Book Review: Kubrick: An Odyssey by Robert P. Kolker and Nathan Abrams

Now almost a quarter into the 21st Century, the films of Stanley Kubrick continue to captivate and provoke. The latest biography of Kubrick, written by two film scholars who've written extensively on Kubrick in previous works, Robert F. Kolker and Nathan Abrams, is both comprehensive and engaging. With access to Kubrick's archives, the authors compiled a detailed narrative of their subject, objective in both approach and tone.

The vast scope of the biography covers the many lives Kubrick led. He took to photography and was hired by Look magazine when still a teenager, gaining a reputation for his artful photos of scenes and people from all walks of life. While he would eventually leave the city and become an expat in England, he often longed to return. Feeling limited by the standards of the magazine, he set off to become a filmmaker, starting out with short documentaries and eventually a low budget war film Fear and Desire.

He spent the 1950s as a fledgling filmmaker, paying the bills by playing chess and poker in between projects. His low budget film noir Killer's Kiss was mostly ignored but showed promise. Then came The Killing, a more sophisticated noir made for a studio. His follow up, Paths of Glory, was an early masterpiece. Now based in Hollywood, he continued developing scripts and hustling around the studios. At the request of Kirk Douglas, Kubrick was hired to direct the Roman epic Spartacus. A droll adaptation of Nabokov's Lolita followed, then the quotable Cold War satire Dr. Strangelove.

By the mid-1960s, Kubrick's star was on the rise. The amount of research and preparation he put into his films was already becoming the stuff of legend. For Dr. Strangelove, he read hundreds of books on nuclear strategy and geopolitics, consulting with experts to make sure every detail was right. Initially conceived as a thriller, with writer Terry Southern the script was refashioned as a dark comedy.

A dedication to details and ambitious ideas served him well for 2001: A Space Odyssey, a film that would take on cosmic questions on the origins and fate of humanity. Working closely with Sci-Fi author Arthur C. Clarke to develop the script, Kubrick assembled the technicians whose job was to make space travel look realistic. After four years working on the project Kubrick was aghast when audiences initially rejected it, so he cut 18 minutes after it was released. Soon enough 2001 became a cultural phenomenon, it captured the zeitgeist of the late 1960s like few other films.

The success of 2001 earned Kubrick a three-picture deal with Warner Brothers and complete creative control over his films. He settled permanently in England at an estate outside of London, building his own kingdom, leaving only on special occasions. He then began work on Napoleon, which he planned to film in Yugoslavia with the full cooperation of its army! But the funding fell through at the last minute. Instead, he adapted the Anthony Burgess novel A Clockwork Orange, still controversial over 50 years later. He pulled the film from distribution in the United Kingdom after a string of copycat crimes were allegedly inspired by the movie. 

With Napoleon still on the backburner, Kubrick spent the next few years on Barry Lyndon, based on the William Thackeray novel set in 18th Century Europe. While filming in Ireland, threats from the IRA forced the production to flee. The book describes the extended shooting schedule as sometimes chaotic with egos running rampant. Kubrick's unrelenting perfectionism took a toll on everyone. A three-hour costume drama was not what audiences wanted in 1975, but critics were knocked out by its historical accuracy and Kubrick's further exploration of humanity's self-destructive tendencies.

In a pivot towards more popular entertainment, Kubrick set out to make the scariest movie ever made. Kubrick was fascinated with horror movies of the '70s, repeatedly screening Rosemary's Baby and The Exorcist. Stephen King's 1977 novel The Shining fascinated him on many levels, drawing upon many recurring themes in his oeuvre. Despite its cool reception by critics and horror fans in 1980, The Shining transcended genre. Stanley's daughter Vivian filmed him at work on the set, notoriously browbeating Shelley Duvall, setting up shots and joking with the crew.

Kubrick would make two more films, Full Metal Jacket and Eyes Wide Shut, but many more projects were in various stages of development through the 1980s and 1990s. The Second World War always interested him, and he considered making a film about the airdrops preceding D-Day. The Holocaust was another subject he obsessed over. He was prepared to adapt the Louis Begely novel Wartime Lies in the early 1990s. With casting and location scouting in Europe nearly complete he canceled at the last minute. Steven Spielberg's own holocaust film Schindler's List had come out and Kubrick felt he could not make a better film on the subject, especially since his script was more cynical. He also feared for his own sanity, being away from home for a year and making by far his most depressing film was too daunting.  

His daily life during the 1980s and 1990s was consumed by his projects. Despite his reputation as a recluse, Kubrick was constantly communicating with other directors and always entertaining guests. He indulged his fascination with technical gadgets, poured through books, screened movies, compulsively watched CNN, and spent hours on the telephone. He also developed a passion for cooking for family and staff, he would often be seen doing the laundry. An animal lover as well, he devoted hours to his dogs and cats. With such a vibrant home life, he hated being away for just a few hours. He ran the estate like a benevolent emperor, although he could also be quite the taskmaster. 

His domestic life was mostly harmonious. His wife Christina, an artist in her own right, and relationship with his daughters were warm. A falling out with his daughter Vivian, who showed early promise as a filmmaker and composer, added a tragic dimension to his last years. She cut her family off after falling into Scientology, in recent years she's made social media posts endorsing Qanon conspiracy theories.

A friendship with Steven Spielberg also shaped the later years, even collaborating with him on A.I. Kubrick fell in and out with several writers in his Sci-Fi tale he called Pinocchio, a fairy tale/dystopia about a robot boy destined to become a messianic figure. Eventually, he passed it on to Spielberg, believing it was more to his sensibility. One gets the sense he was both in awe and a little envious of Spielberg's gift for connecting with audiences - and for cranking out so many movies.

Kubrick would pass away during post-production on Eyes Wide Shut, another story he'd been working on since the 1960s. The dreamlike tale about marriage and infidelity, among other things, was perhaps his most personal. Shooting took over a year and many noticed Kubrick was aging. A lack of sleep and unhealthy dieting contributed to his decline. Ominous rumors also swirled around the production about marital tensions between the two stars Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman to salacious details of orgy scenes. Once released the film was hardly the erotic thriller everyone expected, but a Kubrickian odyssey into the depths of the human soul. Predictably, the film's reputation has skyrocketed since 1999.

Kubrick got lost in labyrinths of his own making in the later years, always agonizing over how and when to proceed. His attention to detail and craft left behind movies that will always be watched and debated. The book did a fantastic job of bringing the reader close to the subject. Many who worked with him spoke of the experience as life-changing, some walked away ambivalent. There's no doubt his outer world reflected the inner world, and it's in his movies we continue to find a rich landscape. 

Robert P Kolker and Nathan Abrams. Kubrick: An Odyssey. New York: Pegasus, 2024. 649 pages.