another thing kubrick does real well is choosing the right kind of music or song to go along with his image. even in his earlier work like ‘killer’s kiss’, he employs the score or music to add another layer of meaning.

‘2001’ maybe the greatest film of all time but ‘clockwork orange’, in my opinion, is kubrick’s best film. i think kubrick is making a statement of how the media (television, movies, pop culture, etc.) should be held accountable toward conditioning and influencing an individual to commit violent acts and possess violent behavior. my fave kubrick films before i saw ‘clockwork’ were ‘dr. strangelove (which seem really witty when i saw it in high school), ‘lolita’ (also seemed really witty), and ‘paths of glory’ (the futility of war and how the little guy is the scapegoat in that futility). but all of these films seem really immature too me now… i guess ‘dr. strangelove’ and ‘lolita’ were clever but only as far as dirty sex jokes go. and ‘paths’ was a little too heartfelt and didn’t rely on subtext to express it’s message—the characters tell you everything in the dialogue. plus kirk douglas performance is simply different degrees of being pissed off and yelling at different volumes. anyways, ‘full metal’, ‘2001’ and ‘barry lyndon’ are fully realized works and perfectly executed craftsmanshipwise in kubrick’s filmography, but he really had something to say with ‘clockwork orange’, due in part from anthony burgess’ source material.

btw, max ophüls is someone you should checkout if you like kubrick because kubrick’s camerawork (moving longtakes) and kubrick was enamored with arthur schnitzler’s plays and novels, which ophüls adapted for the story of his films. kubrick is kinda hush-hush about the strong influence of ophüls on his directing style, but you will definitely see the influence once you seen an ophüls film. start with ‘la ronde’ or ‘lola montès’ or ‘letter from an unknown woman’. my fave ophüls is ‘caught’ which one of three films he shot in hollywood. it’s also film noir, which makes it a sentimental favorite for me.

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yeah, i do need to check out ophuls. while watching these shorts, i read some where how he gives ophuls props for his work (on some kubrick fansite).

the way you analyze dr. strangelove and lolita through the analogy of the dirty sex joke is right on, i think. it's been a while since ive seen either, but i never really liked them. i guess i could appreciate dr. strangelove, but its not the kind of humor i like. i think part of the reason why i dont like strangelove is because the first kubrick film i saw was 2001, so as a result, my expectations of a kubrick film are influenced by my first experience of watching 2001 (whether right or wrong). although, years before i saw 2001, i did see a clip of full metal right where gomer pile blows his brains out. i was in elementary school at that time, and that image, as you can imagine, freaked the hell out of me. but since i was in elementary, i didnt even know who the hell kubrick was anyway.

and for some stupid reason, i completely forgot to mention clockwork orange in my original post, im glad you mentioned it. i feel completely stupid now for forgetting it altogether.

i believe burgess hated kubrick's adaptation, and certainly he of all people has the right to. but if i think about it, if kubrick had filmed the final chapter of clockwork, then it wouldn't have been a kubrick ending or a kubrick film. he comes out with clockwork right after 2001; the perfect follow-up. how many directors are capable of doing something like that? i read somewhere how heller could never live up to the expectations of catch 22, so im always interested in how artists follow up a masterpiece. and to me, clockwork is the perfect follow-up film. im glad you reminded me. it was good call. i give you props

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