50 Reasons Why Stanley Kubrick Is The Greatest Director Of All Time

30. Responsible for Some of the Most Memorable Opening Sequences in Cinema

The opening footage of B52 bombers refuelling to the strains of Try a Little Tenderness (blatant metaphorical airline intercourse), The Shining's ominous opening aerial shot that follows Jack Torrance's car on his journey to the mysterious Outlook hotel, the breathtaking alignment of the Earth, the moon and sun which rises to the strains of Strauss in 2001... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWnmCu3U09w

31. A Clockwork Orange (1971)

Sometimes it takes time for a controversial movie to be fully appreciated. Once the notoriety associated with the title dies down the film can finally take on a whole new meaning. Following the 30 year self-inflicted ban of Kubrick's science-fiction masterpiece, the supposed graphic violence became the least surprising aspect of the entire picture. What captivates instead is the flawless use of imagery and music to comment on society; re-interpreting everything from the William Tell Overture to Singin' in the Rain. Kubrick's film is less a commentary on violence and more a statement on the lack of individual freedom in a totalitarian emotionally repressive future police state. A timeless classic.

32. Ingeniously Used Settings for Psychological Expression

From the haunting symmetrical architectural interiors of the Outlook hotel in The Shining, the 18th Century landscape expanses that signal the freedom of a would-be gentleman in Barry Lyndon and the stark gothic flamboyance that highlight the dangers of trespassing in Eyes Wide Shut, Kubrick used architectural setting for potent psychological expression.

33. Was Responsible For Some of the Classic Moments in Cinema

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaVDM4a4nL0 Take your pick from the animal bone that transforms into an orbiting satellite in 2001, Jack Nicholson leering "Heeere's Johnny!" at a terrified Shelley Duvall in The Shining or the image of anti-hero Alex (Malcolm MacDowell) strapped to a chair, eyes fixed apart forced to watch imagery that withers away his own humanity in A Clockwork Orange.

34. Barry Lyndon (1975)

Although emotionally distant at times Kubrick's adaptation of William Thackery's 18th Century novel is exquisitely beautifully and remains of the most authentically realised costume dramas in cinema. The journey of social climber Redmond Barry (Ryan O' Neill) may be a monotonous one, but with its oil painting aesthetic beauty, its diligent attention to period costume detail, the natural candle-lit decadence and the atmospheric use of fine classical music it potently explores the dehumanising of mankind through rigid order and conformity.
Contributor

Oliver Pfeiffer is a freelance writer who trained at the British Film Institute. He joined OWF in 2007 and now contributes as a Features Writer. Since becoming Obsessed with Film he has interviewed such diverse talents as actors Keanu Reeves, Tobin Bell, Dave Prowse and Naomie Harris, new Hammer Studios Head Simon Oakes and Hollywood filmmakers James Mangold, Scott Derrickson and Uk director Justin Chadwick. Previously he contributed to dimsum.co.uk and has had other articles published in Empire, Hecklerspray, Se7en Magazine, Pop Matters, The Fulham & Hammersmith Chronicle and more recently SciFiNow Magazine and The Guardian. He loves anything directed by Cronenberg, Lynch, Weir, Haneke, Herzog, Kubrick and Hitchcock and always has time for Hammer horror films, Ealing comedies and those twisted Giallo movies. His blog is: http://sites.google.com/site/oliverpfeiffer102/