Whether you’re a fan of classic cinema or, say, just saw Barbie last year and wondered what that opening sequence was all about, you’re living in a world that is unmistakably in the shadow of Stanley Kubrick. You can’t help but recognize the Kubrick touch behind a Kubrick film, from their composition to their tone, to their sheer ambition. The number of monumental works he wrote, produced, and directed is nearly unparalleled, from early hits like Dr. Strangelove or 2001: A Space Odyssey to later titles shrouded in enduring mystery like The Shining or Eyes Wide Shut. Alongside his cinematic innovations and explorations, however, there existed (and exists) a growing mystique, an aura of mystery that pervades both his films and his persona. Kubrick is known not only for being a good director but for being a mystery that the films help viewers solve.
Today’s show seeks to identify where the man exists within the legends, as well as how much of the Kubrick mystique was a conscious construction of himself as a brand. You’ll hear from Filippo Ulivieri, author of the upcoming Cracking the Kube: Solving the Mysteries of Stanley Kubrick Through Archival Research, as well as Robert P. Kolker and Nathan Abrams, whose latest book is Kubrick: An Odyssey.
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