Kubrick by Kubrick (Gregory Monro, 2020, France/Poland)

Kubrick by Kubrick is an hour-long documentary on the legendary director. Co-produced by French broadcaster Arte, the film is structured around interviews Michel Ciment conducted with the director toward the end of his career. Interviews with Kubrick are hard to find, and audio interviews are even more so - the film is worth watching for access to extensive audio interviews with the director. These interviews give a sense of Kubrick's personality far more than reading them on the page. Notably, these interviews also show Kubrick reflecting on his entire filmography (less Eyes Wide Shut). 

In between segments of Ciment's interview with Kubrick are various other interview segments, and clips from Kubrick's films. We see interviews with Ciment himself on French television, as well as interviews with various figures from Kubrick's filmography, including very notable ones (Jack Nicholson, for example). Notably, the film is not structured in chronological order. Instead, the film jumps around Kubrick's filmography in a way that is far more structured around the themes of each film.

Kubrick is withholding in the interviews, not revealing too much about his intentions behind each work. He does however reveal some of his motivations, namely a perspective of the world as man perpetually in conflict. He also describes his vision of the film set, which is also the site of intense conflict. This is demonstrated by a confrontation described by composer Leonard Rosenman, who worked on Barry Lyndon. Rosenman believed the take for the music was perfect in the second round, but Kubrick had them perform it over 100 times. Eventually, Rosenman began to believe that Kubrick was insane. This penchant for conflict and perfection on the set is further described by other interviewees in the film. Kubrick on Kubrick is worth a watch for fans of the director and casual viewers alike. 

8/10