DATE=3/8/99
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
NUMBER=5-42798
TITLE=STANLEY KUBRICK REMEMBERED
BYLINE=MIKE O'SULLIVAN
DATELINE=LOS ANGELES
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: ONE OF THE WORLD'S LEADING FILM DIRECTORS DIED SUNDAY.
STANLEY KUBRICK, WHO WAS 70, DIED IN HIS SLEEP AT HOME NEAR
LONDON. V-O-A'S MIKE O'SULLIVAN REPORTS HE WAS CONSIDERED A
MASTER CRAFTSMAN IN THE ART OF FILM MAKING, AND INSPIRED A
GENERATION OF YOUNG DIRECTORS.
TEXT: STANLEY KUBRICK WAS AN AMERICAN WHO MADE HIS HOME IN
ENGLAND IN THE LAST DECADES OF HIS LIFE. HE HAD ACHIEVED A
STATUS IN THE MOVIE INDUSTRY THAT HE COULD WORK WHEN, AND WHERE,
HE PLEASED.
THE DIRECTOR OF SUCH MAINSTREAM 1960S HITS AS "SPARTACUS, "THE
TALE OF A SLAVE REBELLION IN ANCIENT ROME -- AND "DOCTOR
STRANGELOVE," A SATIRE ON THE COLD WAR, WAS EVENTUALLY GIVEN THE
FREEDOM TO PUT HIS DISTINCTIVE VISION ON THE SCREEN. IN THE
SCIENCE-FICTION CLASSIC "TWO-THOUSAND-AND-ONE, A SPACE ODYSSEY,"
KUBRICK CREATED A VISUALLY STRIKING FILM, WHICH OFFERED A
CRITICAL COMMENTARY ON MAN'S TECHNOLOGICAL FUTURE. HIS GRAPHIC
AND CONTROVERSIAL 1971 FILM "A CLOCKWORK ORANGE" OFFERED A
VIOLENT VIEW OF A NIHILISTIC FUTURE SOCIETY.
OTHER NOTABLE FILMS INCLUDE THE WAR PICTURE "FULL METAL JACKET"
-- THE PERIOD DRAMA "BARRY LYNDON" -- THE SUSPENSE THRILLER "THE
SHINING" -- AND "LOLITA," BASED ON THE NOVEL BY VLADIMIR NABOKOV.
STANLEY KUBRICK'S VISION AND SKILL EARNED HIM THE ADMIRATION OF
YOUNGER FILM MAKERS. OLIVER STONE CALLED HIM THE GREATEST
AMERICAN DIRECTOR OF HIS GENERATION.
STEVEN SPIELBERG, SPEAKING AT A HOLLYWOOD LUNCHEON MONDAY,
RECALLED THAT HE MET STANLEY KUBRICK IN LONDON IN 1980.
/// SPIELBERG ACT ///
WE MET FOR THE FIRST TIME AND WE BECAME FRIENDS. AND MY
RECOLLECTIONS ARE HE WAS A FATHER FIGURE, AND HE WAS
WARM AND HE WAS VERY GENTLE, AND VERY FUNNY -- EXTREMELY
FUNNY, ALMOST DEVILISHLY FUNNY. AND (HE) KNEW
EVERYTHING YOU COULD POSSIBLY KNOW ABOUT THE CRAFT OF
MOTION PICTURE MAKING. I DON'T THINK I MET ANYBODY THAT
EVER KNEW AS MUCH AS STANLEY KNEW.
/// END ACT ///
STANLEY KUBRICK'S PUBLIC IMAGE IN HIS LATER YEARS WAS ONE OF A
RECLUSIVE AND FASTIDIOUS FILM MAKER, WHO SPENT YEARS ON A SINGLE
PROJECT. FRIENDS SAY HE AVOIDED THE PRESS, AND WAS A INDEED A
PERFECTIONIST -- BUT PERSONALLY, THEY SAY, HE WAS WARM AND
ENGAGING.
STANLEY KUBRICK'S LAST FILM, CALLED "EYES WIDE SHUT," IS
SCHEDULED FOR RELEASED THE MIDDLE OF THIS YEAR. STARS TOM CRUISE
AND NICOLE KIDMAN ISSUED A STATEMENT AFTER HIS DEATH, CALLING THE
DIRECTOR A GENIUS. OTHERS IN HOLLYWOOD, WHO COUNT THEMSELVES
FANS AS WELL AS COLLEAGUES, SAY STANLEY KUBRICK'S BODY OF WORK --
WHICH SPANS NEARLY FIFTY YEARS -- WILL CONTINUE TO INFLUENCE FILM
MAKERS. (SIGNED)
NEB/PT
08-Mar-99 7:06 PM EST (0006 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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