Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures

• Director: Jan Harlan
• AMG Rating:
• Genre: Film, TV & Radio
• Movie Type: Film & Television History, Biography
• Main Cast: Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Jack Nicholson
• Release Year: 2001
• Country: US
• Run Time: 141 minutes

Plot

Stanley Kubrick was one of the most acclaimed and controversial filmmakers of his generation, but he was also an intensely private man who rarely gave interviews and produced most of his films under a shroud of secrecy, which tended to foster a great deal of rumor and speculation about his working methods. Jan Harlan, who worked as Kubrick's assistant and executive producer on several projects (and was also his brother-in-law), directed this documentary, which offers a rare in-depth look into Kubrick's career as a filmmaker, structured around interviews with a number of actors, writers, technicians, composers, friends, and family who speak on the record about his relentless perfectionism, his creative vision, his life both on and off the set, his relationships with actors, his unrealized projects, and his importance and influence as an artist. Among those who share their thoughts in Stanley Kubrick -- A Life In Pictures are actors Jack Nicholson, Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Malcolm McDowell, Peter Ustinov, and Keir Dullea; writers Arthur C. Clarke and Michael Herr; special effects artist Douglas Trumbull; composers Wendy Carlos and Gyorgy Ligeti; filmmakers Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Paul Mazursky, and Sydney Pollack; and Kubrick's spouse Christiane Kubrick. Stanley Kubrick -- A Life In Pictures was originally produced as a television project, to be aired in three parts, though the project was shown in its entirety at the 2001 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Review

We are not likely to see another documentary this comprehensive on a major film director for some time, and the key credit here is director Jan Harlan. He was the late Stanley Kubrick's brother-in-law and sometime producer, and it's clear that his relationship to his subject allowed him access to not only a mind-boggling lineup of interview subjects (when was the last time you saw Jack Nicholson interviewed on camera about anything?), but also to behind-the-scenes footage of Kubrick as well as home movies of the man and his family. (The amusing sidelight -- his daughters appeared to be very reluctant subjects for Daddy's camera.) The drawback to Harlan's authorized approach is a skewed view of its controversial subject. There are occasional demurrals on the party line -- what a great filmmaker and misunderstood man the reclusive Kubrick was (the film prefers "private" to reclusive) -- but they get swept away in a torrent of admiration. A more balanced portrait will surely come, but it won't be able to match the production values and access to key collaborative figures this film offers. ~ Tom Wiener, All Movie Guide

Cast

• Woody Allen
• Martin Scorsese
• Steven Spielberg
• Jack Nicholson

Tom Cruise - Narrator; Nicole Kidman; Alan Parker; Paul Mazursky; Sydney Pollack; Malcolm McDowell; Shelley Duvall; Matthew Modine; Peter Ustinov; Ken Adam; György Ligeti; Douglas Trumbull; James B. Harris; Tony Palmer; Alex Cox; John Calley; Steven Berkoff; Wendy Carlos; Arthur C. Clarke; Allen Daviau; Keir Dullea; Michael Herr; Richard Schickel; Chris Chase; Marie Windsor; Jan Harlan; Leon Vitali; Milena Canonero; Margaret Adams; Douglas Milsome; Steven Marcus

Credit

Anthony Frewin - Associate Producer, Jan Harlan - Director, Melanie Cuneo - Editor, Manuel Harlan - Camera Operator, Jan Harlan - Producer, Manuel Harlan - Sound/Sound Designer

Similar Movies

My Voyage to Italy; Pier Paolo Pasolini e la Ragione Di Un Sogno; Roger Corman: Hollywood's Wild Angel; The Haunted World of Edward D. Wood Jr.

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