Kubrick: The Definitive Edition

by Michel Ciment

Faber and Faber, 329pp., $50 Originally published in 1980 and recently updated to include Kubrick’s last two films and a memoriam, this coffeetable book calls itself the “definitive” exploration of the filmmaker’s oeuvre, and it’s tough to argue with that claim. Film historian Michel Ciment provides an exhaustive (if a little term-paper prosaic) examination of Kubrick’s films; of special interest are three lengthy interviews with the notoriously uncommunicative writer/director, as well as interviews with a smattering of his collaborators (Jack Nicholson, Malcolm McDowell, chief cameraman John Alcott). The tome suffers some from a general disorganization and a sense of datedness (even the typeface feels retro), but these are minor quibbles when it comes down to the point of these unwieldy table toppers: the pictures. And Kubrick: The Definitive Edition produces those en masse, from scene stills to original design drafts to intimate portraits. Call it a 300-page-plus photo essay, with an emphasis on the photo.

This article appears in December 7 • 2001.

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Marjorie Baumgarten is a film critic and contributing writer at The Austin Chronicle, where she has worked in many capacities since the paper's founding in 1981. She served as the Chronicle's Film Reviews editor for 25 years.

A graduate of the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas, Kimberley has written about film, books, and pop culture for The Austin Chronicle since 2000. She was named Editor of the Chronicle in 2016; she previously served as the paper’s Managing Editor, Screens Editor, Books Editor, and proofreader. Her work has been awarded by the Association of Alternative Newsmedia for excellence in arts criticism, team reporting, and special section (Best of Austin). The Austin Alliance for Women...