The Bloomsbury Companion to Stanley Kubrick (edited by Nathan Abrams and I.Q. Hunter) is the first anthology of essays on Kubrick to be organised thematically, unlike previous collections that featured chapters on individual Kubrick films. The book’s first two sections cover film production, followed by two (less interesting) sections on more abstract themes, and a final section on the research process.
The wide-ranging, thematic approach means that each essay is a summary rather than a full treatment of its subject. In particular, essays by James Fenwick, Philippe Mather, and Filippo Ulivieri are condensed versions of their existing Kubrick scholarship: Fenwick discusses Kubrick as a producer, Mather analyses Kubrick’s photography, and Ulivieri examines Kubrick’s unmade films.
The Kubrick Archive in London has been the most influential factor in Kubrick studies over the past decade, and archivists Georgina Orgill and Richard Daniels contribute an interesting essay on the popularity of the facility. Some of the book’s essays are based on new archival research: Matthew Melia, for example, reveals that Kubrick lobbied the British government, and — in the book’s best chapter — Serenella Zanotti writes an account of Kubrick’s instructions to his translators.
Previous Kubrick anthologies include Depth of Field, Essays on His Films and Legacy, and New Perspectives. The Bloomsbury Companion to Stanley Kubrick combines the academic tone of Essays on His Films and Legacy with the authoritative contributors of Depth of Field and New Perspectives.
The wide-ranging, thematic approach means that each essay is a summary rather than a full treatment of its subject. In particular, essays by James Fenwick, Philippe Mather, and Filippo Ulivieri are condensed versions of their existing Kubrick scholarship: Fenwick discusses Kubrick as a producer, Mather analyses Kubrick’s photography, and Ulivieri examines Kubrick’s unmade films.
The Kubrick Archive in London has been the most influential factor in Kubrick studies over the past decade, and archivists Georgina Orgill and Richard Daniels contribute an interesting essay on the popularity of the facility. Some of the book’s essays are based on new archival research: Matthew Melia, for example, reveals that Kubrick lobbied the British government, and — in the book’s best chapter — Serenella Zanotti writes an account of Kubrick’s instructions to his translators.
Previous Kubrick anthologies include Depth of Field, Essays on His Films and Legacy, and New Perspectives. The Bloomsbury Companion to Stanley Kubrick combines the academic tone of Essays on His Films and Legacy with the authoritative contributors of Depth of Field and New Perspectives.
