Deathday: Director Stanley Kubrick 1928-1999 RIP

 

Stanley Kubrick (July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American director, writer, producer, and photographer of films, who lived in England during most of the last 40 years of his career. Kubrick was noted for the scrupulous care with which he chose his subjects, his slow method of working, the variety of genres he worked in, his technical perfectionism and his reclusiveness about his films and personal life. He worked far beyond the confines of the Hollywood system, maintaining almost complete artistic control and making movies according to the whims and time constraints of no one but himself, but with the rare advantage of big-studio financial support for all his endeavors. Nominated several times for Oscars for both writing and directing, his only personal win was for the special effects in 2001: A Space Odyssey, though his films have won many Oscars and other awards in other categories.

Kubrick is widely acknowledged as one of the most accomplished, innovative and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. He directed a number of highly acclaimed and often controversial films that have often been perceived as a reflection of his obsessive and perfectionist nature. His films are characterized by a formal visual style and meticulous attention to detail – often with elements of surrealism and expressionism eschewing structured linear narrative. While often viewed as expressing an ironic pessimism, a few critics feel his films contain a cautious optimism when viewed more carefully. His works are noted as some of the "most original, provocative, and visionary motion pictures ever made."

In 1999—four days after screening a final cut of Eyes Wide Shut for his family, Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, and Warner Brothers executives—70-year-old Kubrick died of a heart attack in his sleep. He was buried next to his favorite tree in Childwickbury Manor, Hertfordshire, England, U.K.

Filmography

Fear and Desire (1953)
Killer's Kiss (1955)
The Killing (1956)
Paths of Glory (1957)
Spartacus (1960)
Lolita (1962)
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
A Clockwork Orange (1968)
Barry Lyndon (1975)
The Shining (1980)
Full Metal Jacket (1987)
Eyes Wide Shut (1999)