It was pretty intriguing and the programme wasn't half long enough. I know very little about him and have only seen a few of his films (shining, FMJ,) but what an interesting man he was. A little obsessive but I like that a lot. Those memo's to his assistant were brilliant, cats collars and barometric pressures indeed! that must have been an amazing job. Jon Ronson always seems to pick good subject matter. I'd love to spend a few hours rooting through those boxes....
I never saw it but I there was a chapter in Jon Ronson's book about going through the archives that was really interesting. Will try to catch the show on the internet.
I haven't seen the show yet or read the post above, but I read the Guardian article at the time and found it fascinating. Got the show recorded, so we'll probably watch it tonight. There was a great bit in the article about correspondence between Kubrick and (I think) Arthur C Clarke, regarding a letter sent in by a fan. I hope that bit made the TV version.
Just watched it. Very interesting, and nicely shot too.
Here's the bit from the article I was talking about.
"Look at this," I say to Jan.
I hand him a letter written by a fan and addressed to Arthur C Clarke. He forwarded it on to Kubrick and wrote on the top, "Stanley. See P3!! Arthur."
Jan turns to page 3, where Clarke had marked, with exclamation marks, the following paragraph:
"What is the meaning behind the epidemic? Does the pink furniture reveal anything about the 3rd monolith and it's emitting a pink colour when it first approaches the ship? Does this have anything to do with a shy expression? Does the alcohol offered by the Russians have anything to do with French kissing and saliva?"
"Why do you think Arthur C Clarke marked that particular paragraph for Kubrick to read?" I ask Jan.
"Because it is so bizarre and absurd," he says.
"I thought so," I say. "I just wanted to make sure."
In the back of my mind, I wondered whether this paragraph was marked because the writer of the fan letter - Mr Sam Laks of Alhambra, California - had actually worked out the secret of the monolith in 2001.
