Stanley Kubrick - Auteur

Auteur Theory considers a director to be the creative force behind a film. They are depicted as an ‘author’ with a distinctive style, noticeable in their works. From his 1968 Sci-Fi epic, 2001: A Space Odyssey to the more controversial A Clockwork Orange, Stanley Kubrick is considered one of the most revolutionary directors of the 20^th Century, but what is it that defines him as an auteur?

Stanley Kubrick grew up with a love of chess and photography. By age thirteen, he had already found his passion after his father bought him a Graflex Camera. After developing a love for still photography, Kubrick pursued every photographic opportunity he found, from working as the school photographer at William Howard Taft High School, to working as a professional photographer at Look Magazine.

Kubrick has stated that he takes great interest in the human condition, particularly the darker side of human nature. Before he delved into cinema it is clear of this particular interest through his photographic works; mostly capturing images of natural human behaviour.

In Kubrick’s early documentary shorts, his passion for photography is prominent in the cinematography; opening with varied picturesque scenes, Kubrick instantly signifies his visually stunning style as an auteur and how still photography began to shape his manner of filmmaking. Additionally both of Kubrick’s early documentaries focus on particularly interesting people; thus reiterating his admiration of human nature.

Kubrick’s photographic influence became even more profound as he progressed in his film career. Although every film made by Kubrick is a cinematographic masterpiece, a particularly outstanding one is Barry Lyndon. Using a lens from NASA and his photographic expertise, Kubrick’s aim was to make the film look like an 18^th Century painting.

Long, extensive shots are also a notable technique of Kubrick’s, prominent in 2001: A Space Odyssey. The use of these extremely endured takes allowed him to emphasise the visual, cinematic quality of the shots; again signifying the influence photography had over Kubrick’s work.