In high school art class, I drew a portrait of myself as the twin girls in The Shining.

I know all of the rumors about Stanley Kubrick’s ego, and on-set reputations. I also know that Stanley Kubrick made the most amazing films and was well loved by many.  I can’t help but wonder if the twins were a self-portrait for him as well.

I believe that we’re all split. We all walk on a tight rope. On one side of the rope is the desire to fight, to overcome everything that is thrown at us. On the other side is the willingness to give in, and let yourself be one with whatever the universe hands to you. I believe the best of us are constantly trying very hard not to give in to one side or the other. However, we are so insanely drawn to both ends that we cannot remain static. We must perpetually and perhaps dangerously dance back and forth along that long tight rope.
  
The desire to fight-

Kubrick is known, I believe, first and foremost for his visual style. Watching his films at a young age, I wondered what the bathrooms in his house might look like. I dreamed of one day meeting him and asking to see them…

Every film Kubrick made was dependent on his subject. He rarely gave in to predetermined filmmaking standards. He only did what the story and overall theme of the piece called for. By having the keen discipline to not stray from the subject’s world, Kubrick in-turn maintained the originality of his own vision. This allowed him to tell any kind of story he wanted without being pigeonholed for making simple movies only about war or only about sex or only about space.

Known for being an obsessive perfectionist, I would call Kubrick selfishly selfless. He fought hard for his vision because he believed it was what was best for the film, and ultimately the world that would watch it.

The willingness to give in-

Kubrick left questions unanswered because he believed in his audiences’ intelligence and their ability to answer questions on their own. He asked big questions to the universe, guessing it would answer with a dark joke.

His consistent use of classical music was a way to open the door for the psyche of the individual viewer. Almost everyone who sees his movies has heard those tunes before, and therefore already has a relationship with them. This subconsciously makes the observer’s experience of the story that much more personal.

Lately something that really has struck a hard chord with me has been seeing work that reminds me that anything is possible. Stanley Kubrick was the first filmmaker to teach me that. The possibilities of the universe are so beautiful and dangerous. Who are we to judge what anything means when we are so very tiny. That which makes us feel small however, is the same that gives us the tools to battle against our size.

I only really get mad at death when it means that I won’t get to live at the same time as the people I admire most. I wish there was a place I could go, where I could hang out with Stanley Kubrick for just one second.

 
- Cat Solen, director

www.catsolen.com