Stanley Kubrick’s favourite movies from the 1990s
Few directors have reached the same indomitable heights as Stanley Kubrick, whose five-decade-long career cemented him as one of the most influential filmmakers of all time. After United Artists Film Studios gave the young director his first Hollywood opportunity in 1956 – by funding his film The Killing – Kubrick soon went on to create successful productions such as Lolita, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Shining and Dr Strangelove.
By Kubrick’s death in 1999, almost every film he created could be considered a masterpiece. Seemingly skilled in every genre, the filmmaker successfully experimented with sci-fi, horror, crime and period dramas. From 2001 to Eyes Wide Shut, Kubrick was a master of creating an atmosphere like no other, fully immersing audiences in his world, regardless of lengthy runtimes. As he once said: “The screen is a magic medium. It has such power that it can retain interest as it conveys emotions and moods that no other art form can hope to tackle.”
In 1960, Kubrick declared “[Ingmar] Bergman, [Vittorio] De Sica and [Federico] Fellini” the “only three filmmakers in the world who are not just artistic opportunists.” However, as decades passed, Kubrick welcomed plenty more directors into his collection of favourites. In his definitive list of favourite films, seven were released in the 1990s, not long before his death.
Kubrick’s favourite picks of the decade include both new releases from established directors like Woody Allen and movies by relative newcomers such as Quentin Tarantino. Discover his favourite ’90s films below:
Stanley Kubrick’s favourite 1990s movies:
Dekalog (Krzysztof Kieslowski, 1990)
Technically not one movie but an anthology series made up of ten hour-long films, each inspired by the Ten Commandments, Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Dekalog has been labelled as “the best dramatic work ever done specifically for television” by critics. Kubrick was just as passionate about the Polish series, referring to it as the only “film masterpiece” he could think of.
According to executive producer and Kubrick’s right-hand man Jan Harlan, “I believe the only foreword to a book he ever wrote was for the scripts of Kieslowski’s Dekalog – and he did this with pleasure. A great masterpiece.”
The Silence of the Lambs (Jonathan Demme, 1991)
As demonstrated by his foray into horror directing with The Shining, Kubrick was a big fan of the genre. Among his favourite horror pictures were The Exorcist, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Rosemary’s Baby and The Silence of the Lambs. Released in 1991, Jonathan Demme’s psychological horror starred Anthony Hopkins as the chilling cannibalistic serial killer Hannibal Lecter and Jodie Foster as young FBI trainee Clarice.
Although Kubrick cited The Silence of the Lambs as one of his favourite movies, Hopkins’ terrifying performance might not have been possible without him. Hannibal Lecter’s eerie voice was directly inspired by the voice of the sentient computer HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey.
White Men Can’t Jump (Ron Shelton, 1992)
One of the most unexpected picks on Kubrick’s list of favourite films is the commercial hit White Men Can’t Jump, a basketball comedy directed by Ron Shelton and starring Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson. This pick certainly proves that Kubrick was no elitist. As his daughter once said, “[he] liked movies on their own terms.” Kubrick was a big fan of comedy pictures, as demonstrated by his satirical 1964 film Dr Strangelove.
Another comedy pick from his favourite film list is Modern Romance from 1981, which he called “brilliant”. He even called director Albert Brooks and told him, “You will not understand what I’m saying, but you must believe me: The studio decides before the movie is ever released how it’s going to do. It has nothing to do with you.”
Husbands and Wives (Woody Allen, 1992)
Kubrick was a great admirer of filmmaker Woody Allen’s work, selecting four of his films as his all-time favourites, including 1970s classics Annie Hall and Manhattan. However, one of his favourite films from the 1990s was Allen’s 1992 release, Husbands and Wives. The film stars Mia Farrow and Sydney Pollack, the latter of whom was cast in Kubrick’s final film, Eyes Wide Shut.
Somewhat strangely, it was reported by writer David Mikics that Kubrick wanted to cast Allen in Eyes Wide Shut instead of Tom Cruise. We can only hope that was a joke because it would have been a terrible idea.
The Red Squirrel (Julio Medem, 1993)
Julio Medem’s drama The Red Squirrel was heralded as one of the best Spanish films of all time by Kubrick, as well as one of the greatest films of the previous 25 years. The film, which stars Emma Suárez, Nancho Novo and María Barranco, follows a suicidal musician who makes up the life of an amnesiac woman, attempting to fool people into believing they are lovers.
The 2001: A Space Odyssey director was such a fan of the film that he reportedly purchased the original print from Medem.
Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994)
Shortly after releasing the controversial Reservoir Dogs, which caused horror directors like Wes Craven to walk out of the cinema, Tarantino returned with Pulp Fiction. The film featured an impressive ensemble cast of characters played by the likes of Samuel L. Jackson, John Travolta, Uma Thurman and Bruce Willis. Kubrick called Pulp Fiction one of his favourite films, referring to it as “slick”. According to Eyes Wide Shut screenwriter Frederic Raphael, Kubrick “admired it very much, he said ‘it’s pretty good, okay?'”
However, Tarantino is not the biggest fan of Kubrick, once calling him “a hypocrite”. Referring to A Clockwork Orange, the director said: “His party line was, I’m not making a movie about violence, I’m making a movie against violence. And it’s just, like, get the fuck off.”
Boogie Nights (Paul Thomas Anderson, 1998)
Paul Thomas Anderson rose to prominence after releasing his critically and commercially successful tale of the ’70s porn industry, Boogie Nights. The Californian director is a huge fan of Kubrick, stating his favourites as Dr Strangelove, Lolita, Full Metal Jacket, and The Shining. Therefore, he must be pleased to know that Kubrick was a big fan of Boogie Nights.
In 2000, Anderson shared on his fansite: “[Kubrick] had seen Boogie Nights, and he liked it very much. He liked the fact that I was a writer-director and commented that more filmmakers should write and direct. He said he liked Woody Allen and David Mamet and mentioned House of Games and Husbands and Wives – interesting how similar they are to Eyes Wide Shut.”
