Stanley Kubrick

Identity / personnality

born on July 26th, 1928, In New York City

died on March 7th, 1999, In England

background

Grew up with his family in the Bronx

Jewish family, origins from Central Europe

American

diverses/several artistic interests when he was young, many of them became lifelong

Father

Mother

Jack, doctor, keen on chess, piano and photography

Sadie Gertrude, singer and dancer, she gave Stanley the love of books and literature

Sister

Barbara, born in May 1934, his younger and only sister

chess

photography

literature and reading books

studies

he wasn't interested in school

he used to skip school to follow his passion (photography)

he didn't had good grades, he finished with low averages and he couldn't get into a great college

his bad grades found their origin in Stanley's boredom and disdain for school, especially the classroom setting

he didn't like the "traditional" process of learning at school, he was incredibly visionary

he had a supportive family

even if his father was disappointed in his son's failure to excell in school (he knew Stanley was fully capable), he encouraged him to read books and to take up photography as a serious hobby

his father transmitted him all of his passions and he taught him many things, such as playing chess

birth of a passion

photography

film making

chess

his father taught him to play chess at the age of 12 and Stanley loved it until the day he died

major element in his movies, as a visual element and as an strategy to direct and produce movies

" As a young boy and a teenager, Kubrick became a skilled professional in the game of chess. Through the game, he learned how to mentally prepare moves, pay attention to small details and strategize as needed." Stanley Kubrick: The True Story Of The Genius Movie Director.

a visionary man

intellectual, clever

had a prodigeous artistic sense

REALLY perfectionnist and control freak, he cared about tiny details that could be meaningless for other people, but not Kubrick.

had an amazing dark humour

one of the greatest filmmakers this world had ever known, he was a film director, producer, screenwriter, and photographer

he is determined, he could spend hours filming only one scene to produce it perfectly, he could spend much time and money to reproduce a NYC's street, going as far as sending people from England to New York to take the measures of a road that only appeared for 3 minutes during the entire movie! totally insane and incredible

his movies

all deep, meaningful, complicated in a certain way, visually attractive, innovative and visionary, very unique, at the beggining they were produced by limited budgets and ressources but quality wasn't the least (Kubrick took on all kinds of genres)

Paths of Glory, 1957

Dr. Strangelove Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb, 1964 (nuclear war)

Spartacus, 1960

2001, A Space Oddyssey, 1968 (sci-fi)

Lolita, 1962 (drama)

Barry Lyndon, 1975 (historical romance)

Clockwork Orange, 1971 (dystopian future)

Shining, 1980 (horror)

Eyes Wide Shut, 1999 (modern-day romance and mystery)

Full Metal Jacket, 1987 (the Vietnam War)

weddings

major inspirations

Weegee (photography)

Alfred Hitchcock (movies)

had a marvelous talent for storytelling

major influences

Steven Spielberg

Martin Scorsese

Quentin Tarantino

Orson Welles

When he was 13 y.o., his father offered him a camera, and it all started from here.

His first achievements/performance

His visual cinematographic style

He has been a full-time worker at the Look magazine company at the age of 17 y.o., but at the same time he also studied photography and videography

he has sold photographs to Look magazine rapidely after starting his photographer career

His first short documentary was about a day in the life of a professional boxer's life. It has been produced with a very little budget yet it has been greatly realized: Day of the Fight, 1951

Little by little, he has saved and raised enough money to produce his first feature movie "Fear and desire", 1953.

"He was studying and cell teaching on a wide variety of subjects which included both photography and videography"Stanley Kubrick: The True Story Of The Genius Movie Director.

zoom-shot

Steadicam

single point perspective

iconic Kubrick's stare which adds intensity/mystery to a character, used in several movies

Sergei Eisenstein and Vsevolod Pudovkin

Konstantin Stanislavski

he later married Ruth Sobotka in 1955

He married his third and last wife, Christiane Harlan, in 1958. He had 2 daughters with her. He met her during the production of Paths of Glory. They moved to the United Kingdom in 1961 to make Lolita, and then decided to live there.

He married Toba Metz at the age 18, she was his first wife

Kubrick died in his sleep at the age of 70, suffering a heart attack

born on July 26th, 1928, In New York City