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Stanley Kubrick: a Textual and Contextual Analysis

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Stanley Kubrick: a Textual and Contextual Analysis Masaryk University Faculty of Arts Department of English and American Studies English Language and Literature Martin Burget Stanley Kubrick: A Textual and Contextual Analysis Bachelor’s Diploma Thesis Supervisor: doc. PhDr. Tomáš Pospíšil, Dr. 2011 1 I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography. …………………………………………… Martin Burget 2 I would like to thank my supervisor for his valuable advice and guidance through the writing process. 3 Table of Contents Introduction....................................................................................................5 1. Few Words About Kubrick and His works....................................................7 2. 2001 in the context of science fiction genre.................................................11 3. The Philosophy of 2001................................................................................21 4. Analysis........................................................................................................ 26 4.1. Dawn of Man........................................................................................26 4.2 The Jupiter Mission..............................................................................38 4.3 Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite............................................................43 Conclusion.....................................................................................................48 Works Cited...................................................................................................51 List of Illustrations........................................................................................53 4 Introduction In this thesis I will focus on Stanley Kubrick and his 2001: A Space Odyssey (Henceforward : 2001). Made in 1968, 2001 is a science fiction movie directed by Kubrick and co-written with Arthur C. Clarke. It is widely recognized as one of Kubrick’s most important works. Throughout the years since it’s release, 2001 has influenced numerous directors in science fiction genre such as George Lucas or Steven Spielberg, who compared the influence of 2001 on subsequent generations to Big Bang. The influence of 2001 reaches beyond the borders of regular science fiction as it had large impact on the entire movie industry. In 1991 it was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry for being culturally, historically and aesthetically important. Nowadays, it is considered as one of the greatest movies of all time by most film critics and general public. It received 4 Academy Award nominations and received one for Best special effects. In regard of Kubrick, 2001 is considered to be the defining movie of his long career. Important directors like Martin Scorsese or Woody Allen claim that 2001 is Kubrick’s greatest film. Despite receiving rather negative reviews at first, in the following years, it established itself as one of the classics of science fiction genre. The reason why 2001 made such an impact is that it basically broke all the previous conventions. To name just a few: it is extremely scientifically accurate, very symbolic almost surrealistic, rather than using dialogues for narration it implements music instead of spoken words, thus breaking most conventional rules of movie narration. It has highly philosophic content and offers number of possible interpretations and meanings, which was unprecedented in science fiction genre. The high number of authors who focused their research on 2001 demonstrates the complexity of the film 5 because basically every author offers a unique interpretation. This is given by the ambiguity of the film’s content which for the most part relies on visual symbols rather than on dialogues and classic style of narration. All the above mentioned characteristics of 2001 are the reason why it is the central focus of this thesis as I believe it is one of the milestones of modern cinema. In the thesis I will focus and analyze the main plot and how it is metaphorically related to the evolution of mankind and hypothesis of Friedrich Nietzsche from his work Thus Spoke Zarathustra. In the first chapter I speak about Stanley Kubrick in general, about his beginnings in movie industry, I also include his filmography with general information about his features to give a better look at Kubrick’s work. 2001 In the Context of Science Fiction genre is the topic of the next chapter. By briefly describing the history of the genre and its properties I explain why 2001 differs so much from the previous works. The third chapter focuses on the philosophical content of the film. I introduce Nietzsche’s ideas and hypothesis which he proposed in Thus Spoke Zarathustra. There, he proposes that there are tree stages of human evolution, ape, modern man and the Superman. In the thesis I will provide evidence that this evolution is portrayed in 2001. In the fourth chapter I begin with the analysis of the content of the film. The chapter is divided into 3 subchapters that follow the structure of the film. The visual symbols that I refer to are illustrated using pictures taken from the movie. I also present quotes by various scholars and Kubrick himself to support my arguments. In the conclusion I summarize the outcome of my research. 6 1. Few Words About Kubrick and His Works Stanley Kubrick was born on 26th July 1928 and he died on 7th March 1999, only two weeks after finishing the last scene of Eyes Wide Shut. Kubrick is widely recognized as one of the greatest film directors of all time. His filmography contains all possible themes spanning from love, sex and relationships to war, crime and space travel. During his career Kubrick engaged in number of movie genres including war films, film noir, comedy, science fiction and horror. He covered wide field of themes and ideas and for this versatility he is considered as one of the most influential directors ever. Almost every actor who worked with Kubrick claims that the cooperation with him was one of the most or even the greatest experience of their careers. Icons such as Sidney Pollack, Tom Cruise or Malcolm McDowell recall working with Kubrick as memorable moments in their lives. Kubrick never studied cinematography and never took any acting lessons, all his knowledge about movies was a result of experience and self study. Kubrick himself admitted that the most important thing for his career was not education but simple luck. His first steps into the realms of art were photographs as he was completely fascinated by them and with the support of his father he wanted to become a professional. Because his family was rather rich and his father was a keen photographer too, young Kubrick had the privilege of having a private dark room at home. Alex Singer, an American director, assistant and a friend of Kubrick said: ―Stanley’s father had a dark room in their house and it was this dark room that probably shifted his future career. He spent a lot of time there and his fascination supported by his father grew stronger and stronger.‖ (Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures) Kubrick was only 16 when he sent a picture of an 7 old man mourning over the death of president Roosevelt to Look magazine. The people in Look were impressed and after Kubrick finished his high school studies he was offered a job there. At the beginning of 1950’s Kubrick started to venture into the world of movies. He was still very enthusiastic about photography, however, he was more and more dragged by the prospect of filmmaking. Supported by Alex Singer, he made a few short documentaries, most notable was The Day of the Fight from 1951, a short movie about a rising boxing star Walter Cartier. It was this work where Kubrick introduced the reverse tracking shot, a future trademark of his movies. After this experience Kubrick decided that he would pursue the career of a film maker, he quit his job in Look and devoted his future career to filmmaking. After series of another short documentaries – Flying Padre (1951), Seafarers (1952), with financial support of his father, he made his first full-length movie Fear and Desire in 1953. This war movie portrayed a group of soldiers behind enemy lines in a fictional war. Fear and Desire started Kubrick’s career as a director and even though it was not regarded as something groundbreaking, he gained recognition amongst film producers, who saw big potential and talent in this young amateur who was still only 25. Kubrick’s second feature came in 1955 and it was a film noir Killer’s Kiss, a story about a boxer in the end of his career and his relationship with a dancer and her employer. It received mixed reviews but the majority of the critics appreciated that Kubrick directed and edited the work from his own screenplay and story. After Killer’s Kiss Kubrick was introduced to James B. Harris, a young producer, who admired Kubrick’s work. The cooperation between these two resulted in third feature, The Killing, again a film noir based on the novel Clean Break by Lionel White. The film was a financial disaster even though it received positive reviews, but Kubrick’s career was on the rise as he gained more and more recognition 8 both among movie critics and casual viewers. In his next project, Kubrick returned back to the genre of war movies and along with screenwriter Jim Thompson he made Paths of Glory, an anti-war film with a major movie star in the leading role, Kirk Douglas. The movie raised a lot of controversy, mostly in Europe, because of the way it depicted French
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