The movie Stanley Kubrick admitted was “embarrassing”
It’s hard to imagine a director as magnificent as Stanley Kubrick finding any of his work “embarrassing”, but even the most extraordinary filmmakers can be highly critical of themselves. In fact, it’s often self-criticism that allows accomplished directors to succeed, constantly encouraging themselves to strive for the best they can possibly give.
Kubrick honed his talents over an incredibly successful career that spanned five decades, making him one of the most influential figures in cinema history. His first major hit was Paths of Glory, although it was a box-office flop it was a big win with critics. Yet, his subsequent movie, Spartacus, had a significant impact, racking up six Oscar nominations and winning four, including ‘Best Supporting Actor’ and ‘Best Cinematography’. The movie marked Kubrick’s trajectory towards cinematic acclaim, following it up with his dark comedy, Lolita, adapted from Vladimir Nabokov’s controversial novel.
From that point onwards, Kubrick was unstoppable, releasing one of the greatest comedies ever made, Dr. Strangelove, in 1964. However, his magnum opus, 2001: A Space Odyssey, came in 1968, an indelible masterpiece that altered the course of cinematic history. Made with an extensive dedication to depicting space with as much realism as possible, Kubrick was so successful that people began believing he was responsible for faking the moon landing.
His next picture was the significantly smaller-budgeted A Clockwork Orange, which proved controversial due to its sexual and violent content. Yet, this only helped Kubrick maintain his status as one of the most innovative filmmakers of his generation, with subsequent movies Barry Lyndon, The Shining and Full Metal Jacket all further backing this claim. Before he died, Kubrick made one last film, Eyes Wide Shut, exposing the corruption of the world’s elites, with Tom Cruise’s character immersing himself in a world of bizarre masked sex rituals.
From Kubrick’s varied filmography, it’s clear that he never sacrificed his visions, which led him to earn a reputation for being an extreme perfectionist. His intense dedication to filmmaking was apparent from his very first feature, Fear and Desire, which he made with a shoestring cast and crew, completing a significant amount of the production and post-production himself.
However, despite his best efforts to make his debut feature come to life, Kubrick ended up calling it an “embarassing” movie, which he later dubbed “a bumbling amateur film exercise.” After its release in 1952, Kubrick tried to discourage people from seeing the movie, even when it was subsequently re-discovered in the 1990s. Many people believe that Kubrick attempted to have all original negatives and copies destroyed, yet he was unsuccessful in achieving this aim and it is now easily available online.
It seems as though Kubrick was overly harsh on himself, considering he made the movie almost entirely alone, which left him to complete arduous tasks such as filming and editing. While Fear and Desire is no Space Odyssey, it demonstrates Kubrick’s fervent dedication to cinema, planting the seed for his outstanding future career, and serving as a supreme educational tool for the man himself.
