About 35 minutes ago I woke up to get a glass of water... And I was just shutting my eyes to go to sleep again. Bernard Hermann’s PSYCHO music was playing me to sleep when my phone rang. I cursed under my breath... decided to let the answering machine get it.... There’s a British accented voice on the other end...
The voice was shaking... almost braking as it talked. And the news it carried... the news that shot my eyes open was.... Stanley Kubrick is dead.
My hand shot through the darkness to find the phone, my fingers fumbling for the ‘talk’ button... And I’m talking to this voice from across the pond... He saw the news on the BBC news broadcast... He saw it again on their website.... He’s trying to find out if it’s a hoax.... Wanting me to tell him it’s not true, that the master is alive and well and orchestrating some grand hoax...
But... I’m trembling... I’m in disbelief. I fumble about for words... trying to give some sort of hope for mis-reporting... BUT this is the BBC, they don’t usually report deaths if they didn’t happen.
As I hung up, my 5 CD holder shifted to my disc of music from 2001... I try to go to sleep, I try to get some rest... I had been up all night long, and into the morning. We had a film gathering of old friends, we watched Lon Chaney in THE WOLF MAN and Sterling Hayden and James Mason in PRINCE VALIANT in 16mm out back, under the stars with a nice fire to keep us warm.
Here in my room... it’s dark, little light showing other than that from the computer... As I tried to sleep, images from a whole host of Kubrick films fills my head, thoughts begin turning to “what’s gonna happen to EYES WIDE SHUT now?” I begin to have ever increasing panic attacks... I have to wake up, I have to check email... I have to know if it’s true.
I sign on.... I check email.... Subject lines like “KUBRICK DEAD!” “I ONLY HOPE THIS IS A HOAX” “THE WORST NEWS YOU COULD POSSIBLY IMAGINE...” “NOT SO COOL NEWS” and on and on.... 93 emails so far.... Everyone turning to find out... Is he dead?
I begin getting a bit erratic. I search out Reuters, BBC and CNN.... They are all echoing the same story that Stanley Kubrick died in his home.... That he apparently died of ‘natural causes’ and no foul play was involved.
Reuters said, “Film director Stanley Kubrick, the director of ``2001: A Space Odyssey'' and ``A Clockwork Orange,'' has died at the age of 70, police said Sunday.” So cold. So unemotional. A god had died.... A visionary. An artist. A great master of lights and shadows, of sights and sounds.... There is no need to go into his films... We... we know them all by frame... frame by frame.
I can’t believe he’s dead, I have to hold, at least for the moment, that it’s all part of some sort of hoax he’s dreamed up to promote EYES WIDE SHUT.... That he wants to go into seclusion. That he’s secretly off somewhere shooting another film with actors unknown... With equipment hidden away over the years... And when he emerges the world will bow at his feet.
I need that, cause a world without Stanley Kubrick is a world with a little less mystery. A world that ain’t quite as cool as it once was. It’s a place that perfection is no longer a part of. Stanley Kubrick is dead... I heard that today. I don’t want to believe it. I don’t want to say it aloud. I don’t want to be interviewed about it... I don’t want to discuss it. I just want to feel bad. Stanley Kubrick is dead.... God, this sucks...
Additional Thoughts...
A few days ago, Kubrick showed his first cut of EYES WIDE SHUT to Warner Execs... In a few more days Moriarty will 'allegedly' be seeing a bit of EYES WIDE SHUT at ShoWest. I'm hoping Kubrick's cut was finished... That there was no need for any more editing, and that we will see what Kubrick wanted us to see. I've just gotten off the phone with a few friends of mine... We seem to all be in a bit of shock. From reading the Talk Backs below... it seems to have hit you the same way. I'm sorry that my page carries this news, it is a story I never wanted to read, hear or see. But for me... now... I'm about to disappear into a festival of films. And for the first time I'll watch them and realize.... Kubrick is dead. There is a bit of good news... At least we have one last film. And right now... For me... Star Wars has dimmed a bit... I'm still in line for a long long time, but I so want to see EYES WIDE SHUT as well. I do not envy Moriarty's task that lays ahead of him. To watch Kubrick's footage... And then to try... with words... to describe it. Best of luck Moriarty, I hope what you see will enlighten you, as I'm sure it will enlighten all of us soon enough...
