Opening More4's Stanley Kubrick season, this documentary by journalist Jon Ronson (based on an article he wrote for The Guardian), explored the great director's once-secretive home and paraphernalia he accumulated through the decades. It's a treasure trove for any cinephiles and a fascinating glimpse into the mind of an obsessed, eccentric, genius perfectionist ...
Ronson had full access to the Kubrick estate at St. Albans (the New York-born director's chosen home after emigrating from his native land in the '60s). It was a fairly unassuming place; a little rundown, but otherwise rather ordinary-looking. Inside, Ronson showed us Kubrick's collection of boxes, each full of research material for his movies. And what dizzying and meticulous research! Most eye-opening were the photos of practically every shop, doorway, restaurant, costumers and apartment in south-England (the work of one photographer, sent on a year-long mission, who took over 30,000 photos.)
Kubrick apparently delighted in having the world brought to him, through willing assistants and a global network of "spies" (many of whom never knew Kubrick was pulling their strings). Fans in distant countries were asked to report on the print quality of his films being shown in backwater towns; a group of readers were tasked with devouring screenplays and books (in an effort to find the next story worth turning into a film); international press adverts were sent to Kubrick's estate so he could check the agreed measurements, etc.
It all gave the impression of a Willy Wonka-style character, crouching hermit-like in his box-filled estate, obsessing over minute detail, just waiting for the perfect conditions of movie-making to align themselves (like the planets in 2001: A Space Odyssey). Kubrick apparently spent much of the '80s and early-'90s planning a gritty WWII movie, only to abort the entire project when he saw Schindler's List and didn't think he could compete.
By the end of the documentary, our view of Kubrick had shifted somewhat. I'm sure it would have been awful to be on the receiving end of his quest for perfection (Shelley Duvall broke down in tears during The Shining, when asked to do over 100 takes of the same scene), but Kubrick wasn't a totally dour, perplexing, oddball. Footage of him filming Full Metal Jacket, discussing the frequency of the British crew's tea-breaks, proved he had a dry sense of good-natured humour. His wife and daughter were on hand to insist he wasn't the total lunatic his habits would have you believe. And you could imagine him half-giggling as he wrote his strange memos -- asking for barometric pressure readings of London or safety-collars for cats!
In the end, Ronson had begun to think Kubrick's boxes made perfect sense. It was just a shame Kubrick allowed his attention to detail to necessitate such huge gaps between his later works. But then again -- the finished products speak for themselves. Every Stanley Kubrick film is meticulously presented. You can sense the weeks, months and years of thought that went into every set design, costume, location, composition, piece of music, hairstyle, and choice of actor. It's what makes films like Dr. Strangelove, 2001, A Clockwork Orange, The Shining and Full Metal Jacket withstand critique decades after they were made. He wasn't the perfect director (there's always a detached coldness that limited the type of stories he could tell effectively), but I can't imagine any other director bringing us such mesmerizing cinematic experiences.
RIP Stanley.
15 July 2008
More4, 10.00 pm
The season continues: Barry Lyndon (17 Jul, 1.10am), Paths Of Glory (17 Jul, 11.55am), Flying Padre (18 Jul, 12.55pm), Lolita (18 Jul, 9pm), 2001: A Space Odyssey (19 Jul, 1.30pm), Killer's Kiss (21 Jul, 11.30pm), The Killing (23 Jul, 12.05am) and The Shining (25 Jul, 9pm)
