Stanley Kubrick: Sexual Maniac

Well, I took advantage of this two hour delay this morning and I watched a rather morally questionable film. This morning I had the pleasure of watching Lolita, Kubrick's infamous tale of pedophilia. You know, it's the classic love story. Man moves into house with woman and her 14 year old daughter, woman falls in love with man, man becomes obsessed with woman's daughter, man marries woman to get closer to the daughter, man's actions inadvertently cause woman's death, and man devotes the rest of his life to seducing the daughter. Just your average run of the mill love story. If I could sum this film up in one word it's uncomfortable. The entire time I just felt uneasy while watching. It was not a fun movie to watch and that's what makes it all the more powerful. I cringed too many times to count and even had to stop watching at some points because it was just too awkward for me. When I found out that the actress that played Lolita in the movie was actually 14 at the time of filming made the whole experience even more uncomfortable. But all in all, even though it wasn't necessarily a fun film to watch it was still a rewarding viewing. Peter Sellers performance was spectacular and Kubrick's attention to detail was just as present in this film as in his others. While this film's over the top sexual implications were a little too much for me, it could no nothing to prepare me for what I watched after school today.

I was told by Dr. Morris to save Eyes Wide Shut for the last. And now I'm kind of regretting it because it's left such a poor taste in my mouth for the director I've come to admire. This was actually the first film that I've just flat out disliked for this project. Personally my biggest gripe with the film was actually the writing. I don't know what happened to Kubrick but in the 12 years between this movie and Full Metal Jacket Kubrick seemed to have forgotten how to write natural and believable dialogue. Lines like "Once a doctor, always a doctor!" and "Hey I think I remember that guy from medical school" seemed forced and out of place. They didn't seem like natural things to say and there are far better ways to expose details about your characters. Also I didn't love any single performance in this film. Tom Cruise felt robotic and self aware. Nicole Kidman seemed like she didn't know her lines at certain points. And Sydney Pollack was alright but nothing noteworthy. Also the way over the top sexual innuendoes became just too much for me. It seemed like every single scene there was Tom Cruise staring at a pair of boobs. The characters didn't talk about anything but sex and at some points I thought I was actually watching a porno. To me, there's a point when theres just too much nudity and sex in a film and this movie hit that limit that at the 15 minute mark of it's 159 minutes. If there was one thing I enjoyed about this film, it was the camera work. Even at 70 years old Kubrick still knew how to work a camera majestically and theres no doubt about that. Each shot, especially in the secret sex society scenes, was like Kubrick trying to make a statement. Saying how, maybe he'd lost his touch when it came to writing but when it comes down to pure cinematography, there's no one better than the Kubrick.

This officially ends the list of Stanley Kubrick films I need to watch.  Now all that I need to do before I fully move onto Tarantino is organize all my notes and ramblings into something cohesive like an essay or something. I'll be looking for ideas this week on what I should I create to go along with my findings.