Kubrick's Total Cinema: Philosophical Themes And Formal Qualities

by Philip Kuberski

Whatever people think about Kubrick's work, most would agree that there is something distinctive, even unique, about the films he made: a coolness, an intellectual clarity, a critical edginess, and finally an intractable ambiguity. In an attempt to isolate the Kubrick difference, this book treats Kubrick's films to a conceptual and formal analysis rather than a biographical and chronological survey.

As Kubrick's cinema moves between the possibilities of human transcendence dramatized in 2001: A Space Odyssey and the dismal limitations of human nature exhibited in A Clockwork Orange, the filmmaker's style "de-realizes" cinematic realism while, paradoxically, achieving an unprecedented frankness of vision and documentary and technical richness. The result is a kind of vertigo: the audience is made aware of both the de-realized and the realized nature of cinema. As opposed to the usual studies providing a summary and commentary of individual films, this will be the first to provide an analysis of the "elements" of Kubrick's total cinema.

200 pages, Paperback

First published August 9, 2012

Reviews

[Dany · Rating 5 out of 5]

“For Kubrick, films begin with questions he could not begin to formulate. Making a film was a process of embodied thinking, thinking toward a mystery that could not initially be framed. In a sense, the thinking was not directed at the solution of a mystery: it was directed toward that mystery’s cinematic realization.” -Kuberski

“Truth is too multifaceted to be contained in a five-line summary. If the work is good, what you say about it is usually irrelevant . . . The work is bigger than one’s capacity to describe it.” - Kubrick

[Krys · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gread dive into Kubircks Cinema, about it's themes, symbols and philosophy. It is not about how he worked or what he wanted, but more of a filmanalysis structured by themes. It helps to know the movies well, and makes you see all the connections between his works.
Recommended read, if you want to get a good load of Kubricks philosophy and learn more about how to view them.