I just finished watching this really great documentary called Stanley Kubrick’s Boxes, a rather self-explanatory title but extremely interesting to watch. Stanley Kubrick is somewhat of a cult figure (just read through Coudal on any given day) so people trying to figure out the deepest parts of Kubrick is nothing new. But in this documentary Jon Ronson is invited to the Kubrick estate to go through his immense collections of boxes, which number into the thousands. The contents of the boxes are extremely varied and all over the place, from photos to fan letters, and show what a detailed and intelligent man he really was.

One of the things I found most interesting was his obsession with perfection, and I don’t mean that in a bad way. For many of his films he’d have his nephew Manuel Harlan take tens of thousands of photos to see what was out there. He took photos of doorways, morgues, estate gates, costume shops, anything that might be useful. He did those for most of his movies as well, like trying to find the perfect hat for the droogies to wear in A Clockwork Orange.

If you have any interest in Kubrick I would definitely suggest watching this, it’s quite insightful. Also, I don’t know how long the video will stay up, so watch it ASAP.

Found through The Constant Siege

Bobby

14 Comments »

1. This is the very best blog on the internet. You got like almost everything I love, this documentary about Kubrick just proves it once again. Greets from Germany.

   Comment by richiee — July 23, 2008 #

2. genius ………. this man was a genius…..great post and great blog!!!

   Comment by jarred — July 23, 2008 #

3. This was really amazing. Thank you for finding this and posting. Like the guy above I agree, this blog is great.

   Comment by Adam — July 23, 2008 #

4. I visited the Stanley Kubrick Archive at London College of Communication, where they are hiding all the notes, unfinished scripts as well as the clothes they used in the films, and lots more.

   Everybody can go there, you just have to reserve a time some weeks before, then a woman will show you around, and you can get to see whatever you want! It’s absolutely amazing!!

   Great film Bobby. Thanx for sharing!

   Comment by Chris Halsted — July 24, 2008 #

5. really great link!

   Comment by Vaqrda — July 24, 2008 #

6. […] SK […]

   Pingback by Stanley Kubricks Boxes « Hormuth’s Heroes — July 24, 2008 #

7. What a coincidence! I watched 2001 for the first time last week, and since then I’ve been reading and searching over the net about Stanley Kubrick.
   Thanks for that Bobby, it’s a good documentary!

   Comment by Thomas — July 24, 2008 #

8. Thanks for that Bobby. I found it strangely moving. Like I’d lost an old friend.

   And you’ve just reminded me to go watch More4 some more!

   Comment by Rob McDougall — July 24, 2008 #

9. That was amazing. I’ve seen a few of his films, but wasn’t a major fan that needed to see them all. After watching this, though, I feel like I need to see them. Sort of out of respect for the amount of dedication and research he put into each one. I had no idea.

   Comment by Jamie — July 24, 2008 #

10. […] via Kitsune Noir. […]

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11. thanx for the link, i have always admired his work…
    and honestly i have sat through every one of his movies. and loved and appreciated every single one…

    especially for some odd reason barry lyndon.

    i had read a article about the same guy actually sometime ago from a design blog but never saw this until now…

    i sat here at work while the last couple of minutes of the documentary were running trying not to cry.

    but anyways thanx for posting that.

    Comment by james — July 25, 2008 #

12. […] of Stanley Kubrick, his attention to detail and his methodology of precision and detail. Tthanks to Bobby Solomon for the tip […]

    Pingback by Kubrik’s Boxes | PSFK - Trends, Ideas & Inspiration — July 27, 2008 #

13. Hey, you must have gotten inspired after the show at Hollywood Forever cemetary! What a great show, and a great cut of the fIlm A Clockwork Orange.

    Comment by Jonas — July 28, 2008 #

14. I have had the pleasure of staying at his house a few years ago. Every room was stuffed with incredible stuff, I could have stayed there for weeks. He had one room full of naval stuff as he was thinking about doing a film about Nelson. I also almost knocked the oscar for 2001 over in the kitchen. His sketchbooks/photograph annuals were on the shelf in the room i stayed in. When everyone else went to bed I spent half the night looking through them. An amazing place. Thanks for pointing out this documentary, I had missed it when on.

    Comment by Gradiate — July 29, 2008 #

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