Film_41w_henryv

Stanley Kubrick's favorite films

by Joshua Warren

Created 10/27/12

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87 comments
★ 140

I think Kubrick would have loved The Criterion Collection if he was still alive today and quite a lot of the films that have been cited as his favorites are in the collection.
Since Kubrick was such a famously reclusive (or "private" as he preferred to call it) and rarely interviewed person, it's very interesting to get a glimpse what kind of films that inspired and entertained him.
(I've compiled most of the information on this list from interviews with Kubrick's family, friends and colleagues and an interview he did in 1963)

I have presented these films here in no particular order.

Cited films that aren't in the collection: Eraserhead, Citizen Kane, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The Godfather, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Dog Day Afternoon, City Lights, La Notte, Roxie Hart, Hell's Angels, An American Werewolf in London, Metropolis, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Abigail's Party, Roger & Me and oddly enough White Men Can't Jump, Modern Romance and The Jerk.

(sources: http://www.visual-memory.co.uk/faq/index3.html, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLSWR2EnHEs, http://www.lettersofnote.com/2011/07/you-are-greatest-film-maker-at-work.html, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If...., more to be added later)

  • Film_41w_henryv_w160

    1.
    Henry V

    Laurence Olivier

    Since Kubrick actually worked with Olivier during the making of Spartacus in 1959 I was fascinated to learn that he considered Henry V one of his favorite films. Looking back at Kubrick's films now one suddenly notice what an important influence Olivier was on his films.

    (I wonder if Olivier might have given Kubrick directorial tips while they were filming Spartacus.)

  • Film_246w_vitelloni_bw_w160

    2.
    I vitelloni

    Federico Fellini

  • Wild-strawberries_w_new_w160

    3.
    Wild Strawberries

    Ingmar Bergman

    "Your vision of life has moved me deeply, much more deeply than I have ever been moved by any films. I believe you are the greatest film-maker at work today" - appraisal from Kubrick in a letter sent to Ingmar Bergman in February 1960.

    (The whole letter can be read at Lettersofnote.com)

  • Beautybeastw_w160

    4.
    Beauty and the Beast

    Jean Cocteau

  • Film_444w_plaisir_w160

    5.
    Le plaisir

    Max Ophuls

    "Highest of all I would rate Max Ophuls, who for me possessed every possible quality. He has an exceptional flair for sniffing out good subjects, and he got the most out of them. He was also a marvellous director of actors." - "I particularly admired his fluid camera techniques." - excerpt from an interview by US publication Cinema in 1963.

  • Film_443w_ronde_w160

    5. (tie)
    La ronde

    Max Ophuls

    On March 25, 1957 Kubrick was shooting a scene for Paths of Glory which consisted of a single long panning shot. The shot was apparently quite a strain for the actors and after they had finished for the day Kubrick confided to one of them that he had done it as a tribute to Max Ophuls who had died earlier that day.

    (The play La Ronde was based on was written by Arthur Schnitzler who also wrote Traumnovelle ('Dream Story') which was the basis for Kubrick's last film Eyes Wide Shut.)

  • Spiritbeehive_w160

    6.
    The Spirit of the Beehive

    Víctor Erice

  • Film_391w_if_w160

    7.
    If....

    Lindsay Anderson

    Kubrick allegedly decided to cast Malcolm McDowell for A Clockwork Orange immediately after he saw If.... and wouldn't make the film unless he could get him for the role.

    Kubrick also refused to give McDowell any advice on how to play his character and would simply tell him "acting's your job, not mine". McDowell then called Lindsay Anderson to get advice and relates the story as such: "[Anderson] said 'Malcolm, this is how you play the part: there is a scene of you, a close-up in if...., where you open the doors to the gymnasium, to be beaten. You get a close-up.' He said 'do you remember...' I said 'yes. I smiled'. He said 'that's right. You gave them that smile. That sort of ironic smile, and that's how you play Alex'."

  • P_w160

    8.
    Closely Watched Trains

    Jiří Menzel

  • Film_164w_solaris_w160

    9.
    Solaris

    Andrei Tarkovsky

    Tarkovsky supposedly made Solaris in an attempt to one up on Kubrick after he had seen 2001: A Space Odyssey (which he referred to as cold and sterile). Interestingly enough Kubrick apparently really liked Solaris and I'm sure he found it amusing that it was marketed as the "the Russian answer to 2001".

  • Silencew_w160

    10.
    The Silence of the Lambs

    Jonathan Demme

  • Phantom_carriage_webclip_still_w160

    11.
    The Phantom Carriage

    Victor Sjöström

    In a really odd reversal the scene where Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) in The Shining chops through a bathroom door with and ax in an attempt to reach his wife and son so he can murder them is a direct tribute to a scene in The Phantom Carriage where David Holm (Sjöström) does the same to get through a locked door to reach his frightened wife and children.

