From an iconic sci-fi classic to war satires to exploring dark themes of human psyche, Stanley Kubrick is revered as one of the most iconic film directors of all time.
Talk of any present-day director and you are sure to hear them heaping praises on Kubrick as to how his cinematic style helped them mould their ideas. Artistic and eccentric in the same vein, Stanley Kubrick refused to tread the usual line of filmmaking as he grew as an institution with each of his movies speaking his vast mind.
From showcasing his wizardry in sc-fi with the epic spectacle 2001: A Space Odyssey to genre defining horror classic, The Shining to exploring deep, dark human secrets in Eyes Wide Shut to war classic, Full Metal Jacket to a lot more in his repertoire, Stanley Kubrick displayed his vast range of cinematic excellence that has wooed audience across generations. Throughout his filmography, one can get a glimpse of his early fascination with photography, as leaned heavily on visual arts and splendid perspectives in his films. He is famed worldwide for the unique one-point perspective shot, where the movie scene’s art direction, action and camera movement lead every viewer’s focus towards a specific point.
Talking about his cinematography across his films, he is always revered as innovative, stunning and aesthetically brilliant, bringing the strong primary colors to the fore with a play involving a sharp looking contrast of black and white colours. And to add that much needed tension in the story, Stanley Kubrick uses his trademark long tracking shots. What’s more, as most of his films were adaptations of books, Kubrick developed a knack of transforming these literary translations into visually stunning masterpieces. His films feature prolonged sequences and slowing down of the film’s rhythm creating emotion and suspense with aplomb.
Regarding how his critics and audience viewed his films, he famously stated that “From the very beginning, all of my films have divided the critics. Some have thought them wonderful, and others have found very little good to say. But of course, the lasting and ultimately most important reputation of a film is not based on reviews, but on what, if anything, people say about it over the years, and on how much affection for it they have.”
Needless to say, Kubrick has emerged as an important artist because his artistic reach goes beyond films and has managed to touch broader cultural imagination across the globe. One look at his films and one can actually feel his clarity to the vision – one that’s very distilled, and very distinctive.
