Kubrick by Kubrick

A documentary on the works of the legendary film director Stanley Kubrick containing rare sound footage of interviews with Kubrick.

Interesting and edifying. The interviews with the great Stanley Kubrick are gold and show his intelligence and the thought he put into his craft. These interviews are reason enough to watch this but writer-director Greg Monro expertly and seamlessly packages these together with other material to give a much fuller picture. The other material includes interviews with and views from cast and crew from the particular film under discussion and with film critics.

However, not a documentary to watch if you're not familiar with Kubrick's work. The documentary skims over the basics of his movies and concentrates on the in-depth stuff. Only recommended for Kubrick fans.

It has been more than 20 years since Kubrick's death but his works continue to be analyzed in search of answers that the filmmaker was always reluctant to give interviews. However, thanks to this document, his personal interviews come to light conducted by journalist Michel Ciment. It is a good documentary, It gives a voice to one of the greatest filmmakers in the history of cinema, as well as one of the most enigmatic, giving us the keys to understanding his work . Although it does not have anything special either since it is mostly made up of canned interviews, done a long time ago, as well as archiveFootage. The main novelty is the recreation of the famous baroque room from ¨2001, a space odyssey¨, where some objects that marked Kubrick's main movies. It is based mainly on interviews conducted by French film critic Michel Ciment, the only journalist whom Kubrick authorized to interview him. That's because, as everyone knows, Kubrick was very interview-averse, a sober person who liked to stay in his house on the outskirts of London with just his family, playing chess and working there. In fact, his house in the countryside was his headquarters where he planned, scripted and even shot his movies in or around the area not far from it.

This unique documentary is formed entirely of stock footage and photographs, accompanied with the voice of Stanley Kubrick. Through interviews that have never seen the light of day, Kubrick analyzes his work and his philosophy of life with a French critic. Thanks to his testimony and through interviews of those (Malcolm MacDowell, Marisa Berenson, R. Lee Ermey, Sterling Hayden, Roger Ebert, Ken Adam, Arthur C. Clarke, Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman and wife Christiane Kubrick) who were lucky enough to work with him, and from some of the most important sequences of his films, we get to know a little better about this legendary and mythical director, and in the words of Jack Nicholson and others, an incredibly perfectionist filmmaker.

The documentary was finely and compellingly made by Gregory Monro and selected for the 44th Mostra Internacional de Cinema de São Paulo. In it there is a review of most of Kubrick's films .His film debut was ¨Fear and desire¨ 1953 , a not very successful Kubrick movie , belonging to his early period when he made black and white , low budgeted flicks as the Film Noir : ¨Killer's Kiss¨ , ¨The Killing¨ and continuing with one of the best wartime pictures : ¨Paths of Glory¨ produced and played by Kirk Douglas . As Kirk hired Kubrick to direct the blockbuster epic ¨Spartacus¨. Following the polemic film : ¨Lolita¨ with James Mason, Sue Lyon . And going on three hits in Sci-Fi and Dystopian genre as ¨Dr Strangelove or how I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb¨, ¨2001 a space odyssey¨ , ¨A Clockwork Orange¨. In 1975 he directed the great costumer movie ¨Barry Lyndon¨ with Ryan O'Neal , Marisa Berenson. And other genre movies as the terror in ¨The Shining¨ based on Stephen King novel. With a special analysis of what is considered to be the best film in Vietnam, despite having been filmed near London: ¨Full Metal Jacket¨ that took Stanley Kubrick more than a year to make; being a sour and intelligent view of the Vietnam war is provided in all terrible , bloody and violent detail . And indeed the best thing about this movie , results to be the drill instructor , brutal Gunnery Sergeant : R. Lee Ermey , a real ex-drill himself this warfare film . And his last one : ¨Eyes Wide Shut¨ with big name stars as Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. Rating : 7.5/10 . Above average . The documentary wil appeal to Stanley Kubrick enthusiasts featuring a treasure trove of unearthed interview recordings from the master himself.

