Stanley Kubrick: New Perspectives

Stanley Kubrick: New Perspectives brings together essays by scholars who have examined the traces that Kubrick's work has left in archives, in particular his own collection of film-related materials, which was donated to the University of the Arts London in 2007. Richly illustrated with film stills and previously unseen material from the Stanley Kubrick Archive, this book is designed to open the reader's eyes to the wonder and richness of Kubrick's oeuvre.

The collection held by the University is made up of a range of material including props, scripts, research, production paperwork such as call sheets, costumes and photographs for all his films and Look, as well as material for those projects that were conceived but never visualised. By maintaining a high degree of control in the film making process, Kubrick was able to retain material generated by his pioneering techniques, research and production work: arguably making this collection one of the most complete examples of film making practice world wide. Kubrick's films have inspired a huge amount of critical commentary, yet until recently critics and scholars have made little use of archival resources.

The essays included in this collection offer new perspectives on Kubrick's working methods, the manifold influences on his films, their themes and style as well as their marketing and reception. Between them, the essays cover the totality of Kubrick's career, from his beginnings as a photojournalist and documentary filmmaker in the late 1940s and early 1950s to his last movie, Eyes Wide Shut, which was released a few months after his death in 1999.

Ranging from low-budget noir thrillers to spectacular historical and futuristic epics, from war films to erotic dramas, from horror to topical movies, Kubrick's work explores fundamental questions about sexuality and violence, military organisations and combat, male bonding and marriage, human nature and social change. In doing so, he has produced iconic images (and sounds) representing key events and developments of the 20th century, including World War I, the threat of nuclear apocalypse, the space race, the Vietnam War, the rise of juvenile delinquency and family breakdown.