People
Stanley Kubrick
Directing · follow into films and chains
Biography
Stanley Kubrick (July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American film director, writer, producer, and photographer who lived in England during most of the last four decades of his career. Kubrick was noted for the scrupulous care with which he chose his subjects, his slow method of working, the variety of genres he worked in, his technical perfectionism, and his reclusiveness about his films and personal life. He maintained almost complete artistic control, making movies according to his own whims and time constraints, but with the rare advantage of big-studio financial support for all his endeavors. Kubrick's films are characterized by a formal visual style and meticulous attention to detail—his later films often have elements of surrealism and expressionism that eschews structured linear narrative. His films are repeatedly described as slow and methodical, and are often perceived as a reflection of his obsessive and perfectionist nature. A recurring theme in his films is man's inhumanity to man. While often viewed as expressing an ironic pessimism, a few critics feel his films contain a cautious optimism when viewed more carefully. The film that first brought him attention to many critics was Paths of Glory (1957), the first of three films of his about the dehumanizing effects of war. Many of his films at first got a lukewarm reception, only to be years later acclaimed as masterpieces that had a seminal influence on many later generations of film-makers. Considered especially groundbreaking was 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) noted for being both one of the most scientifically realistic and visually innovative science-fiction films ever made while maintaining an enigmatic non-linear storyline. He voluntarily withdrew his film A Clockwork Orange (1971) from England, after it was accused of inspiring copycat crimes which in turn resulted in threats against Kubrick's family. His films were largely successful at the box-office, although Barry Lyndon (1975) performed poorly in the United States. Living authors Anthony Burgess and Stephen King were both unhappy with Kubrick's adaptations of their novels A Clockwork Orange and The Shining (1980) respectively, and both authors were engaged with subsequent adaptations. All of Kubrick's films from the mid-1950s to his death except for The Shining were nominated for Oscars, Golden Globes, or BAFTAs. Although he was nominated for an Academy Award as a screenwriter and director on several occasions, his only personal win was for the special effects in 2001: A Space Odyssey. Even though all of his films, apart from the first two, were adapted from novels or short stories, his works have been described by Jason Ankeny and others as "original and visionary". Although some critics, notably Andrew Sarris and Pauline Kael, frequently disparaged Kubrick's work, Ankeny describes Kubrick as one of the most "universally acclaimed and influential directors of the postwar era" with a "standing unique among the filmmakers of his day."
Notable films
Where to start
Highlights from credits and KinoChain journeys.
The Shining
Directed
2001: A Space Odyssey
Appears in a KinoChain journey
A Clockwork Orange
Appears in a KinoChain journey
Spartacus
Appears in a KinoChain journey
Eyes Wide Shut
Directed
Full Metal Jacket
Directed
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Directed
Paths of Glory
Directed
Chains
KinoChain journeys
Public chains that pass through their films — or name them as a bridge.
The Wicker Shadows of Folk Horror
From a wartime farce to sunlit cults and lighthouse madness, a journey through rural dread and the rituals that bind us.
8 films
The Writer's Fight
From Spartacus to the shadows of the blacklist, a chain of films that honours the courage of Hollywood's silenced screenwriters.
8 films
Solar Cinema: From Dawn to Destruction
A curated journey through cinema's most radiant and ruthless suns, from the cosmic dawn of 2001 to the scorching end of Sunshine.
5 films
The Threshold of Nowhere
From a furniture store's hidden door to the endless corridors of the mind, this chain maps the liminal spaces where dread and wonder collide.
8 films
The Perfect Needledrop: Ten Moments That Own the Screen
From sudden silences to euphoric choruses, these are the film moments where a song doesn't just score the scene, it becomes the scene.
10 films
The Art of Listening
From the whisper of a surveillance tape to the roar of a wartime beach, these eight films prove that sound is not just heard, it is felt. A chain of masterpiece...
7 films
Glass Houses That Refuse to Let You Leave
A tour of haunted architecture, from a 2001 remake's clockwork glass prison back through Italian gothic and the black-and-white British ghost story, where the b...
8 films
20 Home Video Releases Every Film Obsessive Should Own
There was a brief, glorious period in the late 1990s and early 2000s when buying a film on home video felt less like acquiring a product and more like being han...
20 films
Topics
Explore by topic
Related people
