The Stanley Kubrick Archives edited by Alison Castle
For this project I was welcomed into Kubrick's St Albans home by his family and given unlimited access to his complete archives. A truly remarkable experience.
Part 1: The films In 1968, when Stanley Kubrick was asked to comment on the metaphysical significance of 2001: A Space Odyssey, he replied: “It’s not a message I ever intended to convey in words. 2001 is a nonverbal experience…. I tried to create a visual experience, one that bypasses verbalized pigeonholing and directly penetrates the subconscious with an emotional and philosophic content.” The philosophy behind Part I borrows from this line of thinking: from the opening sequence of Killer’s Kiss to the final frames of Eyes Wide Shut, Kubrick’s complete films will be presented chronologically and wordlessly via frame enlargements. A completely nonverbal experience.
Part 2: The Creative Process Divided into chapters chronologically by film, Part 2 brings to life the creative process of Kubrick’s filmmaking by presenting a remarkable collection of material from his archives, including photographs, props, posters, artwork, set designs, sketches, correspondence, documents, screenplays, drafts, notes, and shooting schedules. Accompanying the visual material are essays by noted Kubrick scholars, articles written by and about Kubrick, and a selection of Kubrick’s best interviews.
Special features
Part 1 features 800 film stills scanned directly from the original prints and interpositives
Part 2 presents about 800 items from the archives, most previously unpublished
Essays by Kubrick scholars Gene D. Phillips, Michel Ciment, and Rodney Hill
Selected articles and essays, including interviews with and essays by Stanley Kubrick
Illustrated Kubrick chronology
Audio CD featuring a 70-minute 1966 interview of Stanley Kubrick by Jeremy Bernstein
Books in the first print run each include a twelve-frame film strip from a 70mm print of 2001: A Space Odyssey owned by Stanley Kubrick
Made in cooperation with Jan Harlan, Christiane Kubrick, and the Stanley Kubrick Estate.
For more info on The Stanley Kubrick Archives, please visit taschen.com (n.b. the link directs to the trade edition of the book, as the original, large format edition is no longer available.)