The Stanley Kubrick Archives (Bibliotheca Universalis)

Lots of nice information and pictures.

The Stanley Kubrick Archives, newly published by Taschen and edited by Alison Castle, is the perfect overview of Kubrick's storied career. It includes vintage photos and previously published articles, although some are newly edited and expanded.Each film of Kubrick's career is heavily illustrated and described, including almost 100 of 700-plus pages devoted to 2001: A Space Odyssey, and the un-realized projects such as Napoleon and The Aryian Papers, as well as AI, discussed in the epilogue. Editor Castle should be congratulated on such a superb gathering of interesting facts and opinions about one of the finest filmmakers of moviedom's first 100 years. For those people who previously owned Gene D. Phillips' 1975 publication of Stanley Kubrick: A Film Odyssey, Phillips' stories are gathered here and updated.It is no problem overwhelimingly suggesting that followers of Kubrick's work should own this book. Personally, I found myself dropping a book I had previously been reading and diving into this at full speed. Buy it, read it, enjoy it.

Perhaps you are similar to me and you occasionally justify a purchase by saying to yourself "The kids will enjoy this after I'm gone someday." This rationale helps me feel a little less guilty when I indulge in an expensive purchase. Well, as I review this book I realize a new problem: 40 years from now, as my body lay cooling, my two lovely daughters will probably be engaged in a dispute as to who gets the AWESOME Kubrick book!I am a big fan of Taschen books and I'm also a big Kubrick fan. This book is the ultimate dosage of both. I have well over a hundred Taschen titles and this is definitely one of my favorite three ("Cabinent of Curiosities" and "Complete Costume History" being the other two. All of these are the large-size super-high quality classics that are likely to become sought-after collector's volumes).You've already had this Kubrick book described for you, but I wanted emphasize three points: First, the front page edges are "tabbed" in this book, making access to particular areas (eg, particular films) very convenient. This is really a sophisticated fluorish which makes the book that much more stunning. Second, the snippet of "2001" is nothing less than magical. As I read about it here I thought it sounded a little gimmicky: but when you see a foot-long section of one of the most important films ever made, it is really captivating. The section I received has bright geometric colors which I'm delighted by, but regardless of what you get, you're getting a piece of "2001"!!!! I get the same reverential feeling looking at it as I did when gawking at the original Declaration of Independence! Third, the quality of manufacture here is first-rate. I have been critical of Taschen in recent years because they have so many great books with cheesey/flimsy covers and bindings which don't hold up. I think this has been a MAJOR strategic error at the corporate level for them; they should raise their prices a little and create books which will last 200 years. Well, as to this Kubrick book you don't have to worry about that: this cover is composed of two different types of cloth and it appears very solid and is GORGEOUS. I collect books new and old, and please believe me, you'll be psyched when you see this behemoth! (Due to size and weight you'll still want to hold it carefully so binding doesn't get unduly torqued.)Anyway, it is so great to roll the dice on a book and to win big. If you're a Kubrick fan I encourage you to act quickly and to nail one of these.

If it wasn't for its hefty weight, the book is one of the items I'd take with me if my house was on fire - without hesitation. I can't even imagine how long it took for the Taschen team to assemble this incredible book; it tries to do justice to recollect Kubrick's body of work in the form of a portable archive. Seeing this book in person is an experience in itself. The conceptual design is simply impressive: details like the texture of the binding mimicking that of a real archive is a start.A CD of a rare uncut interview with Stanley Kubrick included in the book is a real gem. The interview takes place during Kubrick's career in its earlier years, and it provides an insight of the director that no other text interview has been able to accomplish - precisely for the reason that you hear Kubrick's voice and his unfiltered opinions. Then, of course, you have a piece of 2001's film strip as an added bonus. It's just too much for a book! And I say that gratefully.The first part of the book is filled with glossy stills of all the films made by Kubrick. It's nice, and glossy, but the real reason I purchased this book is for part two.Part two, or "The Creative Process", is filled with a lot of archival materials for each of Kubrick's films - especially pre-production materials: production notes, correspondences, and etc. You learn a lot about how Kubrick prepares for his films by seeing just a tiny fraction (undoubtedly) of what he does before he actually goes into production - it is one of the reasons that explain the long intervals between the director's releases. In addition, the book has an extensive collection of interviews with the director from various sources. But it is little treasures like the former that make this book special.If you are a serious fan of the master director that is Stanley Kubrick, this is the next thing to have in your possession after the DVDs. Taschen made a serious effort in paying homage to Kubrick's work as a book publisher, and they have succeeded. They could've made a lazy effort in disguise to simply profit off of Kubrick's name, but they didn't, and for that they have my respect.