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"Lost" Kubrick movie finally found

Started by surreal, September 24, 2010, 04:27:33 PM

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surreal

This should interest some of you, I know there are some fans on here:

http://www.darkhorizons.com/news/18314

QuoteAcclaimed filmmaker Stanley Kubrick was responsible for three shorts and thirteen features throughout his lifetime.

Of those thirteen features, five have emerged as true cornerstones of cinema - "2001," "Dr. Strangelove," "A Clockwork Orange," "Full Metal Jacket" and "The Shining". Another five aren't as unanimously praised but are generally considered classics in their own right - "Barry Lyndon," "Paths of Glory," "Spartacus," "Eyes Wide Shut" and "Lolita".

The remaining three however, his low-budget first three films which were released in the mid-50's, are generally not widely known outside of Kubrick fans and cinemaphile circles. While "The Killing" and "Killer's Kiss" are easy to obtain on Amazon and the like, his first feature-length effort "Fear and Desire" has proven a collector's item which most have only been able to see through dodgy online copies or very low quality VHS copies of copies. Until now that is.

George Eastman House ran a special screening of the film in Los Angeles recently from an original "not necessarily complete" negative. The company inherited a collapsing distributor's film library recently, including that partial negative which came from a Puerto Rican film lab's storage vault which had been shut down years ago.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the company is now talking about a "major restoration effort" on the film which would see a high-quality DVD release of the title sometime down the road.

It's generally thought that negative is the only official copy in existence. The film itself earned a reputation as being a work Kubrick himself was not a fan of at all, and purportedly tried to remove the film from circulation however he could.

non capisco

Interesting stuff, I'd certainly be keen to see it even if it turns out to be abominable (as the article says, Kubrick himself absolutely hated it)

QuoteOf those thirteen features, five have emerged as true cornerstones of cinema - "2001," "Dr. Strangelove," "A Clockwork Orange," "Full Metal Jacket" and "The Shining". Another five aren't as unanimously praised but are generally considered classics in their own right - "Barry Lyndon," "Paths of Glory," "Spartacus," "Eyes Wide Shut" and "Lolita".

I'd put 'Paths Of Glory' as his best film myself, it's certainly head and shoulders over 'Full Metal Jacket'. I absolutely love 'The Killing' as well, with its Jim Thompson dialogue and brilliantly sustained sense of tension.

kidsick5000

It's good news, but deep down I wished it was a proper lost film Kubrick made between The Shining, Full Metal Jacket and Eyes Wide Shut.
I wish that he did what Paul McCartney is rumoured to have done and created much more under pseudonyms but that's just a fantasy really.
I know he did the lighting for the supertanker in The Spy Who Loved Me but it would be cool if it turned out he just filled his time making films and adverts just for the hell of it.

At the moment, The Shining is his best film for me.

Ignatius_S

Thanks for posting!

It will be great to have it properly restored – if you can't wait that long, watch it on YouTube

In that article, to say that The Killing is not "generally not widely known outside of Kubrick fans and cinemaphile circles", I feel is complete tosh. It's always been part of the 'Kubrick canon' and none of the articles, which mention the film, that I've read have made it sound as if you have to be in the know to be aware of it. After Reservoir Dogs, the film was continually referenced in film reviews.

I suppose one could argue that many wouldn't necessarily be aware that The Killing is one by Kubrick, but it's a very well known crime film.

Quote from: non capisco on September 25, 2010, 03:11:55 PM
Interesting stuff, I'd certainly be keen to see it even if it turns out to be abominable (as the article says, Kubrick himself absolutely hated it)...
He did, but Kubrick also disliked Killer's Kiss and although not great, it's pretty watchable and has some nice touches.

This was an article that I found pretty interesting - http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s69desire.html - someone who was expecting it to be awful, but was actually pleasantly surprised.