The unlikely movie Stanley Kubrick “always wanted to make”
Remembered as one of cinema’s most influential and idiosyncratic voices, director Stanley Kubrick is a creative enigma who often spent vast periods of time researching each of his projects. Meticulous in his artist vision and steadfast in his devotion to high art on the silver screen, Kubrick’s presence in the history of cinema is certified by the double-edged brilliance of mainstream success and unstoppable artistry.
An undoubted student of the screen, Kubrick was a lover of movies as well as a creator of them. When it comes to history’s greatest cinematic viewpoints, it is the obscure and experimental films that capture the most interest, with Kubrick himself citing Italy’s Federico Fellini and Sweden’s Ingmar Bergman as two of his most inspirational filmmakers, though there is also one other unlikely film that the director was particularly fond of.
Of course, his comprehensive list of favourite films includes a wide range of directors and creatives, listing David Lynch’s surrealist horror film Eraserhead, Michael Moore’s documentary Roger & Me, and John Huston’s The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, among many others. Although Stanley Kubrick was regarded as a visionary and cinematic master, he was certainly no elitist.
Whether it was action, comedy or simple adventure storytelling, Kubrick wasn’t afraid to share his love for a picture if it connected with him. It’s what gave him the rich and varied filmography he has. According to his daughter Katharina Kubrick-Hobbs, he “liked movies on their own terms”.
Such an ethos might explain Stanley Kubrick’s fondness for Ron Shelton’s upbeat comedy, White Men Can’t Jump, starring Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson as two hustlers who join forces to double their chances of winning money in a basketball tournament. It might feel strange to see such a movie among Kubrick’s favourites. However, peering behind the curtain, it is easy to see how it might connect.
After all, Kubrick’s own love of comedy was well-known, co-writing 1964’s nuclear war satire Dr. Strangelove, which ingeniously poked fun at the flippant decisions of war generals when it came to the horrors of war.
White Men Can’t Jump wasn’t the only comedy on Kubrick’s mind either, noting Albert Brooks’ 1981 Modern Romance as another of his favourites. Written by and starring Brooks, the movie is one of the more quaint releases on Kubrick’s list of favourites. Focusing on a film editor who can’t seem to negotiate the trials and tribulations of the titular issue, Kubrick clearly connected with the movie, even labelling it a film he wished he had made.
Brooks revealed that Kubrick enjoyed the film so much that he even received a phone call from the iconic director about the making of it. As Modern Romance had failed to make a considerable impression at the box office, Kubrick’s phone call had a massive impact on Brooks, with the director commenting, “He saved my life…I was so depressed; I didn’t understand the movie business, I didn’t know what was happening”.
In reply to Brooks’ worries, Kubrick lovingly responded: “This is a brilliant movie—the movie I’ve always wanted to make about jealousy. 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”.
Stanley Kubrick often appears in conversations regarding cinema’s greatest ever directors; he may also have to feature as one of the most genuine and humble too, showing that to be the very best, you have to appreciate all forms of art. As Werner Herzog once said: “The poet must not avert his eyes”.