    What's really funny is that the scene in The Phantom Carriage was already a tribute to D. W. Griffith's Broken Blossoms where a man breaks through a closet door with a hatchet to reach his daughter who is hiding from him.

  • Firemanw_w160

    12.
    The Firemen’s Ball

    Milos Forman

  • Film_634w_rosemarysbaby_w160

    13.
    Rosemary’s Baby

    Roman Polanski

    According to Kubrick's biographer; John Baxter, Kubrick decided to make The Shining after he had seen Rosemary's Baby and The Exorcist, because he didn't like the idea of someone making such good horror films without having been allowed to make one himself to prove that he could do it just as well, if not better.

  • Film_78w_bankdick_w160

    14.
    The Bank Dick

    Edward Cline

  • Blood_wedding_image1_w160

    15.
    Blood Wedding

    Carlos Saura

87 comments

  • By Kid Dynamite
    January 09, 2013
    08:12 PM

    I think I read somewhere that Stanley told Richard Rush that FREEBIE AND THE BEAN was the best movie of 1974
    Reply

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    • By Robert
      February 13, 2013
      09:38 AM

      I remember reading the same thing.. I think it was in a "Rolling Stone" article about "The Stunt Man"

  • By HUSKY
    January 11, 2013
    12:31 PM

    They played Bob le flambeur the other night on TCM and in the introduction they said when Stanley saw it he vowed to never make another crime film because Melville had already made the perfect one with Bob le flambeur. I never knew that. Pretty cool!
    Reply

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    • By Rififi
      April 01, 2013
      05:38 AM

      Hmmmm.....was he aware of Touchez pas au Grisbi or Rififi? No contention intended, Kubrick has excellent insight, I am simply curious.

  • By R Conner
    January 12, 2013
    11:32 PM

    I really like the comment about Paths of Glory. I dont know how it could be any better. From a young director its pretty remarkable! It gets better every time I see it.
    Reply

  • By Betsy
    January 18, 2013
    01:24 AM

    Two films not in the collection, but known to be greatly admired by Kubrick are Bob Fosse's 'All That Jazz' and Woody Allen's 'Husbands and Wives' - his original, brief casting thoughts lingering on Woody and Mia for Eyes Wide Shut.
    Reply

  • By Skip Y.
    January 23, 2013
    02:24 PM

    Kubrick was very fond of The Decalogue, the Polish TV mini-series. This comes up often in Frederic Raphael's 1999 book, "Eyes Wide Open". Kubrick thought it was very important for Raphael to watch The Decalogue in preparation for co-writing Eyes Wide Shut.
    Reply

  • By Don Rodriguez
    February 12, 2013
    08:02 PM

    He also loved The Jerk and had originally intended to cast Steve Martin for the lead role in Eyes Wide Shut.
    Reply

  • By Jay
    February 12, 2013
    10:52 PM

    I guess I can understand "oddly enough" in relation to White Men Can't Jump and The Jerk--they aren't exactly "Kubrickian." But Modern Romance seems like exactly the kind of comedy Kubrick would love (and obviously did). Kubrick's films have a lot of humor, so I'm certainly not surprised he had favorites in the genre.
    Reply

  • By Peter
    February 12, 2013
    11:20 PM

    Wasn't Kubrick a huge fan of "The Jerk"? I remember reading somewhere an interview with his daughter that Kubrick loved that movie and actually wanted Steve Martin for the Eyes Wide Shut role, originally.
    Reply

  • By Allen Belz
    February 13, 2013
    12:16 AM

    Personally I don't see anything odd about his liking of the last three movies on your list - like most other humans I'm sure he needed and got different things from different films. The three mentioned don't have a huge amount of visual style to them, but they're all very well-written, well put together, smart and very funny. Albert Brooks' films in particular would make a great addition to the Collection, and his small but rapid cult (of which I'm a member) would be very grateful for classy editions of his films with actual extras on them.
    Reply

  • By Douglas Pratt
    February 13, 2013
    07:59 AM

    "I think Kubrick would have loved The Criterion Collection if he was still alive today and quite a lot of the films that have been cited as his favorites are in the collection." Have you forgotten your own history, Criterion? Kubrick was alive and well for more than a decade of The Criterion Collection's existence, during which time a number of his own films were released as Criterion titles, including 2001, Lolita, The Killing, Dr. Strangelove and Paths of Glory.
    Reply

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    • By Grant Holden
      February 15, 2013
      02:28 PM

      Dear Mr. Pratt, you are very wrong. 2001, Lolita and Strangelove have never been a part of the Criterion collection. Aslo, Kubrick was already deceased when Criterion did its versions of The Killing and Paths of Glory.

