HOME | POLITICS | SPORTS | LIFE | SCI/TECH | OPEDS | HELPFUL TIPS
|
May 15, 2005 Many would say that the movies of Stanley Kubrick are revolting and disgusting. His film "A Clockwork Orange" starring Malcolm McDowell was almost not released because of the violent content. When Kubrick directed and produced Stephen King's "The Shining" starring Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall, the critics tore it apart, although Kubrick stayed as close to the original book as possible. To me, Kubrick was a genius. He took the ugly reality of life and shoved it into your face. It was as if to say "This is Reality, this is life, deal with it." Not too many filmmakers had the panache to show the reality of life in a beautiful, cinematic way. Kubrick made you stop and think about both the ugly and the beauty of life. Sometimes the beauty of life IS ugly, and Kubrick understood that. It reflected in his work, and those of Kubrick's fans that watched his films over and over and researched each of them in depth understand the message he was trying to convey in each film he made. Sometimes, even in the most beautiful thing, if you look hard enough there is ugly. Kubrick knew this and in each of his movies he conveyed this. In "A Clockwork Orange" the main character loved to listen to Ludwig von Beethoven's 9th Symphony to relax after a night of the "Ultra Violence" (as he called it). Towards the end of the movie, Alec (the main character) was in jail for his crimes and he underwent an experimental rehabilitation, to keep him from ending up in jail again. During the experiment, the doctors showed Alec movies of violence while he was hooked up to a machine that sent shocks to his medulla oblongata. But what really crushed Alec's spirit wasn't the experiment itself, but the fact that they played Beethoven's 9th Symphony throughout the experiment. The only thing that Alec loved was being stripped from him. It's one thing to rehabilitate a violent youth into a peace-loving young man, but to take away the music that he loved as well was the ugly that went along with the beauty. In "The Shining" the beauty of the hotel went with the ugly of the drinking of the alcoholic Jack Nicholson. The beauty of Shelley Duvall's mother character was matched with the ugly of Danny's (her son) ability to see and speak to dead people. The filmography of Stanley Kubrick can be described best as beautiful and precise composition. He had elaborate tracking shots, powerful acting, as well as deep thought-provoking themes in each of his movies. Kubrick put his stamp and unique vision of ugliness and beauty on each and every film he made. His only Oscar award came for "2001: A Space Odyssey" after having been nominated for Best Director academy awards for "Dr. Strangelove", "A Clockwork Orange", "Barry Lyndon", and of course, "2001: A Space Odyssey". Each of these films, along with "Full Metal Jacket" also earned Kubrick nominations for Best Screenplay. "Dr. Strangelove", "A Clockwork Orange", and "Barry Lyndon" received Best Picture nominations. What a shame it is that none of them won the award. In 1977, Kubrick was awarded the D.W. Griffen Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Directors Guild of America. That same year, he began work on his final film, "Eyes Wide Shut" starring Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise. On March 7, 1999, the world lost the most creative director when Stanley Kubrick died in his sleep. Released in June of 1999, "Eyes Wide shut" was the first Kubrick film to open at number one at the box office, and quickly became one of his greatest hits. May you still direct your visions, wherever you are Mr. Kubrick. ------------ About the author: Kaycee Nilson has completed her first novel, "Night Falls on Chicago." The first two chapters can be viewed at http://www.KayceeNilson.com. Besides writing columns for Useless-Knowledge, Kaycee is currently working on two more novels, "From the Mind of a Vampire", and "I'll Love You Til You Die." If you have enjoyed what you read, or would like to leave Kaycee a message, please visit her message board at http://www.KayceeNilson.com/Board Email: Kaycee@kayceenilson.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com. Please link to this article rather than copying and pasting it onto your site (which would be unauthorized and illegal). |
||||||
|
|
|||||||
|
