Kubrick's Napoleon Script

Last class I brought up that Spielberg was developing a project about Napoleon Bonaparte that Kubrick wrote, so I decided to spill a little more information about the upcoming project since this class now revolves around all things Stanley Kubrick.

Spielberg plans to make a mini-series out of the script Kubrick wrote after he finished filming 2001: A Space Odyssey. The story of Kubricks most famous unfinished script is actually quite fascinating. Apparently, after Kubrick initially wrote the piece, he was quite dissatisfied with much of it (not surprisingly, since he's known for his perfectionism) but did include a list a list of production and budget notes. When Kubrick mentioned his plans to bring Napoleon to the screen to Anthony Burgess, the author of the adapted novel "A Clockwork Orange" , he suggested that Beethoven's third symphony would work well as a template for its structure and musical accompaniment. Kubrick agreed and asked him to turn that work into a novel so he could make it into a movie. When Burgess sent Kubrick the first half of the Napoleon Symphony manuscript, Kubrick turned down a reunited partnership, stating that the piece:  "had recorded the chronology of events to the detriment of the story, lacked realistic dialogue, and that Burgess’s comic vision of Napoleon fell short of his heroic stature.” Kubrick's script has since laid untouched until now.

Below is a link where you can actually read the full script, complete with production and budget notes:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B9DS_zk2FintNmFkZjM3ODUtMzY0ZS00Mzg0LWFhMzUtYWRjZjU1YjUwMTEx/edit?hl=en

The script, although wasn't deemed "ready" by Kubrick, is said to be very ambitious and full of potential, with maximum clarity and precise details that tell this complex story extremely well, all while keeping many of the same themes to Kubrick's famous style of film-making.

Although Kubrick won't be there to direct what is perhaps the last film to ever have his name on it, I have no doubt Spielberg will do it epic justice.

Since we do have a test...

Since we will be having a final exam, and it is on Stanley Kubrik, I figured using the blog to post some information about him would be a good idea. I do not know much about him as a person or a filmmaker, since I have only seen 2001: A Space Odyssey in my physics class back in high school, so this is helpful for me as well.

I know we mainly need to know about his films, but I figured it could be useful to know a little bit about him as well, so...

BIO:
Stanley Kubrik born on July 26, 1928 in the Bronx, New York. While first working as a photographer in New York City, he taught himself all of the skills needed in order to produce and direct films. He did most of his work in the United Kingdom, where he took on the roles as a film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer, and editor. He very often participated in more than one of these positions for each film he worked on. 

In these positions, he is best noted for his attention to detail and his unique style. He covered a variety of topics including, romantic and black comedies, epic and science fiction, war, crime, and horror movies. Kubrik died in March of 1999 of a heart attack. He is still remembered as one of the greatest, if not the greatest, filmmaker of all time.

MOVIES: 

Kubrik is responsible for some of the most important films of all time. These include:

1. A Clockwork Orange- A futuristic film based in Britain that follows Alex DeLarge. DeLarge is the leader of the "droogs," one of many gangs in the area. After committing multiple heinous acts, including multiple beatings and fighting a rival gang, he is betrayed by the droogs, arrested, and sentenced to 14 years of incarceration. DeLarge then volunteers to undergo therapy treatment to help stop crime, but it does not go as well as they planned. 
2. Full Metal Jacket- Based in 1967, a group of Marines travels to Parris Island for training during the Vietnam War. After their training, they are set out into Vietnam to fight with the other Marines. There, they begin to see the horrible and unbelievable acts of war taking the lives of both the Vietnamese and the United States soldiers. 
3. The Shining- This film centers around Jack, Wendy, and Danny Torrance travels to an isolated Overlook Hotel that is controlled by an evil spirit. The spirit takes over the father, Jack, making him violent and out of control. The son, Danny, who is psychic, also begins to see horrifying visions of the past and future, and the entire family enters into a period of chaos. 

Other notable films include 2001: The Space Odyssey, Dr. Strangelove, Eyes Wide Shut, and Spartacus. 

40 Years and Running: "A Clockwork Orange"

It's amazing how after even after 40 years Stanley Kubrick's "A Clockwork Orange" still manages to leave the audience... petrified, awed, breathless, confused. Most other oldies usually fall victim to the test of the time (see: "Catcher in the Rye") and where at first they were dangerous and obscene, they become novel and childish in contemporary hindsight. However, "klassy Kubrick" instills all the aforementioned fear and just plain "i don't want to watch this, but I can't walk away" even in today's loose society.

I think the integration of classical music and ultra violent behavior, coupled by scenes of imaginative, grotesque, and simple cinematography , are what truly set this movie apart from most others. Kubrick was a perfectionist and a intellectual, he imposed iconography, symbology, and metaphor into every one of his works, but "A Clockwork Orange" steals the stage (no pun intended, actually...), as the trailer vividly (epileptics beware) shows.

If you still want a good scare; if you still want a good perspective into the mind of a "droog;" or if you just wanna see a movie that puts people through more emotions than a calculus final, "A Clockwork Orange" is for you. Bring a pen and paper, though, you'll not want to miss a thing.

A Clockwork Orange

Yesterday I had a wonderful day of shopping for props for my latest involvement in a film series and a lovely sushi dinner from Wegman's. LOVE WEGMAN'S!!! Durring my dinner I had decided since I had been keeping up with my work so well in both shoots I'd celebrate and watch a film, cause gee... since I'm a film student shouldn't I watch FILMS?! So I got on my iTunes account and finding that I still had some money left over on my account from when I bought my laptop, I'd use it to rent a film. In my searching I found a section in the "store" that suggested famous indi films. My eye was captured by "A Clockwork Orange". SO many people have told me "Hey, Lucy if you like films, you like indi films, the film Savage Grace has been and always will be at the bottom of your "favorite film's" list (but always remain on the list none the less), YOU SHOULD WATCH A CLOCKWORK ORANGE!!!
   Anyway, I rented it! I watched the trailer while I waited for the film to load. The trailer is a tiny (said with a high pitched voice) little piece of  the obnoxiousness displayed on screen when watching the film.


A warning to any who feel it now necessary to go out buy the film and watch it six or seven hundred times in your basement with the lights off. IT IS HIGHLY HIGHLY DISTURBING!! If you plan on watching this film I recommend doing being fully prepared for extreme sexual content and incredible violence all rolled into one!

Now, what I really wanted to blog about for this movie is the Psychological references and points this film makes. Specifically conditioned learning. During the film our "humble narrator" goes about his usual routine of selfish pillaging. From the beginning we see the world through Alex's (the main antagonist and "humble narrator") eyes. To him there was no law no order just living for himself and ruling over all. By the end we see though the world's perspective viewing of Alex's character as he changes and how the world still sees him no differently than they should have in the first place. In order for society or the "government" to change Alex's character they had to put him through a medical technique which made it completely unbearable for him to be comfortable in his own skin and upon several encounters when he returns to reality he encounters inadvertently all the things he had now been psychologically trained to avoid. Thus, making his new life a living hell. His true character prevailed in the end to going back to the way he always was before. Only this time he is protected to a degree by the government.

All in all it was an awesome film I highly recommend it!