    • By Ezekiel Gomez
      February 16, 2013
      05:44 PM

      Actually Mr. Holden, you are wrong! I believe Mr. Pratt was referring to the Criterion Collection laserdisc editions of 2001, Dr. Strangelove, Lolita, Paths of Glory, and the Killing which were all apart of the original Criterion Collection, all of which were released well before his death in 1999. I would love to see those laserdiscs!

    • By Keith Walker
      February 17, 2013
      09:40 PM

      The Strangelove and Lolita laserdiscs are the only releases of the original, variable aspect ratio cuts for both films. I would still love to see those transfers get a high-def treatment, but the current thinking on Kubrick aspect ratios would seem to preclude that.

    • By Nilbog
      February 26, 2013
      10:50 PM

      I can vouch for all of those Criterion laserdisc titles, as I have a copy of each gathering dust on a shelf with some of my 78rpm records. I'm afraid to try to play them because I haven't tried to use my laserdisc player in 10 years and I would be heartbroken if the player no longer worked...

  • By LAURENT VACHAUD
    February 13, 2013
    10:27 AM

    He also loved Michel Khleifi's NOCE EN GALILEE ( 1987 ), George Sluizer's THE VANISHING ( 1988 ), John Boorman's DELIVERANCE ( 1972 ), David Mamet's HOUSE OF GAMES ( 1987 ), Richard Rush's FREEBIE AND THE BEAN (1974 )...
    Reply

  • By Gregory Escobar
    February 13, 2013
    10:39 AM

    Now i just can't stop thinking on a "White Men Can't Jump" criterion cover
    Reply

  • By J.Gideon
    February 13, 2013
    02:16 PM

    Kubrick also liked Claude Lelouche's 'La Bonne Annee' with Lino Ventura. He showed it to Kidman and Cruise as they were making Eyes Wide Shut. The interest to Kubrick was the technique that Lelouch used to direct his camera around his actors. The film (an ordinary story about ageing gangsters involved in a heist and love affair) is incredibly effective in capturing realife scenes. Ventura was what might be described as a natural - you're very rarely aware of him 'performing' in any of his films, even the bad ones, and there were quite a few...
    Reply

  • By Jay Mandeville
    February 17, 2013
    07:17 PM

    I don't know if every film Kubrick ever mentioned "liking" to an interviewer means he thought it was a masterpiece. He just "liked" it.
    Reply

  • By Terry Pagitt
    February 21, 2013
    06:08 PM

    Point of fact Stanley did love Criterion. He personally supervised the laserdisc transfers of 2001, Lolita and Dr. Strangelove for Criterion.
    Reply

  • By Jack K.
    March 01, 2013
    06:39 PM

    Does the LaserDisc color timer Maria Palazzola or someone at Criterion have Kubrick's comments on the LaserDisc transfers? The Criterion Dr. Strangelove disc, or maybe the old Criterion newsletter noted that Kubrick was given a transfer to review at the 1.85:1 aspect ratio in which it was generally exhibited and he commented that he preferred a full frame with some shots matted in camera to 1.66:1. Lolita had a similar variable aspect ratio. I assume that the information was passed through intermediaries but Kubrick had a reputation for occasionally responding with long detailed memos, so if they still exist, they might be interesting to see on this website. There has been a lot of controversy over the proper aspect ratio for some of Kubrick's titles and the current Blu-Rays and DVDs of Dr. Strangelove are presented at 1.85:1.
    Reply

  • By Edward T.
    March 06, 2013
    01:07 AM

    Okay, everyone...calm down. Blah, blah, blah. Who cares what he "liked". You all speak in the hushed tones of acolytes, and seem to want to place Kubrick on a peculiar pedestal of his own; a pantheon of one. In fact, he was an extremely uneven filmmaker who gave us some real masterworks along with more than one whopping white elephant..
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    • By Rififi
      April 01, 2013
      05:39 AM

      No argument here

  • By Brig. Gen. Jack D Ripper
    March 09, 2013
    09:14 PM

    Great list, With a few interesting choices that I should check out. Thanks for the list...
    Reply

  • By peter-wilson
    March 09, 2013
    09:22 PM

    Great list, and glad to find so many of my favorite films listed as one of my favorite filmmakers favorite films. Please check out my IMDB List here --( http://www.imdb.com/list/5n1QrvkiWNE/ --)...
    Reply

  • By futurestar
    April 02, 2013
    05:58 PM

    one of my favorite directors "favorites". imagine such......................
    Reply

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