Stanley Kubrick Exhibition: A Look Back

·         The Shining: was a prime example of Stanley’s perfectionist nature as over 200 hours worth of filmed material came out of the overall project and all the primary actors were extremely exhausted, which got hand in hand with the atmosphere of the movie near the end. The ratio for the number of takes to final shot was 102:1, whereas the average in the industry is somewhere between 5:1 and 15:1.

·         Unrealized Projects:

1.      Napoleon: Stanley wanted to work on this since youth and actually had a card catalogue which had hand-written notes that span over each and every day of Napoleon’s life. He wanted it to be as historically accurate as possible and hired over 20 graduates to help with the research in a time span of 3 years. This was dropped after rival studio’s, Waterloo, a biopic similarly based on Napoleon did poorly at the box office and subsequently pushed Stanley to move onto a new project which happened to be the very controversial, A Clockwork Orange. 

Hand written letter from Audrey Hepburn

Also there was an actual hand-written letter from Audrey Hepburn indicating her disinterest toward the role tentatively being offered in Napoleon, citing that she was taking time off during that period and that hopefully Stanley would remember her for another role somewhere down the line. A collaboration never surfaced but one can imagine.

2.      Aryan Papers: Stanley always wanted to make a movie about the Holocaust and finally once the initial screenplay was done, Steven Spielberg came out with Schindler’s List and the plan was subsequently dropped in favour of Eyes Wide Shut. Costumes and lead actress was already picked.

3.      A.I. (Artificial Intelligence)

Stanley was not very happy with the technological advancement that was required to support his vision for A.I. and hence the project was left upon which he was to come at a later point. However he passed away 5 days after the principal photography of Eyes Wide Shut and hence the project was up in the air until Stanley’s widow gave the approval to carry on with it to Steven Spielberg.

·         He made his first two feature films on his own in their entirety. Given the lack of resources, he had to play in a lot of the roles in those movies which didn’t bode well considering how much of private person he is and enjoys being behind the scene person. However a quote from this soft-spoken legend indicated how one must know photography at the very least if they ever dare to make a movie on their own.

The Starchild from 2001: A Space Odyssey

·         Spartacus: Was Stanley’s first proper big budget movie and he had a quite a bit of struggle given his perfectionist nature. He vowed to stay away as much as he can from such big productions that have so many restrictions.

·         Lolita: while controversial to say the least, the story was developed into a morally complex viewpoint that touched issues beyond the superficial nature of an elderly person being attracted to someone so young. In that way, he was able to portray more than what meets the eye.

·         Clockwork Orange: was banned after initial screening in a lot of places and death threats were sent to Stanley, his family and those related to the production of it. The movie was consequently removed from the theatres in 1974 when protests grew regarding the concerns that wannabe culprit may rise out of this upon watching it. It was subsequently re-released 25 years later after Kubrick passed away.

      All in all, an amazing experience that I will dearly hold on to. I learned a lot about him, his work ethic, his work and much more. Definitely worth the buck!