Kubrick

Starred review from January 8, 2024
Kolker and Abrams—film professors at the University of Maryland, College Park and Bangor University, respectively—follow up Eyes Wide Shut, their deep dive into Stanley Kubrick’s final film, with an authoritative portrait of the director, who died in 1999. Kolker and Abrams trace Kubrick’s pedantic working style to his days as a still photographer in his early 20s, when he “confidently ordered” such subjects as Miss America and then–Columbia University president Dwight Eisenhower “into positions that would provide the best compositions to get exactly what he wanted.” Charting Kubrick’s development as a filmmaker, the authors note that such stylistic hallmarks as a fondness for natural light and tracking shots can be observed in his early documentary shorts, Day of the Fight and Flying Padre, both released in 1951. Minor works, including Kubrick’s 1952 feature debut, Fear and Desire (which the authors regard as sophisticated if unrefined), are examined in equal depth to later classics. The portrayal that emerges is fascinating if unflattering; the authors cover the clash of egos between Kubrick and science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke as they developed the screenplay for 2001: A Space Odyssey, Kubrick’s willingness to subject A Clockwork Orange star Malcolm McDowell to excruciating pain to get believable shots, and the director’s cruel treatment of Shelley Duvall while filming The Shining. Filled with striking behind-the-scenes stories and elevated by a keen understanding of Kubrick’s style, this is a biography as monumental as its subject.