Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #174425 in DVD
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Format: NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 142 minutes

Amazon.com
By lifting the veil that protected Stanley Kubrick from public scrutiny, Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures allows the world to see a genius who bore little resemblance to the eccentric persona perpetuated by the media. Essentially a professional home movie (producer-director Jan Harlan was Kubrick's long-time executive producer and brother-in-law), it is both biased and privileged in its access to Kubrick's personal archives, but Harlan's balanced approach allows room for appropriate criticism. While offering a definitive survey of Kubrick's life and 13 feature films, it's also a valentine to a devoted husband, father, and collaborator who, as critic Richard Schickel observes, crafted a private life that anyone would envy and admire. The films speak for themselves, while such luminaries as Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, and Tom Cruise (who also narrates) offer valuable perspective. But it's the private anecdotes (such as Kubrick writing a 15-page guide to caring for his family's cats) that are most enlightening in their warmth and affection, revealing an artist whose humanity far outshined the mistaken perceptions of the outside world. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews

Kubrick's odyssey finally realized
STANLEY KUBRICK: A LIFE IN PICTURES is as good a documentary as one can make, especially about a master film director like Kubrick. Dealing with his life from growing up in the Bronx to his last days making and refining EYES WIDE SHUT, LIFE IN PICTURES has interviews with cast members, production crew, writers, composers, etc. Jack Nicholson, Malcolm McDowell, Shelley Duvall, Tom Cruise among others are the actors interviewed. Wendy Carlos, musician who orchestrated the classical music in CLOCKWORK ORANGE, is also interviewed, as is Jan Harlan (producer and brother-in-law), Christina Kubrick (Kubrick's wife and a painter), Gyorgy Ligeti (composer's music used in many Kubrick films), and many more invaluable interviews.

There are also clips from every single Kubrick production, comments and revelations (particularly about CLOCKWORK's controversy in Great Britain), reaction from critics like Richard Schickel and other film directors such as Woody Allen and Martin Scorsese, and so much more. Anyone who is a Kubrick fan cannot be without this 21/2 hour documentary...invaluable only skims the surface, it is essential.

Thank you Christiana Kubrick
A Life in Pictures is a superb and much needed documentary of the legendary filmmaker, Stanley Kubrick. The film follows the traditional format for biographical documentaries and starts with Kubrick's youth and his early influences. It progresses steadily through all of his films and finally to his death. The thing about this documentary, about one of the worlds most reclusive and misunderstood filmmakers, that makes it so good is the insight into his personal life, provided by his wife, Christiana Kubrick. I think that she understood some of the things that the fans would really be looking for in this film, and that is to say the glimpsing into the kind of man that Kubrick really was, behind the camera or at home. There are lots of great interviews and the film is very tasteful and respectfully done. This is definately one for the fans, but those who are just curious will also enjoy it. Thank you Christiana Kubrick for sharing this DVD with the fans.

Absolutely fascinating portrait of one of the greatest of film artists....
This is an absolutely fascinating documentary, not only for Kubrick afficinados, but for fans of art, cinema, and life itself. It's a very well made, entertaining, informative, and surprising film. The press/critics were fond of painting Kubrick with a massive brush, saying he was a nutcase/recluse who was afraid of germs and flies. It simply was never true. Kubrick just never liked talking to the press. That means he's quite sane and would rather concentrate on his filmmaking and his family. There's some wonderful home movies of him with his three daughters (especially charming is some footage of them banging away at the piano and instructing their father about life and things), and with his third wife who remained with him until he died, Christianne (a wonderful painter and the actress who sings the beautiful song at the end of Paths of Glory). There are many, many interviews with actors, technicians, assistants, and even composers. The most fascinating interview, at least to me, was the modern composer Gyorgy Ligeti, whose music was used in 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Shining, and Eyes Wide Shut (the piano music in that film was composed by him). The film, directed by Stanley's brother in law, Jan Harlan (and executive producer on many of his films), really opens the door to show a great artist and a family guy, not some madman screaming at the walls like Howard Hughes (Kubrick was often compared to Hughes by many critics). I always say the more I read about artists, the more I like them, and this film really is quite wonderful. I'm also glad that Warner Brothers released this on its own. Before, it was only available in one of their Kubrick box sets. For any fan of cinema, you really need to see this one.