The letters of Stanley Kubrick

July 15, 2008 8:57 AM

"Dear Mr Clarke...I had been a great admirer of your books for quite a time and had always wanted to discuss with you the possibility of doing the proverbial really good science-fiction movie." Excerpts from the letters of Stanley Kubrick.

Also A Props Odyssey and an interview with Christiane Kubrick.

posted by kirkaracha (19 comments total)

Lovely! Thank you.
posted by cavalier at 9:13 AM on July 15, 2008

Hilarious and insightful. Thanks for sharing.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 9:16 AM on July 15, 2008

Awesome.
posted by ColdChef at 9:18 AM on July 15, 2008

The machete shown above belonged to Adam Baldwin's character, Animal Mother, who in the original script used it to hack off a dead female sniper's head. The decapitation wasn't shown in the film, but the head was.

When?
posted by grumblebee at 9:20 AM on July 15, 2008

Nice. Best ones are toward the end.
posted by RavinDave at 9:24 AM on July 15, 2008

Thanks for posting this.

Are we alone? The Stanley Kubrick extraterrestrial-intelligence interviews -- although the interviews were not conducted by Kubrick himself -- offers a pretty good peek into questions Kubrick was curious about and prevailing contemporary leading scientists' sentiments regarding AI, extraterrestrial life, etc. The bit in the introduction regarding Carl Sagan alone makes it worth reading.
posted by cog_nate at 9:28 AM on July 15, 2008

Re: Spartacus.

I hope that when you see the finished film you will be less disturbed about certain things than are now.

Marcus Licinius Crassus: Do you eat oysters?
Antoninus: When I have them, master.
Marcus Licinius Crassus: Do you eat snails?
Antoninus: No, master.
Marcus Licinius Crassus: Do you consider the eating of oysters to be moral and the eating of snails to be immoral?
Antoninus: No, master.
Marcus Licinius Crassus: Of course not. It is all a matter of taste, isn't it?
Antoninus: Yes, master.
Marcus Licinius Crassus: And taste is not the same as appetite, and therefore not a question of morals.
Antoninus: It could be argued so, master.
Marcus Licinius Crassus: My robe, Antoninus. My taste includes both snails and oysters.
posted by shakespeherian at 9:38 AM on July 15, 2008

I have hired Roger Caras [Polaris Productions] to implement the plan to obtain co-operation and exploit cross plugging from companies such as General Electric, General Motors, etc.
posted by DU at 9:50 AM on July 15, 2008

Pin-point precision as well as super-efficacious products will be what the women of 2001 have at hand. We feel that the traditional dot and smear method of application will no longer exist. Make-up will be applied by a previously programmed application and the full-facial make-up will be accomplished in a matter of seconds.

If only this were true!
posted by peacheater at 10:09 AM on July 15, 2008

Great stuff. I think I'm going to have to watch Barry Lyndon again:

Dear Jack, With regard to your question about the suspected pubic hair in the scene where Marisa Berenson is seated in the bath tub, let me hasten to assure you that this most definitely is not pubic hair but rather a very small bikini which the actress wore.

posted by space2k at 10:22 AM on July 15, 2008

I have the Stanley Kubrick Collection DVD set. It is wonderful; I only wish it had Spartacus instead of Eyes Wide Shut. I think Criterion has exclusive rights to Spartacus, unfortunately.
posted by sciurus at 10:35 AM on July 15, 2008

The machete shown above belonged to Adam Baldwin's character, Animal Mother, who in the original script used it to hack off a dead female sniper's head. The decapitation wasn't shown in the film, but the head was.

When?

Yeah, I'm not remembering that either. Maybe they made the props and even shot the scene, but it's not in the final cut.
posted by mr_roboto at 11:05 AM on July 15, 2008

On a related note, for UK MeFites: Stanley Kubrick's Boxes on More4 tonight at 10pm.
posted by palimpsest at 12:31 PM on July 15, 2008 [1 favorite]

I have checked a number of sources (most of them in France) on the subtitle. Bim bam bombe sounds like a Jerry Lewis picture.

"You said ""FEED ME JACK, and I fed you..."

I miss Peter Sellers.
posted by clavdivs at 3:00 PM on July 15, 2008

the man is sorely missed.
posted by chuckdarwin at 3:32 PM on July 15, 2008

Update: the documentary was excellent. The one tidbit (of many brought to light by the film) that's stuck in my head right now: Kubrick kept all his fan mail, indexed by year, what film it was in reference to, by the sender's home town, and so forth.

Jon Ronson possesses a really endearing, light touch as investigator/narrator/presenter that's so much more engaging than Louis Theroux's faux-naiveté.

It will (presumably) be available soon to stream for a week or two.
posted by palimpsest at 4:40 PM on July 15, 2008

From a previous thread a link to an excellent documentary. Stanley Kubrick: A Life In Pictures
posted by hortense at 5:02 PM on July 15, 2008

Kubrick liked to involve himself with all aspects of the films he made, including their promotion. He had a list of where all the film’s posters would be displayed on the London Underground system, platform by platform.

Yikes, talk about micro-managing. Extraordinary films came of it, though.
For the flip side I remember this book has letters written to Kubrick by viewers with their different reactions to 2001.
posted by wundermint at 6:39 PM on July 15, 2008

YouTube links for all five parts here.
posted by chuckdarwin at 4:05 PM on July 16, 2008