Stanley Kubrick is one of our most brilliant, innovative and difficult filmmakers. Norman Kagan's analysis cuts a lucid path through those difficulties. He summarizes the plots of each of Kubrick's films, providing a running commentary as he goes along. He moreover lists thematic obsessions that run through all the films he describes, offering an intriguing sense of Kubrick's career as a whole.>
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About the Author
Norman Kagan is the author of "The War Film" and other books. He works a a documentary filmmaker and has taught at the New School and elsewhere in the New York City area.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Not particularling illuminating or informative, at the very least it collects portions of commentaries from some of the best film critics (eg Pauline Kael). Beyond this there is not much positive to say. Often Kagan can't even provide accurate summaries of Kubrick's films (one example is that he confuses the identities of the condemned men in Paths of Glory, and this effectively renders his thematic analysis of that film useless!). Kagan also seems to miss the entire point of certain films. One wonders why he even bothered writing such a book.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
If I could give less than one star, I would. This book sheds no light on Kubrick's genius whatsoever. The majority of the book is a sort of Cliff's Notes on nearly every film Kubrick has made. The capsulation of these films are so brief and hollow, that he covers a work like A Clockwork Orange in a mere 20 pages. Not only that, but the book is full of errors when lines are quoted and references made. If you want a REAL book on Kubrick, read Mario Falsetto's works on this directoral master. I will use Mr. Kagan's, however, as a beer coaster.
By R. J. Harvey
Format:Paperback
Having read pretty much every thematic analysis of Kubrick's films, I've found that they range from the bizarrely illuminating (Geoffrey Cocks), to the wise-but-stilted (Mario Falsetto), to the fascinating (Thomas Allen Nelson), to the nicely concise (David Hughes), to the TOO concise (Paul Duncan), to... well, this offering from Norman Kagan. The author is clearly passionate - he revels in translating sound effects dramatically to the page, and is eager to describe recurring themes as he sees them - but also clearly misguided, such as where he claims early on that Kubrick "is not interested in Freudian theory". And some passages are just weird, as where Kagan deplores Maurice's violent distraction in The Killing, claiming it would be stopped sooner... with "judo tactics".
There are plenty of very good books exploring Kubrick's films, but this is not one of them. On top of the dedicated works by the authors mentioned above (add to that list Luis M. Garcia Mainar, and the collection of philosophical essays edited by Jerold J. Abrams), I strongly recommend Robert Kolker's A Cinema of Loneliness.
There are plenty of very good books exploring Kubrick's films, but this is not one of them. On top of the dedicated works by the authors mentioned above (add to that list Luis M. Garcia Mainar, and the collection of philosophical essays edited by Jerold J. Abrams), I strongly recommend Robert Kolker's A Cinema of Loneliness.
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Yes, Kagan does make some foolish mistakes in summing up Kubrick's films. However, this is a nice book for anyone interested in the late Stanley Kubrick, a film genius whose works ranged from sexual thrillers and science fiction epics to period dramas and war films. It contains some nice photos, as well as just enough information about each film. I bought it after seeing only three of Kubrick's films and it compelled me to see five more.
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
This book reads more like summaries of Kubrick's films than either analysis, or indepth reviews. It might be useful to anyone beginning to explore Kubrick's body of work, or anyone interested in having a mini-encyclopedia of cliff notes. Be warned that the book contains notes on all of the endings to Kubrick's films, so if you do not wish to ruin the endings, perhaps you shouldn't read it.
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