"...wherein Kubrick’s typical determinism is foiled by chance and luck..." puts a nice bow on why I've always thought Lyndon was ironically his most tender, humane film.
All that abuse, and Eyes Wide Shut turns out to be such a shitty movie. A story about a grown-ass adult who has to take a long walk because he learned his wife daydreamed about fucking a sailor, once, like five years ago, just so he can learn that reality can be tricky like that sometimes. It's so stupid.
Try explaining that to a burgeoning cinebro kid with Big Director aspirations and you get a bunch of, "NoOoOo but the felt on the pool table is RED, when do you ever see a RED pool table, that's symbolism, that's such DETAIL and CONTROLLLLLlll!" Talk to them long enough, the word "control" comes up concerningly often.
One Kubrick-obsessed guy I knew literally couldn't conceive of how to shoot a dialog scene without five cameras (one wide, then one medium and closeup camera per actor) to ensure precise continuity. Blew three days just trying to light a kitchen scene in a short film. Never finished it. Claimed he just needs more money next time (it's been 12 years).
I'm about to rewatch Eyes Wide Shut tonight for the first time... I'll have to see what I think of it in terms of content. But you can tell how I feel about the production and direction. I do think it's really significant that it's based on the very Freudian novel Traumnovelle, so the wa sexuality is portrayed is ... well, super lame hah.
That anecdote is PERFECT encapsulation of what I was trying to argue! As aspiring filmmakers, it is far better to accept how little control you have and roll with the punches, rather than insist you'll need a Kubrick-sized budget to make anything good
"...wherein Kubrick’s typical determinism is foiled by chance and luck..." puts a nice bow on why I've always thought Lyndon was ironically his most tender, humane film.
All that abuse, and Eyes Wide Shut turns out to be such a shitty movie. A story about a grown-ass adult who has to take a long walk because he learned his wife daydreamed about fucking a sailor, once, like five years ago, just so he can learn that reality can be tricky like that sometimes. It's so stupid.
Try explaining that to a burgeoning cinebro kid with Big Director aspirations and you get a bunch of, "NoOoOo but the felt on the pool table is RED, when do you ever see a RED pool table, that's symbolism, that's such DETAIL and CONTROLLLLLlll!" Talk to them long enough, the word "control" comes up concerningly often.
One Kubrick-obsessed guy I knew literally couldn't conceive of how to shoot a dialog scene without five cameras (one wide, then one medium and closeup camera per actor) to ensure precise continuity. Blew three days just trying to light a kitchen scene in a short film. Never finished it. Claimed he just needs more money next time (it's been 12 years).
I'm about to rewatch Eyes Wide Shut tonight for the first time... I'll have to see what I think of it in terms of content. But you can tell how I feel about the production and direction. I do think it's really significant that it's based on the very Freudian novel Traumnovelle, so the wa sexuality is portrayed is ... well, super lame hah.
That anecdote is PERFECT encapsulation of what I was trying to argue! As aspiring filmmakers, it is far better to accept how little control you have and roll with the punches, rather than insist you'll need a Kubrick-sized budget to make anything good
I have more actual thoughts, but your Obsidian instincts kicked in: "[[Slapstick Expressionism]]" You might want to make that a hyperlink.
The idea of "cinema nobility" feels very true for Kubrick. Add in the abusiveness of his directing and he almost comes across as a cinema vampire.
Hah! I do draft everything in Obsidian and missed this in editing.