Introduction to the life of film master Kubrick

Stanley Kubrick (July 26, 1928 - March 7, 1999) Stanley Kubrick was born on July 26, 1928 in New York City, USA. The Bronx. His ancestors were Jewish immigrants from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and his father was a doctor. Although he did poorly in school, he was always considered a bright and talented student. In 1940, Kubrick's father, a doctor, decided to send him to California to live with his uncle, hoping that the change in environment would allow him to improve in his studies. In 1941, Kubrick returned to his parents from the Bronx to complete his last year of junior high school. His learning attitude and academic performance finally showed some improvement. To give Kubrick something to enjoy, his father taught him chess. Just as his father had hoped, Kubrick became passionately obsessed with chess and soon became a chess master. Chess would play an important role in Kubrick's later career, as a tool he often used against uncooperative actors and as a symbol of the elegant life in his films. On Kubrick's 13th birthday, his father made a decision that now seems very wise - he gave him a camera. Soon, Kubrick became a photography enthusiast. In order to take pictures, he traveled all over the streets of New York City and processed them in a friend's darkroom. After he sold his first photo to Look magazine, he met the professional photographers in the magazine and got his first job as a trainee photographer at the age of 17. He initially gained fame as a photographer, working as a freelance writer while in high school selling his photos to Look magazine. At the age of 17, he was already working as a photographer for Look, during which time he traveled around the world. Later, he entered Columbia University as a non-admitted student and studied under professors who liked Calvin Trillin and Mark Van Doren. In the late 1940s, Kubrick began to devote himself to filmmaking, often visiting exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art. To supplement his income, he often played chess in Greenwich Village. In 1951, Kubrick used all his savings to invest in his first film, Day of the Fight, a 16-minute documentary about boxer Walter Cartier. The film was later acquired by RKO and screened at New York's Paramount Theater as part of the This is America series. He was encouraged to give up his position at Look and devote himself full-time to filmmaking. With the help of relatives, he raised $13,000 to invest in his debut novel, Fear and Desire, a war story. The film was shot in the San Gabrielle Mountains near Los Angeles with a crew of less than 10 people (including Kubrick's ex-wife Toba Metz). There was no dubbing during the filming and was added later (this method ultimately added $20,000 to the film's cost). Budget). Fear and Desire was only shown in arthouse theaters in New York and did not earn back its investment. In 1955, he shot his second film, Killer's Kiss, a film about the underworld, which was successfully bought to United Artists and distributed worldwide. In 1956, Kubrick directed his first studio film, The Killing, a gangster film told in overlapping time, starring Sterling Hayen and with dialogue written by legendary crime novelist Jim Thompson. This became Kubrick's first artistic success, and also attracted the attention of Dore Share, the head of MGM (MGM), where he worked with novelist Calder Willingham to study future plans. After working on Steven Zweige's The Burning Secret, Thompson joined them in adapting Humphrey Cobb's war novel Paths of Glory. But the project was rejected by studio after studio until Kirk Douglas agreed to star in the film, which was eventually financed by United Artists and shot in Germany in 1957. It received unanimous praise from critics and further cementing Kubrick's status as a promising talent.