The Coen brothers name their favourite Stanley Kubrick movie
Having covered almost each and every single genre throughout his career as a director, Stanley Kubrick is understandably a favourite of countless filmmakers from across the globe. The likes of Martin Scorsese, Christopher Nolan, Denis Villeneuve, and Greta Gerwig have each been inspired by Kubrick’s meticulous perfection, luring the audience in with films that swirl with cinematic romance and emotional density.
His career began way back in the early 1950s when he released 1953’s Fear and Desire and Killer’s Kiss two years later. But, it wouldn’t be until 1956 that the director would see true success, gaining critical acclaim for his heist movie The Killing shortly before his career would truly hit the Hollywood headlines with Paths of Glory in 1957, arguably the director’s most complete release of his filmography.
From then on, success came thick and fast for Kubrick, releasing Dr. Strangelove in 1964, 2001: A Space Odyssey in 1968 and The Shining in 1980, among several other 20th-century masterpieces. He would pass away in 1999, shortly before the release of his final movie, Eyes Wide Shut, a complex sexual drama starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman that tore apart the American dream.
Kubrick’s complex films, which were often tinged with comedy, were particularly inspiring for the burgeoning young Coen brothers, who rose to fame in 1984 with their debut Blood Simple.
Fond of their own comedies, the Coen brothers have delved into the genre on several occasions, making such classic movies as Raising Arizona, Fargo and The Big Lebowski before the start of the 21st century. Working with the likes of Nicolas Cage, Frances McDormand and Jeff Bridges, the brothers have created some of the greatest comedies of all time with their iconic, quirky style.
Discussing their favourite movies of all time over the years, the Coen brothers highlighted Kubrick’s 1964 sharp cold war satire Dr. Strangelove as their favourite of the filmmakers, with this coming as little surprise to fans.
Kubrick has long been a significant influence on the Coen brothers, with the vibrant, idiosyncratic script from Dr. Strangelove sharing many similarities to the duo’s later movies, such as 2016’s Hail, Caesar! which too dealt with the ‘Red Scare’ of the 1950s and 2008’s Burn After Reading, a black comedy that dealt with bureaucratic incompetence.
Indeed, there are several references to the filmography of Kubrick throughout the Coen’s own work, with the pair nodding to Dr. Strangelove in Raising Arizona, in a moment when a piece of graffiti on a door reads POE-OPE, the recall code in the 1964 satire. In addition, in 2003’s Intolerable Cruelty, the brothers used sound effects from 2001: A Space Odyssey for the medical machines used for the character of Herb Myerson.
Take a look at the trailer for Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove below.
