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Stanley Kubrick

Stanley Kubrick

  • American director, born in New York in 1928, died in St Albans (England) in 1998.

    Raised in a Jewish family from the Bronx, Kubrick neglected school but developed a passion for chess and photography. Self-taught, he worked as a photoreporter for Look magazine before entering the film industry in the 1950s through documentary and B-movies. He maintained an ambivalent relationship with Hollywood and thus emigrated to England in 1961 where, isolated in his mansion, he developed a firmly independent method of creation. In 13 long features - all masterpieces - Kubrick experimented with all genres. He displayed an equal mastery, combining fine art direction, unforgettable acting performances and virtuoso technique (from the candlelight of Barry Lyndon to the steadicam of The Shining). This author is so iconic that even his unfulfilled dreams are a source of passion (from Napoleon to AI, finally directed by Spielberg). His work shaped the history of the 20th century : its wars (the nuclear one from Dr. Strangelove), its extra-terrestrial visions (2001: A Space Odyssey), its phantoms (The Shining), its urban violence (A Clockwork Orange), its dysfunctional relationships (Lolita, Eyes Wide Shut)... The repressed feelings of modernity inhabit these clinical and sulfurous images that are summarized in the final word of his filmography : “Fuck”.

  • Fear and Desire (1953) - Killer's Kiss (1955) - The Killing (1956) - Paths of Glory (1957) - Spartacus (1960) - Lolita (1962) - Dr Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) - 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) - A Clockwork Orange (1971) - Barry Lyndon (1975) - The Shining (1980) - Full Metal Jacket (1987) - Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

Films of their lives

"I would like to ask your preferences in terms of cinema. What kind...? "

"I like good films." [laughs]

Stanley Kubrick, interview by Vicente Molina Foix, El Pais - Artes, 1980

Sitting in the projection room of his English mansion, Stanley Kubrick immersed himself in the images of his time, trying, as he said, to "see everything". But what did his visionary eye retain from this stream?

This list of the 100 "films of his life" provides us with some answers. It is based on a collection of interviews with the filmmaker by the British critic Nick Wrigley, and completed by the memories of his faithful collaborator Jan Harlan.

Their list of films

By clicking on the 'commentary' icon to the left of some of the film titles, you can find quotes from some Stanley Kubrick's interviews.

Films available on LaCinetek