Dr. Strangelove, 2001, Clockwork Orange
It’s hard to believe that Stanley Kubrick, the personification of the auteur theory, left us almost 18 years ago at the ripe, young (by today’s standards) age of 70. His career began with a self-described amateurish feature, 1953’s Fear and Desire—a war film which, in 2012, Village Voice critic Tim Grierson described as a “pretentious, muddled mess”—and culminated with his final film, 1999’s Eyes Wide Shut. Over the course of a film career, then spanned nearly 50 years, Kubrick directed just 13 features—which was a testament to the filmmaker’s reputation as a consummate perfectionist and stickler for even the smallest of details. Here are 15 facts that you might not have known about some of your favorite Stanley Kubrick films.
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1. IT TOOK 167 DAYS TO FILM AND ABOUT 10,500 PEOPLE TO MAKE SPARTACUS.
All period dramas feature rooms that appear to be lit by candles and oil lamps, but in reality, there are usually big lighting rigs just off camera. That wasn’t the case with Barry Lyndon. Kubrick and cinematographer John Alcott wanted to use as a little electric light in the production as possible and went so far as to get special lenses that had been designed for NASA, which he had specially mounted on cameras that could then be used only with those lenses. The super-fast lenses captured rooms lit only by candlelight perfectly, creating a look, unlike any other film.
7. VINCENT D’ONOFRIO GAINED 70 POUNDS TO PLAY LEONARD “GOMER PYLE” LAWRENCE IN FULL METAL JACKET.
In addition to the weight gain, Vincent D’Onofrio also shaved his head for the role and was surprised by how much it affected him. ”It changed my life,” D’Onofrio told The New York Times in 1987. ”Women didn’t look at me; most of the time I was looking at their backs as they were running away. People used to say things to me twice because they thought I was stupid.” To this day, it’s the most weight any actor has ever gained for a movie role.
8. EYES WIDE SHUT IS BASED ON A 1926 NOVELLA.
Eyes Wide Shut is loosely is based on Arthur Schnitzler’s novella Traumnovelle (Dream Story), which was published in 1926. Considering that the movie takes place in 1990s New York, it is obviously not a direct adaptation, but it overlaps in its plot and themes. “[The book] explores the sexual ambivalence of a happy marriage and tries to equate the importance of sexual dreams and might-have-been with reality,” Kubrick explained. “The book opposes the real adventures of a husband and the fantasy adventures of his wife, and asks the question: is there a serious difference between dreaming a sexual adventure, and actually having one?”
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