No matter how many filmmakers have been inspired by his works, there will only be one Stanley Kubrick. What might at first seem perplexing to analyze or fully conceive becomes ravishingly exhilarating through his singular use of experimentation. His craft has been formed through reshaping cinema with each turn, changing genres, tones, styles and camera techniques but never losing his distinct vision and attention to detail. It can become a strenuous, exhausting task to examine his works, then, and it has quite possibly driven some to madness in the process. But when studying quite possibly the most important visual artist of our time, Channel Criswell has to make that distinction and forge onward anyway, and that’s what he does in his latest video essay, “Stanley Kubrick – The Cinematic Experience.”
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What pushes Kubrick into this territory, exactly? Well, it’s because every one of his films is an artistic revolution — not merely based on his own work, but in the scheme of cinema as a whole. They define the director as one of extremes, both in content and execution. Rather than study intimate drama, almost all of them examine the bigger, more grandiose picture of life in one way or another. This can be exploring the deterioration effects of war (“Full Metal Jacket”), or the secrets kept by society so that they might participate in their darkest fantasies (“Eyes Wide Shut”). These are merely a few of the high-concept ideas articulated with gusto and ferocity in the filmmaker’s most memorable works, and this is how he redefined the cinematic experience.
With a firm message planted, every film Kubrick made had a distinct, unflinching focus. Everything from character design to actor movement was orchestrated with straight-laced precision. Everything was concentrated under strict attention. Everything had meaning. And when everything has a purpose and intellectual meaning, the richer the result. That’s merely the beginning. To learn the deeper meaning behind Kubrick’s genius, check out the full video essay.