2014 Research Paper NemoOfNowhere

Samuel Banegas

	Stanley Kubrick is ubiquitously cited as having profound impact in the science fiction genre as a whole, but especially in cinema. Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey and A Clockwork Orange are repeatedly referenced or made homage to in both mainstream media, and recent science fiction novels and films. Kubrick’s style is very unique, in both films there are incorporated dystopian themes as well as a fine attention to detail and effects. Kubrick is also mixes up his cinematography, the two films having very different tones and stylistic choices. 2001 is at times, very symbolic, abstract, and in one scene, psychedelic. On the other hand, A Clockwork Orange is very graphic, brutal and real. 2001’s imagery ties links between bones that primitive sapiens wielded and the spaceships that humans created. It causes us to question what a person is, and whether or not AI’s can be people. It also raises thoughts about evolution and what us humans will become later, what the next step is, so to speak.  A Clockwork Orange attacks our morality, and prompts us with the conflict between free will, morality, obedience and sin. It gives us a despicable specimen of a person and shows us horrors being done to him that some wouldn’t wish on anyone, and asks us whether or not it’s acceptable to put someone through hell in order to adjust them to our societal values.  Both films and Kubrick’s other works have helped develop science fiction and make of it something more.
	Kubrick was born on July 26 ,1928 in The Bronx, New York. There he was raised and developed and interest in photography. He worked as a staff photographer for Look magazine in his teens, but never finished high school. Despite that, he attended Colombia University and studied literature, while at the same time earning money through chess games (something that is referenced in A Space Odyssey). Kubrick was a fan of cinema, and while having viewed classics of the time, he also saw some films of poor quality, and, convinced he could do better, ventured out into filmmaking. After a few low budget films, Kubrick moved to Hollywood where he and producer James B. Harris created Kubrick’s first large studio release, The Killing which enjoyed a positive critical response, but had a mediocre turnout at the box office. Kubrick’s next film, a WWI drama called Paths Of Glory, had a similar fate, having great reviews, but poor commercial turnout. At this point, Kubrick was known by critics as a great filmmaker, at the top of Hollywood, and achieved his first mainstream success with Spartacus, a film about a rebellious roman slave, inspired by the true story of the eponymous character. The film became one of the most financially successful films of the decade. At this point, Kubrick decided to leave Hollywood and moved to England, “so that he could excersice complete creative control over his films, which he felt was not possible in Hollywood” (Newsmakers 1). Only two of his films were not written or co-written by him, one of them being Spartacus, to serve as a testament to how involved in his filmmaking Kubrick was.  Furthermore, departments which directors usually don’t handle, such as casting, editing and lighting, were handled by Kubrick as well. After a very successful Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, Kubrick went on to make 2001: A Space Odyssey and A Clockwork Orange back to back. The two are both adaptations of novels of the same names, and both have some departures from the written work, artistic changes done at the discretion of Kubrick. Kubrick went on to make other very successful films, like The Shining and Full Metal Jacket before dying in Hertfordshire, England while producing another film, Eyes Wide Shut in 1999. Kubrick’s films are regarded as some of the best ever made, and have inspired several other filmmakers as well as impacted pop culture for decades.
	2001: A Space Odyssey is a film that plays with plot, characterization, and setting in a very unique way