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Stanley Kubrick exhibition at the Design Centre

Monday I went to the Stanley Kubrick exhibition which was exceptionally well curated. Kubrick’s canon of films Paths of Glory, Spartacus, Dr Strangelove, Lolita, Clockwork Orange, Space Odyssey and Full Metal Jacket are notable for their sheer diversity and the costume drama Barry Lyndon remains my personal favourite.

As well as artefacts of his life and films, his typewriter, the camera used for Barry Lyndon, there were generous slabs of these films.

He began life as a photographer and no director was more skilled in the grammar of camera work. His preparation was more than diligent for every film and his control total.

Ken Adam, more famous for set design for James Bond movies, and couturier Hardy Amies worked for and with him and a bevy of Hollywood stars including Kirk Douglas, Tony Curtis, James Mason, Peter Sellers, George C Scott, Ryan O’Neal , Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman.

Visually his films are superb. I was in awe of the way the Roman Legions were drawn up in Spartacus or the facial expressions three French soldiers about to be soot for cowardice in Paths of Glory.

His painstaking attention to detail reflected in every soldier in Spartacus assigned a number to identify where he would fall to his death.

The exhibition was neither long nor too crowded and well worth an hour or so of your time.

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About Neil Rosen

Neil went to the City of London School and Manchester University graduating with a 1st in economics. After a brief stint in accountancy, Neil emigrated to a kibbutz In Israel. His articles on the burgeoning Israeli film industry earned comparisons to Truffaut and Godard in Cahiers du Cinema. Now one of the world's leading film critics and moderators at film Festivals Neil has written definitively in his book Kosher Nostra on Jewish post war actors. Neil lives with his family in North London. More Posts