Show & Tell Tonight for Filmworker
Okay, here’s the setup. It turns out that during his legendary career of turning out pretty much nothing but masterpieces, Stanley Kubrick had an assistant named Leon Vitali. Vitali started out as an actor but gave up his career to spend two decades as Kubrick’s assistant, man-of-all-work, and enabler.
Filmworker is the story of Vitali’s life’s work, which means it offers insights into Kubrick’s movies that are available in no other place. The film offers photos, videos, letters, interviews with industry professionals and actors that would be interesting for anyone interested in making movies. But to have this kind of in-depth, behind-the-scenes storytelling about Stanley Kubrick is astonishing.
And as a portrait of a man whose service to the obsessive/compulsive Kubrick amounts to an obsession of its own, it should make for gripping film viewing. The movie has been catnip for critics and cocaine (figuratively) for Kubrick aficionados (of whom I am definitely one).
I know that Tuesday is July 3 and that many of you will be doing whatever it is normal people do the evening before the big National Holiday. (Pre-drinking? Singing patriotic songs? Searching the attic for your collection of American flags?)
But I’m betting that there will be a hard core of film buffs who will want to be in the (air-conditioned!) Music Hall Loft at 7:00 to make for a great discussion, including the mandatory ranking of Kubrick’s movies from top to bottom. (I’ll show you mine if you’ll show me yours.)
There will be two other discussions in July: Let the Sunshine In (Juliette Binoche!) on July 10 and The Rider (the best-reviewed movie of 2018, so far) on July 31.
I hope to see you there.
Paul Goodwin
TMHMG