Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures (2001)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Jan Harlan

Genre:

Documentary | Biography

Plot:

The career and life of Stanley Kubrick is explored through pictures, clips from his films, his old home movies, comments from his colleagues and a narration by Tom Cruise.

Plot Keywords:

Stanley Kubrick | Filmmaking | Film Director | Character Name In Title

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Tom Cruise	...	Himself (Narrator) (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ken Adam	...	Himself
Margaret Adams	...	Herself
Brian Aldiss	...	Himself
Woody Allen	...	Himself
Steven Berkoff	...	Himself
Louis C. Blau	...	Himself
John Calley	...	Himself
Milena Canonero	...	Herself
Wendy Carlos	...	Herself
Arthur C. Clarke	...	Himself
Alex Cox	...	Himself
Allen Daviau	...	Himself
Ed Di Giulio	...	Himself
Keir Dullea	...	Himself
Shelley Duvall	...	Herself
Anthony Frewin	...	Himself
James B. Harris	...	Himself
Michael Herr	...	Himself
Mike Herrtage	...	Himself
Philip Hobbs	...	Himself
Irene Kane	...	Herself (as Chris Chase)
Nicole Kidman	...	Herself
Barbara Kroner	...	Herself
Anya Kubrick	...	Herself
Christiane Kubrick	...	Herself
Gert Kubrick	...	Herself (archive footage)
Katharina Kubrick	...	Herself (as Katharina Kubrick-Hobbs)
Paul Lashmar	...	Himself
György Ligeti	...	Himself
Steven Marcus	...	Himself (as Prof. Steven Marcus)
Paul Mazursky	...	Himself
Malcolm McDowell	...	Himself
Douglas Milsome	...	Himself (as Doug Milsome)
Matthew Modine	...	Himself
Jack Nicholson	...	Himself
Tony Palmer	...	Himself
Alan Parker	...	Himself
Sydney Pollack	...	Himself
Richard Schickel	...	Himself
Martin Scorsese	...	Himself
Terry Semel	...	Himself
Alexander Singer	...	Himself (as Alex Singer)
Steven Spielberg	...	Himself
Sybil Taylor	...	Herself
Douglas Trumbull	...	Himself (as Doug Trumbull)
Peter Ustinov	...	Himself (as Sir Peter Ustinov)
Marie Windsor	...	Herself
Alan Yentob	...	Himself

Runtime:

142 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Australia:MA | Germany:12 | Spain:T | USA:R

Company:

Warner Bros. Home Video

Quotes:

[Last lines]
Christiane Kubrick: ...and he'd say, "I'm still fooling them!"

Movie Connections:

Features The Shining (1980)

A Life in Pictures - exactly what it sounds like

Because of his reclusive nature, Stanley Kubrick was never the best choice of subject for a documentary, in life as well as in death. Then again, that depends on who's behind the camera - in this case, the late director's brother-in-law and collaborator Jan Harlan, who also appears as one of the interviewees.

Harlan's choice is very simple: skip any attempt to understand the man and just focus on what we have, namely the pictures (hence the film's title). Not just the movies, but also the photos he took in his youth, before discovering cinema. This aspect is covered through comments by friends and family members. Fans, however, are probably more interested in what people have to say about the films, and so we've got some of the key cast and crew of almost all of his movies (one notable exception is Dr. Strangelove, given Peter Sellers and George C. Scott died a long time before Harlan shot the documentary) describing their experiences. In addition, other filmmakers express their sincere admiration for Kubrick, with heaps of praise coming from Scorsese, Spielberg (who directed the Kubrick-inspired A.I.) and Woody Allen (the original choice for Sydney Pollack's role in Eyes Wide Shut).

All possible anecdotes surrounding the man and his methods are recounted with joy, and the effect his films had on culture and society are explored in detail. Hearing Allen's first impressions of 2001 is refreshing (he didn't like it at first), whilst Scorsese's reaction to Paths of Glory is a perfect tribute to that picture's power ("It was so honest, it was shocking!"). The most famous controversy remains that surrounding A Clockwork Orange, and it's almost touching when Kubrick's widow recalls his decision to withdraw it from theaters in England until his death. We don't learn anything new about the great director, but hearing it from those people completely justifies Harlan's effort.

That said, there is one little problem in the film, and that's the fact that everyone is completely incapable of saying anything bad about Kubrick. Okay, maybe his death has something to do with it, but after dozens of occasions during which both Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall berated him for how he treated them on the set of The Shining, hearing them say it was generally a positive experience is surprising to say the least. The closest anyone comes to a bit of criticism is when Malcolm McDowell, always the ultimate Kubrickian icon, describes their relationship like this: "I loved him one moment and wanted to kill him the next!".

Overall A Life in Pictures doesn't add much to what we knew about one of the world's best filmmakers, nor does it take anything away. But remembering him through his work and the people who appeared in his movies is the most appropriate way to make a chronicle of his eventful life.