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| The stare (or scare?) is back! |
Stanley Kubrick Series - 3
Though I have been a huge fan of Stanley Kubrick all the time,
I feel rather uncomfortable to see that my blog is evolving in a ‘Kubrickian’
pace! Except I am pouring out masterpiece after masterpiece from this blog,
this progress seems to be an unjustified excuse. Anyway, we are back and I will
continue with my Stanley Kubrick series, along with a number of other great
topics later in the year – Taxi Driver, Touch of Evil, Antonioni – to name a
few at this stage. Before we drift ourselves through the Star Gate, getting
enough peril and wrinkles and beyond, we have to first read the instructions!
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| You certainly have no idea of what you are stepping into! |
I feel that it is an important point to appreciate the two
diverse periods of style in Kubrick cinema. The drawing line seems to take
place in 1964, when Dr. Strangelove was released. Before Kubrick offered this
gift to us, his style was less consistent, though certain stylistic preference
and themes have already sparingly appeared in the 5 or 6 feature films in the
period from 1951-1963. This is what I would coin as a ‘non-Kubrickian’ period.
Since 1964, the last 35 years of his life has seen Kubrick’s fully developed and
heightened style, and the theme and stylistic motifs were extremely consistent,
from the Kubrick stare to the tracking shot and reserve zoom. And that coldness
Kubrick will always be remembered for – this is the period when his detractors
would call him ‘clinical’, ‘impersonal’, ‘misanthropic’ or even ‘mechanical’.
Yet after all, that is a better name for this wonderful style – Kubrickian.
This is the style that appears from ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ to ‘A Clockwork Orange’ to ‘The
Shining’, and, if fate allows it, ‘A. I.’ and ‘Napoleon’. The films from the Kubrickian period (1964-1999) are those that have influenced dozens of
filmmakers and the ones they have tried so hard to imitate. Of course, it is
also the area we will spend most time on in this series!
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| Kubrick getting really serious with Shelley Duvall during the filming of 'The Shining'. THE Kubrick Stare. |
Why is such a distinction important? Because it is too easy
to assume in a retrospective manner that ‘Kubrick is God!’ and jump to quick
conclusion that everything Kubrick has ever done is considered masterpiece and
follows a consistent style. If we really want to understand how Kubrick has inspired the later generation, it is certainly not an objective and indeed, misleading point of reference. At the early stage of his career, Kubrick has
experimented with a number of different stylistic motifs, before evolving into
a highly stylized later period (e.g. approach to actors, cinematic rhythm,
technical mastery). The early period from 1950s and 1960s consisted of
amateurish attempts, films that were not to Kubrick’s original intention, and
even work he was personally ashamed of. Some of the films, such as ‘Paths of
Glory’ and ‘Spartacus’, are truly non-Kubrickian, and I often feel ‘Paths of
Glory’ is too sentimental, a label not often attached to Stanley Kubrick.
While
the films of this period were of diverse style, subtle themes have already
surfaced on many of these – as those themes were the ones Kubrick has been
deeply concerned with from day one. The themes of the human condition,
dehumanization, and fatalism could be found in almost every Kubrick film before
Dr. Strangelove. On a positive note, I also feel that these films are nice
diversions from the cold and clinical Kubrickian monoliths of the later
years, and they serve as windows to explore the other face of Kubrick cinema.
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| The Killing (1956) |
Of all the films from the early Kubrick period, one
particular film stands out – ‘The Killing’ (1956). This Heist-Film Noir has
received a lot of attention in recent years due to the availability of the DVD
version, and it is also a great window to see the early genius of Stanley
Kubrick. It is special because it seems to have uncanny resemblance to the
‘Kubrickian’ feel as evident in his post-1964 films. The worldview, the motif,
and the ideas behind this Sterling Hayden epic sound too familiar to his later
work such as ‘A Clockwork Orange’ and ‘Barry Lyndon’, which I feel to be the
most Kubrickian films - these are the
ones showing how Kubrick defines the world we find ourselves situating in.
Off to the
race track, get a rifle and a mask, withhold the puppy – next time we are doing
‘The Killing’!
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| This is a hold-up : Still from 'The Killing' (1956). |
by Ed Law
5/6/2016
Film Analysis - 64
