A Kubrick Tuesday

Filmbrain experienced a few Kubrick-related coincidences today. First off, there was a post from the Cinetrix (with a super-cool title) that linked to two interesting articles -- one from the New York Times about the Kubrick exhibit at the Deutsches Filmmuseum, and a fascinating one from The Guardian about discoveries in the Kubrick archives, including the massive amount of Napoleon material he had. (For those unaware, Kubrick had wanted to make a Napoleon film since 1968. Salon has an interesting article about it.)

About an hour later, Filmbrain received an email from a friend in Japan that contained a link to a PDF file of Kubrick's 155-page Napoleon screenplay (including production notes). (Praise Buddha for printers at work!)

Stopping in at his favorite DVD store on his way home, Filmbrain was excited to find a DVD (well, DVD-R) of some rare Kubrick material. Entitled Kubrick Assembled: The Rarities, it contains the following items:

• Fear and Desire (1953): His first feature film. Kubrick did his best to suppress the release of the film, given that he thought it was amateurish. (Paul Mazursky is listed in the cast credits.)
• The Seafarers (1952): Short documentary about the Seafarers Union.
• Day of the Fight (1950): Short documentary about a day in the life of boxer Walter Cartier.
• The Flying Padre (1951): Short documentary about a priest from New Mexico who flies a plane.
• An Examination of A Clockwork Orange (1972): A panel discussion with Malcolm McDowell and Anthony Burgess.

The DVD is clearly a bootleg, and there is a warning on the front about the poor picture quality. Still, it's a chance to see these rare works from a great director. Filmbrain will report back when he watches them.

Comments

[James Russell]

Filmbrain was excited to find a DVD (well, DVD-R) of some rare Kubrick material

I hope you'll pardon me for saying this, but, quite frankly: you bastard. Why do I never make exciting finds like this? :(

Cheers for the Napoleon script, though, that'll be some good reading in the next day or two.

[David]

That's funny, before I even checked the comments on this I decided I was going to comment "You bastard." The Napoleon script rules, though.

[David]

That's funny, before I even checked the comments on this I decided I was going to comment "You bastard." That dvd-r should totally be on ebay.

The Napoleon script - choice find.

[David]

I commented twice, and now three times, because I am a total idiot. Sorry.

[Filmbrain]

Not at all -- I can't imagine two finer people to be called "bastard" by.

[Robert Hunt]

"Day of the Fight" is hilarious and -unconsciously? - surreal. Was Kubrick familiar with Bunuel's films - especially "Land Without Bread" - when he made it?

[Sharon Karpinski]

HELP! Master's thesis time. I need Kubrick Assembled: The Rarities because (believe it or not) I need the material about the priest who flew a plane ("The Flying Padre.") I have no idea where to buy this bootleg DVD. I'm in Albuquerque, N.M. which does not have a lot of resources for weird DVD's. The only video store never heard of it. Sharon Karpinski

[Walrus125]

Happened to be flipping through your archive and was pleased to read this. I caught the Kubrick exhibit while I was vacationing in Germany and loved it. I snuck in a camera and got pictures of the inside of HAL and the milkbar from Clockwork Orange. Outside of the incompleted Napolean work I was surprised at how much research he had but into his never-completed Holocaust film, "Aryan Papers." Spielberg's rival project scared him out of it.

[Andy Lytwyn]

I actually have 'Kubrick Assembled: The Rarities' available to buy on DVD-R if anyone is interested in purchasing it? Its a fascinating watch indeed.Andy

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