Stanley Kubrick/FMJ - Some help :)

A

Al A

New member
Just a few simple opinions are needed on the following...


I want to make sure I'm on the right lines with my work as i have not really known many of the characters.

1. how do you feel towarRAB the characters - stanley kubrick often creates characters that are emotionally lacking and difficult to like ;- Barry Lyndo, Jack Torrance (The Shining), Dave (Space odyssey) and Alex (Clockwork Orange) Do you feel empathy with them? do you like them? are you indifferent? why does Kubrick create characters like this???

2. BASED ON FULL METAL JACKET MOVIE: What music does Kubrick use throughout the movie how does this create the mood of the movie? - what example would you select from the movie????

Thanks,
Just some help on both of these would be a boom! :D
 
And this is for?

Why not watch the films and form your own opinions?
The characters you mention were not infact created by Kubrick so you're onto a loser there.

Better to ask what drew him to them and maybe draw parallels with Kubrick's own life/personality.
 
why! does every one attack on this forum ... i have watched the film im just unsure on these 2 questions ... and plus im working to them questions so i have not just plucked them from anywhere.

thanks
 
Its not realy an attack as such.

When you read some questions you answer them without a though others give you a feeling maybe you would help the person more by not answering.

Some of the recent questions about FMJ have in some minRAB been translated as.

I have been asked to do this for homework but would rather go out with frienRAB please do my work for me.
Now I am not saying this is so but that is sometimes the impression.

As to the questions

You need to watch the movie a number of times to get a good feel for it.

In my life I have seen a change in the way characters are depicted.
Heroes and villains have changed from simplistic steriotypes
ie good is good bad is bad.
We then had the anti hero like dirty harry who isnt your typical hero.

Kubric paints very complex characters and sometimes you have to work had to understand them, its more realistic I feel and says much about his skill as a director.

Usually I end up sympathising with the characters, with the exception of Barry Lyndon him I could quite happily despise.
He is an opportunist who brings most of his misfortune upon himself.

Compared to the other characters you name he has few saving graces.

The music used was all pop from the period before the movie setting so I guess early 60s.
All I remember is Paint it black by the Stones and These boots are made for walking.

I did hear thet Kubrick.s Daughter composed for the movie but don't know what parts she did.
 
I don't know whether you still need help on this, but for what it's worth, my impression of the characters' performances were fairly typical of those for many Kubrick films - he always brought out great performances from his actors.

Kubrick's usual style was to do many takes of a scene and then pick the one he thought was best. This often infuriated the actors, who sometimes had to repeat a scene many times, only for Kubrick to decide that the first or second take was the best.

Kubrick did manage, however, to bring some career-best performances from his actors, arguably Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall in "The Shining", Malcolm MacDowell in "A Clockwork Orange", Kirk Douglas in both "Paths of Glory" and "Spartacus" and possibly even Peter Sellers in "Dr. Strangelove"

Kubrick, a keen chess player, has been accused of using actors as if pushing pieces around a chess board, as pawns in his game of making movies, and has been accused of being cold and distant emotionally (something which was strongly contested by his wife, Christiane.)

Kubrick's own response was that he wanted people to be realistic and was disdainful of overtly "happy" movies like those made by Capra ("It's a Wonderful Life" etc.) and was more drawn to the darker side of human nature; thus his characters would never be archetypal "good guys" - he was not one for pandering to the sentimental notions of moviegoers just wanting to go to the cinema for a "feel good" experience.

In FMJ I think Kubrick was drawn to the dehumanising process of military training, demonstrating that in order to kill you have to give up a little piece of your soul, your humanity.
 
One of Kubricks themes that he uses in a lot of his films, is the premise that Man is just an animal and acts on animal instincts. He embraces the idealogy of showing the inhumane side of human nature as he feels that this is the real side of our species. So, Jack Torrance becomes insane when cooped up in the overlook hotel and shows his real character, the one who is violent. Similarly, with Alex, he shows no compassion to anyone, except when he has been conditioned by the aversion therapy. He doesn't want us to feel sympathy or empathy, he wants us to see what Man is, a violent, sadistic animal.

Some of the music for FMJ was written (I think) by Wendy Carlos who also wrote for The Shining and Clockwork Orange. The unsettling synth sound used when Private Pyle eventually becomes insane uses chorRAB from divergent keys which serve to create an atmosphere which compliments the bizarre visuals on screen.

Widge
 
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