Steven Spielberg's Take on Stanley Kubrick's Singular Vision

Steven Spielberg on Stanley Kubrick 

In just three minutes, I feel like we got a really succinct and direct answer about what makes Lubrick so great. Spielberg starts off talking about Kubrick's singular vision, with each film stemming from intensely unique concepts.

Kubrick was renowned for his thorough exploration of subjects, meticulously dissecting them to a point where, as Spielberg puts it, there was "nothing further to examine."

One thing I love about Kubrick, that Spielberg says he's almost imitated, is that Kubrick never returned to the same genre twice. His filmography is praised for its eclectic subject matter. He dug into a multitude of genres with each new project.

Spielberg illustrates this by contrasting iconic films like the groundbreaking science fiction epic 2001: A Space Odyssey with the period drama Barry Lyndon, or the satirical dark comedy Dr. Strangelove with the dystopian A Clockwork Orange.

Despite this genre-hopping, a consistent technique and artistic style unified Kubrick's diverse body of work. His distinctive filmmaking craft and "fierce eye" were evident in every frame, creating a signature that was unmistakably Kubrick.

That's what being an auteur is all about.

Spielberg and Kubrick were famously very close friends, so hearing Spielberg offering a vivid description of the man behind the camera was really special. He remembers Kubrick's eyes as those of a "little boy looking through ages of reincarnated wisdom."

Which is easily one of the coolest ways to describe someone.

Spielberg describes this as a form of "mental surgery" performed by Kubrick's "stunningly ravenous eyes," which were perpetually seeking new information and inspiration.

I also loved how Spielberg said his conversations with Kubrick were always back and forth, learning about what he cared about and someone who was always hungry for new inspiration and hungry to have a conversation with any filmmaker.

Summing It All Up

We're lucky to be alive at a time when we can watch both Spielberg and Kubrick movies and see these men's personalities and their art. We can be affected by them, and when we watch videos like this one, we can learn as well.