Who is Stanley Kubrick?
Stanley Kubrick is considered one of the world’s greatest film directors. Within his directing life, he made only 16 films, but they are noted as some of the most influential and important films ever made. His films regularly make it to the top ten on film lists that are compiled each year. Kubrick was born in the Bronx, New York in 1928. On his 13th birthday, Kubrick was given a camera by his father. The camera was put to good use, as Kubrick soon began photographing and selling his photographs. At the age of 17, he became an apprentice photographer. The leap from photographer to film director was not a large one. In 1951, using his own money, Kubrick made a documentary called Day of the Flight. The path had been set, and from there, Kubrick began making films such as The Killer’s Kiss in 1955 and The Killing in 1956. Hollywood began to take notice, and after directing Kirk Douglas in Paths of Glory in 1957, Kubrick was approached to direct Douglas again in Spartacus. After the succes
Stanley Kubrick was born in New York City in 1928. At the age of 16 Kubrick took a photograph of a newsvendor the day after President Roosevelt died. Look magazine printed the photo and hired him as a freelance photographer. After creating a boxing photo essay for ‘Look’, he used his savings to make his first film ‘Day of the Fight’ in 1950, a 16-minute documentary. Although by other filmmakers standards his output is not vast in terms of quantity – he only ever made 13 feature films – the years that followed saw him create critically acclaimed films in a plethora of genres from science fiction to war to historical drama to comedy to horror. Kubrick’s influence on film is manifested in numerous ways, from lighting to special effects to film content to music. His pioneering use of long takes, first used in ‘Lolita’, (using a high Average Shot Length), have inspired cinematographers since, as seen in the opening shot of 1997’s ‘Boogie Nights’ and the restaurant scene of 1990’s ‘Goodfella
Stanley Kubrick was one of film’s most artistically powerful writer/directors having created 2001: A Space Odyssey, Dr. Strangelove, A Clockwork Orange, Full Metal Jacket, The Shining, Eyes Wide Shut, and several other recognized film classics. He was nominated for 12 Oscars and won only one. But still created many classics 3 of which are consided by the AFI (the American Film Institute) to be of the 100 greatest movies of all time. He was American but lived in England the last 35 years of his life. He died in his sleep at home in 1999.
