Stan Kubrick is hailed as one of the most prolific film makers of all time. His legendary status is right up there with the likes of Hitchcock, and rightly so. That being said, Kubricks last film, Eyes Wide Shut, left somewhat of a bitter taste in many peoples mouths. Since, there's only been the bastardizing of A.I by Spielberg (it really was sacrilage!).
With the bitter taste from his last movie (I exclude myself from that group as I actually rate the film quite highly), fans of the legend may be pleased to hear that when Kubrick moved from Hollywood to London in '61, a lot of things got lost in the shuffle. Included with these lost items it seems, were some film treatments Kubrick had been working on. Now isn't that a delight to hear. However, hold your tongue for now, as I'm sure you'll agree, since A.I. and what spielberg did to it (bleurgh!) its going to be very difficult to imagine anyone stepping into Kubrick's shoes to finish a half complete idea or two. Is there anyone we could actually trust to perform such a hefty task??? I can't think of anyone...
Anyway, the scripts and treatments were stumbled upon by Kubrick's Son in Law, Philip Hobbs, who found an 80 page treatment for a film called Lunatic at Large. The film is described as “dark mystery thriller about an axe-murderer who has escaped from an asylum”. It would seem also, that this is being crowbarred into production already (oh dear...) with Christopher Palmer reportedly directing, and Colin Farrell being offered the lead role.
Other unfinished Kubrick scripts that have been discovered include Killer’s Kiss (”the missing link between A Clockwork Orange and The Shining”), The Down Slope (an American Civil War epic) and God Fearing Man (based on the true story of a priest who becomes a bank robber).
In my opinion, I would be a happier movie-goer if these films never saw the light of day, or if they did, that Kubrick's name is not attached to them. What do you lot think? Should we avoid another A.I. at all costs??
2 comments:
I was watching the culture show interview with Spielberg the other day and he gave some interesting insights into AI... he claims that kubrick always wanted spielberg to direct it as he wanted it to be more of a sentimental tale than he himself was capable of.. and hence Spielberg was perfect for it. Spielberg also says that it is interesting that all the bits people claim he 'ruined' were actually the exact treatments for those scenes that kubrick wanted.
I think it is likely that Spielberg made exactly the kind of AI that Kubrick wanted.. but I guess we'll never know for sure.
"he wanted it to be more of a sentimental tale than he himself was capable of.. "
I dunno, sounds like Spielberg Mischief to me... Just look at lolita!
You're right though, we'll never really know... One thing's for sure though, Kubrick wouldn't want people toying with half finished ideas of his after he'd died...
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