Stanley Kubrick Auteur

“I’m not making a movie about violence, I’m making a movie against violence.” Stanley Kubrick

One point perspective http://vimeo.com/48425421

Focus My area of research into‘Auteur Theory’is based around the director Stanley Kubrick. This man directed several major films Spartacus (1960), Dr. Strangelove (1964), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), A Clockwork Orange (1971), The Shining (1980) and Full Metal Jacket (1987).

Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick was born in New York July 26th 1928 , and was considered intelligent despite poor grades at school. Kubrick became an avid photographer when his dad gave him a camera for his 13th birthday, and would often make trips around New York taking photographs which he would develop in a friend's darkroom. After selling an unsolicited photograph to Look Magazine, Kubrick began to associate with their staff photographers, and at the age of seventeen was offered a job as an apprentice photographer. This would lead to his love of film and later spur him on to become the famous film director we know today. The production of his first film did not run as smoothly as he had hoped, contributing to the break down of his marriage with his high school sweet heart. However his first two attempts at directing (Killer's Kiss (1955) and The Killing (1956)) would lead him to be recognized by Hollywood. This would propel him into the position to make many films that we today regard as classics.

Definition of Auteur Before going into detail about Stanley Kubrick as an auteur you need to first explain what is Auteur Theory?“ Auteur theory was articulated in the 1950’s by French film critics The works of an auteur director are marked by the personality and unique artistic vision of its creator, and are as recognizable and distinctive as the creator work. “The [Auteur] theory holds that a single film or an entire body of work by a director (or less commonly, a Producer) reflects the personal vision and preoccupations of that director, as if he/she were the works primary “author” (auteur)”

Truffaut’s ‘5 Trademarks’ Truffaut's theory maintains that a good director exerts such a distinctive style or promotes such a consistent theme that his or her influence is unmistakable in the body of his or her work. He was appreciative of directors whose work showed a marked visual style as well as those whose visual style was less pronounced but whose movies reflected a consistent theme. He theorized that 5 things made a director an auteur, and that these thing should be evident in their work. Substance Look Craft Originality Intelligence

Style and Themes Beneath the glossy veneer of artiness Kubrick’s films generally fall into the classifications of popular genre, especially genres that have traditionally been associated with male-oriented, “low,” or B-movie productions. A few of the main reoccurring themes in Kubrick's films are war and black comedy. These two themes seem to run through several of his films. As a director that faced controversy over his use of violence in films, he was famously quoted to say ‘I’m not making a movie about violence, I’m making a movie against violence.’

From these stills you can see the similarity in shots and camera angles from Kubrick’s films You can also see the similarities in the colour palates used by Kubrick and the one point perspective which was a common theme within his movies. 2001: A Space Odyssey The Shining A Clockwork Orange

The Guardian Critics 40 best directors Top 5 1. David Lynch - After all the discussion, no one could fault the conclusion that David Lynch is the most important film-maker of the current era. 2. Martin Scorsese - Scorsese's influence is impossible to overstate. His red-blooded canon has spawned a generation of copycats while his muscular style has become a template. 3. Joel and Ethan Coen - The Coens' special mix of arch, sculpted dialogue, film-history homage and scrupulously-framed cinematography has never failed them yet, and through their associations with Sam Raimi and Barry Sonnenfeld, have exerted a powerful, if unacknowledged, influence on mainstream event cinema. 4. Steven Soderbergh - Steven Soderbergh is a one-off: an independent-minded film- maker who has forged a happy working relationship with Hollywood. 5. Terrence Malick - The lofty ranking of Terrence Malick just goes to show that it's quality, not quantity, that counts.