Greetings again from the darkness. The throngs of us who are not artistic geniuses ae always fascinated with insight and analysis from those few who are. And when said genius is renowned for eschewing interviews and most any chance to discuss the work, we become all the more intrigued. Such is the case with Oscar-winning director Stanley Kubrick. Although he passed away in 1999, Kubrick's filmography features many classics that are studied in film schools today: THE KILLING (1956), PATHS OF GLORY (1957), SPARTACUS (1960), LOLITA (1962), DOCTOR STRANGELOVE: OR HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB (1964), 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968), A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (1971), BARRY LYNDON (1975), THE SHINNG (1980), FULL METAL JACKET (1987), and EYES WIDE SHUT (1999).

Gregory Monro is a biographer and documentarian (JERRY LEWIS: THE MAN BEHIND THE CLOWN, 2016) and as the structure for this profile of Kubrick, he uses the recordings made by French film critic Michel Ciment during his conversations with Kubrick spanning nearly 20 years. Ciment used the recordings as the basis for his seminal 1982 biography on Kubrick, and Monro adds familiar clips from the well-known films, as well as recognizable set pieces and interviews from faces you'll surely recognize. These include a young Malcolm McDowell, a thoughtful Jack Nicholson, an annoyed Sterling Hayden, renowned author Arthur C Clarke (2001 interview), a frustrated Marisa Berenson, a forthcoming R Lee Ermey, and megastar Tom Cruise. Most of these folks worked with Kubrick.

Since most of us have not previously heard the recordings, it's the voice of Kubrick that draws us in and keeps us tuned in. The truth is, we've heard from many of his collaborators over the years, yet we've heard little from the man himself ... until now. Still, although we hear him talking, a natural defensiveness seems to prevent him going too deep on his inspirations, motivations, or objectives. He does speak often of "conflict", and we see two types in his film: war (PATHS OF GLORY, SPARTACUS, FULL METAL JACKET, DOCTOR STRANGELOVE), and personal (all of the others, including crossover with the war films).

With his reputation as a perfectionist, we are a bit surprised at how open Kubrick seemed to be with spontaneity. On one hand, we have Oscar-winning composer Leonard Rosenman (BARRY LYNDON) recalling tempers boiling over when Kubrick made the orchestra re-do the piece more than 100 times. On the other hand, he allowed actors like Peter Sellers and Jack Nicholson to bring their own spin to roles. Kubrick was a New Yorker who relocated to London, where we learn he ran his world, both professional and personal.

This is one for those cinephiles who never miss a chance to discover even a morsel of insight into the greats of cinema. We can't help but recall the 2015 documentary Hitchcock/Truffaut, although the master of suspense seemed much more willing to share thoughts on his craft than what we get here with Kubrick. None of this should be surprising from the guy who created and filmed the maze in THE SHINING.

Available VOD beginning March 21, 2023.

In 40 Years Stanley Kubrick Made Only 13 Films :

The Best Epic Film Ever : Barry Lyndon The Best Science Fiction Film Ever : 2001 A Space Odyssey The Best Film About Violence Ever : A Clockwork Orange The Best World War 1 Film Ever : Paths of Glory The Best Vietnam War Film Ever : Full Metal Jacket The Best Horror Film Ever : The Shining The Best Dark Comedy/Cold War Film Ever : Dr. Strangelove

This Without any Shadow of a Doubt Makes him one of the Best Filmmakers Ever if not The Greatest of Them All.

French documentary that has pulled together interview footage with Kubrick in which he explains the ideas and thinking behind nearly all his movies. He's clearly an intelligent man who has very firm ideas around what drives the stories he's interested in and the character motivations. One thing I particularly found interesting is that with his reputation for attention to detail, hundreds of takes etc many scenes were made up on the hoof - something he feels is right, inevitable and part of the key to good film making. The film is also littered with archive footage of interviews with many of his actors eg Nicholson, Cruise, Sellers etc. Not bad, but aimed squarely at fans / cineastes.