Critical Insights Film: Stanley Kubrick Review

Wednesday, January 17, 2018 7:33:28 PM
"Award-winning, calculating filmmaker Stanley Kubrick has left behind a relatively small but deeply compelling body of work. Notable for spending an inordinate amount of time on his projects, he exemplified the strict auteur sense of demanding complete control over every aspect of his work. This volume in the Critical Insights series delves into the work of Kubrick and lends both a broad perspective of the times in which he worked and a focused eye on his particular themes and techniques.
Two opening essays in the Career, Life and Influence section draw the line between Kubrick’s early artistic focus through to his later reputation as a filmmaker’s filmmaker. Critical Contexts then hosts four essays which examine Kubrick and his art from a broader perspective. Writings here present a discussion on the times during which he worked (“Bullets, Bombs and Blastoffs: Kubrick’s Twentieth Century”), a comparison with his contemporary film auteur (“The Ice Man and the Wood Man: Stanley Kubrick and Woody Allen”), and more.
Critical Readings presents nine essays looking inward towards the more complex themes and approaches to his work. “A Farce to Be Reckoned with: The Literary Contexts of Dr. Strangelove” relates the almost absurd transformation of Peter George’s novel Red Alert. And “An Actor’s Director: Kubrick and Star Performances” discusses Kubrick’s individualized and somewhat psychological approach to working with actors.
Supplemental information includes a listing of his awards and honors (rather striking for such a relatively small output), a chronology, a filmography, a selected bibliography, and an index."
—ARBA