in 1999, loved him. After he died in 1999, they produced a film on his life called Stanley Kubrick: Life in Pictures. Cruise narrates. Near the end of the film, Cruise says that we will never see films that look like Eyes Wide Shut since only Stanley could make such films. I sure hope he is mistaken. We should always hold the hope that cinema’s best years are ahead.

Kubrick was very rich. But did it change him? I doubt it. His wife said he doesn’t care about clothes. He looks like a person selling balloons, she said. When directing his behavior was interpreted as hostile. He sort of apologized, saying that They read me in a wrong way. I am not hostile. I am just very focused on the current film.

His mistrust of other people, made him learn every subject of the craft. He regularly argued with his crew. He had two projects he wanted to direct for a long time. A film on Napoleon. This was canceled due to the high cost of location filming and the failure of an adaptation of War and Peace from 1968. Kubrick read a lot about Napoleon. He used a lot of his research when directing Barry Lyndon. He was working on a film called Aryan Papers on the Jewish Holocaust. It was canceled because of the 1993 release of Spielberg’s Holocaust film Schindler's List. His wife was happy about that. She said that working on this project made him depressed.

He started working on a film called A.I (Artificial Intelligence). About a child robot. A combination of a child (he loved children) and a robot (and he hated machines). But in the end, passed the project to Steven Spielberg, to finish. I remember watching A.I., I stayed in the cinema as the titles were rolling. When the titles ended, one final title arrived. The title I was sure will be there. Dedicated to Stanley Kubrick. I read that title, all alone in the cinema. It’s hard not to think about how would the film be if Kubrick had directed it. A. I. is a controversial film. And I think Kubrick would have been happy to hear that.

2. Kubrick the director

2.1 The Road to Fame

His first three films were documentaries, the first one about a boxer. He raised alone money for his first feature Fear and Desire in 1953. This film while raw, was shown in some theaters. But didn’t return the invested money (that wasn’t much anyway). His second film Killers Kills from 1955 didn’t leave much of a mark. It was The Killing, from 1956, his third film, that made him world famous. The film was greeted with very favorable reviews. Orson Welles is the director of Citizen Kane from 1941. The most prominent candidate for the best films of all time. Welles admired The Killing and called Kubrick a genius. This may have helped finance Kubrick’s next film, Paths of Glory 1957. Welles hated Paths of Glory and left in the middle. However, Paths of Glory (and even The Killing) is considered by many as one of the best films of all time. I saw these two films in many lists of the 100 best films of all time. While I think such lists say more about those who write them than about the films themselves, there are countless lists like that on the web. Paths of Glory appears in many of them.

After Paths of Glory, Kubrick got the name of a brilliant director. After his two next films Dr. Strangelove 1964, and 2001: A Space Odyssey from 1968, he was considered one of the best directors in cinema’s history, with the likes of Fellini, Bergman, Orson Welles Hitchcock, and a few others.

His next film A Clockwork Orange from 1971, made him into the controversial director he is these days. His next two films Barry Lyndon and The Shining were greeted with bad reviews, but with time were reevaluated, and today are considered among the best films of all time. Roger Ebert and many other critics claim that Barry Lyndon is among the most beautiful-looking films ever made.

Remark: The full name of Dr. Strangelove is Dr. Strangelove, Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. I will use Dr. Strangelove since the full name is too long. His films survived time, as they are screened in cables in regular channels in the USA. Not art channels. This is not true for any other canonical director. Sadly, not even Hitchcock. The public seems to know nothing about Welles, Ozu, Godard, Renoir, Bergman, Fellini, Tarkovsky, and even John Ford and Howard Hawks. Random people I met do know The Shining and 2001: Space Odyssey, for some reason. The Shining must be his most iconic film, with the largest number of people obsessing over it. The Shining together with A Clockwork Orange, are his two films that influenced popular culture the most. Not to the extent that Star Wars influenced popular culture but in the same league.

In television, his films are cited, for example, by The Simpsons, Seinfeld, South Park, Malcolm in the Middle, The Sopranos, Family Guy, The Fairly Odd Parents, American Dad!, Breaking Bad, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and other TV shows. Many directors claim that Kubrick influenced them. The list includes Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, James Cameron, Woody Allen, Terry Gillian, the Cohen Brothers, Ridley Scott, Paul Thomas Anderson (especially in his long takes), and Christopher Nolan. David Lynch, Trey Parker, Matt Stone, George A. Romero, Fellini, Akira Kurosawa, Richard Linklater, Sam Mendes, Quentin Tarantino, Joel Schumacher, Taylor Hackford, and Darren Aronofsky. In total, seventy-five directors said they were influenced by Kubrick. Such a high number is highly unusual. David Fincher imitated Kubrick in several films, especially Fight Club. Guillermo del Toro, David Lynch, Lars von Trier, Michael Mann, and Gaspar Noel tried to imitate Kubrick. Especially his camera movements and his careful framing. The Cohen Brothers Barton Fink pays homage to The Shining by making the hotel in the film malevolent. Steadicam shots in Barton Fink are an homage to The Shining. Tim Burton paid homage to 2001: A Space Odyssey in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. In Alice in Wonderland, there is an homage to The Shining. Mars Attacks! and Don’t Look Up are inspired by