Thursday 17 July 2008

Kubrick at 80

Last night I watched Jon Ronson's documentary Stanley Kubrick's Boxes which kicked off More4's season of Kubrick movies on Tuesday, celebrating what would have been the late filmmaker's 80th birthday on July 26. Offering a fascinating glimpse into the great man's working methods as well as his obsessive nature, it helped put to rest several myths relating to the "reclusive" genius, and featured never before seen behind the scenes footage of Kubrick directing Full Metal Jacket and engaging in a "debate" about the British crew's need for tea breaks. Having just watched Zodiac: Director's Cut three times in the last few days, listened to both commentary tracks and seen all the extras, it would be fair to say that Fincher is probably the closest we have to Kubrick today, his obsessive desire for detail mirroring that of the great man.

If you didn't see it, click here.

5 comments:

Gerard said...

Wow, three times in the last three days? Sounds like me with TDK... :P

Mark Salisbury said...

So you like it then?

Gerard said...

Love. All the more with each viewing. I think my review will be up on Arts Hub tomorrow for me to post in my (way behind...) blog, but basically, it's freaking masterful. Dense, dark, thrilling. Ledger's electric, Two Face fantastically realised, and Bale continues to prove himself the perfect choice for the role. But it really needs more than one viewing to be properly absorbed - it's so tightly woven it's almost too much to take in.

The only comparisons I can make are to Heat-era Mann and the meticulousness of Fincher. Bring on Sunday's Begins/TDK double feature!

Matt Jones said...

Thnx for the Kubrick link Mark-wouldn't have seen it otherwise. French TV recently ran a Kubrick season but not Ronson's film.
The FULL METAL JACKET footage is priceless, especially the 'tea-break' discussion! I hope a new documentary can be assembled from the film. Did you manage to see the Kubrick archive exhibition at the Barbican last year?

Mark Salisbury said...

No missed it. But I did watch the US cut of The Shining recently for the first time on Blu-Ray. Creeped the life out of me all over again.