Director's Spotlight: Stanley Kubrick

One of the most acclaimed and deified filmmakers who ever lived, Stanley Kubrick is certainly one of the most distinct voices in cinema history. Personally, however, his work doesn't tend to connect with me. He's been called "cold" and "emotionless" by his detractors over the years. His fans often point to the end scene of Paths of Glory, which is an incredibly affecting and emotional scene, as proof that that criticism is bullshit. I defy those fans to give me another moment of emotion in a Kubrick movie and they often can't do it. Now, I could give them a couple of emotional moments in Kubrick's oeuvre, but I don't and it's a fun game to play with them. Regardless, I don't think the cold, calculating criticism of Kubrick is out of line. I don't think it inhabits every inch of his work, but it's not off base.

I'm also not a huge fan of Kubrick's sense of humor. Outside of some of the extraordinary work from Peter Sellers and George C. Scott in the War Room of Dr. Strangelove, I don't actually think I've ever laughed while watching a Kubrick movie. It's not that Kubrick didn't have a sense of humor, he did, but it's just not one that lined up with my own tastes, I suppose. I'm also not a fan of his social commentary, because I don't think it was as smart as his fans will tell you it is. You can sum up A Clockwork Orange, for example, in a single sentence ("We all deserve the free will to make our own choices, even if those choices are evil.") and yet the movie is 2.5 hours long.

So what do I like about Kubrick's work? The first thing that comes to mind is his impeccable framing of shots. It's not surprising since he started out as a photographer, but whether it's the opening of A Clockwork Orange, the trench shots in Paths of Glory, the majority of 2001, or even the painterly frames of Barry Lyndon (that the movie doesn't have much to offer outside of its beauty is a separate issue), Kubrick knew how to put beautiful or interesting things in front of us in the audience. And sometimes, as in the case of 2001 (which is in my top 10 movies, I might add) he tells the story in a way that eventually reaches transcendence. So even though I mostly find him much like Paul Thomas Anderson in that he's an obviously talented filmmaker who simply doesn't put it all together into a great whole, when he did put it all together, watch out because it's astounding work.

1. 2001: A Space Odyssey - 10/10
2. Paths of Glory - 9.5/10
3. The Shining - 9/10
4. Barry Lyndon - 6/10
5. Eyes Wide Shut - 6/10
6. Full Metal Jacket - 5/10
7. Spartacus - 5/10
8. The Killing - 4/10
9. Dr. Strangelove - 3/10
10. A Clockwork Orange - 3/10