The secret is out: I’m a huge fan of Stanley Kubrick’s work and his genius so it should be of no surprise that I pretty much inhale everything I can having to do with Kubrickian theory. My latest foray into Kubrick is the 2001 documentary about his life, titled simply as A Life In Pictures.

The Stanley Kubrick DVD Collection Box Set came out around 2001 or so, with it’s newly digitalized DVD picture, excellent sound, and organized pretty little early DVD snap cases and one of the biggest perks to buying that pricey box set was the added bonus of A Life In Pictures.

Stanley Kubrick was a film director who started out in the fifties with his first film, The Day of the Fight about a boxer rigging a match. From that point, he went on to direct many more landmark films—reinventing each genre that he touched whether it was comedy (Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love The Bomb), science fiction (2001: A Space Odyssey), or sexual drama (Lolita). He passed away in 1999 right after the completion of his last film, Eyes Wide Shut.

Directed by Jan Harlan, who also directed the Malcolm McDowell biography and executive-produced all of Kubrick’s films from Barry Lyndon through the Spielberg’s Artificial Intelligence project (which Kubrick was a part of), A Life In Pictures is a film documenting Stanley Kubrick and his rise to success from his triumphs (The Shining) to his failures (Barry Lyndon) and the man behind the camera.

The movie is interesting for so many reasons. For one, it contains a lot of archival footage that was uncovered just for the sake of the movie. You’re able to see very early footage of him as a little kid dancing and playing with his sister and pictures of him playing drums (which was one of his hobbies) as well as early photos of him working on his early films (where he didn’t have the huge bushy beard!). All of this new footage and unforgettable pictures (such as him flipping off the camera) are just eye candy for the Stanley Kubrick fan inside of all of us.

It’s also great to go back through his entire filmography and hear first-hand accounts of the stories behind each film, whether it’s Jack Nicholson talking about his relationship with Kubrick or Kubrick’s wife, who knew him best, talking about his mindset during each film that she subsequently was with him for. While I was disappointed that his early documentaries like The Seafarers and The Flying Padre got the shaft as well as how The Killing is only mentioned once and without detail.

Something that is also missing from the movie were interviews that I would have loved to see such as maybe archival footage of George C. Scott or Peter Sellers talking about him when they worked on Dr. Strangelove or even Kirk Douglas talking about Paths of Glory and Spartacus, but they aren’t included. Another thing that I wish there was more of was Malcolm McDowell, who played the main character Alex in Clockwork Orange. Aside from these minor gripes, everything is quite alright.

However something that I wish was different was how there are virtually no videos of Kubrick talking or being interviewed aside from an excerpt from The Making of The Shining where he’s arguing with Shelly Duvall. I know he was a recluse and all of that stuff, but I’m sure there is footage of him talking or directing a scene. Plus, there’s a video I’ve seen where he’s accepting this award (whose name as escaped me).

A Life In The Pictures is narrated by Tom Cruise well before his couch hopping crazy ways and he does a great job walking you through the film. Along with him you also have brand new introspective interviews from Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorcese, and Woody Allen, some thoughts from Nicole Kidman, Sydney Pollack, Peter Ustinov, and Leon Vitali.

While that box set is a great buy (even though Spartacus, The Killing, Fear and Desire, Killer’s Kiss, and his early shorts aren’t included), you don’t necessarily have to purchase the collection in order to enjoy this documentary. Even if you’ve only seen a select handful of Stanley’s movies, I’m sure you could still find interest in this movie because he was an intriguing man of great wisdom. While I wish that it was a bit longer, maybe a bit more detailed in the effects after his death and some parting words from his close family and friends, these are all minor complaints towards a great documentary that’s well worth it to see.

(c) Jason Haskins, 2007




More Kubrick

Lolita (1962)
Dr. Strangelove or How I Stopped Worrying and Learned How To Love The Bomb (1964)
Barry Lyndon (1975)


Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening