Steven Spielberg on the Genius of Stanley Kubrick

“Nobody could make a movie better than Stanley Kubrick–in history,” says Steven Spielberg in this revealing 1999 interview with British filmmaker Paul Joyce. Spielberg sat down with Joyce just four months after Kubrick’s sudden death from a heart attack. He talks about the emotional effect Kubrick’s films had on him when he was a young man, the friendship the two men shared after Spielberg became successful, and Kubrick’s James Joyce-like ability to reinvent himself with each new work. “He was a chameleon,” Spielberg says. “He never made the same picture twice. Every single picture is a different genre, a different story, a different risk. The only thing that bonded all of his films was the incredible virtuoso that he was with craft.”

Note: Paul Joyce filmed similar talks with Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, the stars of Kubrick’s final film Eyes Wide Shut. You can see those interviews by following these links: Cruise; Kidman.

Related content:

Stanley Kubrick’s Very First Films: Three Short Documentaries

Spielberg Reacts to the 1975 Oscar Nominations: ‘Commercial Backlash’

Terry Gilliam: The Difference Between Kubrick (Great Filmmaker) and Spielberg (Less So)


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  1. artist dave says . . . | June 27, 2012 / 11:28 am

    “Nobody could make a movie better than Stanley Kubrick–in history,”

    actually Spielberg said
    “nobody could SHOOT a movie better than Stanley Kubrick…”

    as Spielberg was commenting on Kubricks ability to frame and light and compose his scenes.

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