Was Kubrick a fan?

[Randolph]

I'm as much of Kubrick lunatic as I am a Lovecraft lunatic, and I just ran across this quote:

Also, King said that he believed HP Lovecraft was the greatest master of the classic horror tale (something he shared in common with Kubrick)

I've always said Kubrick would be the best person to pull off a Lovecraft adaptation. Both were very scientifically-minded rationalists, and both men's worked displayed an odd emotional detachment and a reliance on atmosphere over plot and characterization. However, I never really thought Kubrick would be an HPL fan for some reason.

Can anyone verify this?

The quote is not sourced at the site where I found it: Stanley Kubrick at AllExperts

 

[J-WO]

2001's monolith is a bit Lovecraftian. Except, of course, it takes an interest in our destiny etc.

 

[j d worthington]

This is the first I've heard of such, if memory serves. I've seen various interviews with King over the years, where he discusses working with Kubrick on The Shining, and I don't recall seeing such a reference. I'm somewhat dubious about it, to be honest, as Lovecraft's style -- heavily influenced by the Gothics and Poe -- would seem to be opposed to Kubrick's austere, classical approach to so much that he did; but it is possible.

On the monolith... I can see where the concept and/or the image is Lovecraftian, but the actual genesis of that lies in Clarke's original story, "The Sentinel", which inspired the film....

 

[Pyan]

It appears in the trivia section of Kubrick's listing at IMDB, if that's any help...

Loved the work of Franz Kafka, H.P. Lovecraft, Carlos Saura, Max Ophüls, Woody Allen and Edgar Reitz (esp. "Heimat - Eine deutsche Chronik" (1984)), among many others.

Stanley Kubrick - Biography

 

[nigourath]

If kubrick was at anytime closer to lovecraft-to me at least- ,that wouldn't be "2001" but 'The shining",where the protagonist slowly loses him mind ,his mental capacity deteriorates under the influence of a very shadowy "otherwordly" environment in the hotel where he resides with his family.At last he becomes a puppet of these unknown ,undescribable forces of paranormal origin and totally out of control,attacks his own family......Just my opinion...

 

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

Again, that would be more to the credit of Stephen King whose novel of the same title The Shining is based on. King, naturally, is influenced by Lovecraft, so there you go.

 

[Randolph]

Again, that would be more to the credit of Stephen King whose novel of the same title The Shining is based on. King, naturally, is influenced by Lovecraft, so there you go.

I'm not sure I agree with this. The most Lovecraftian things about The Shining film -- the descent into madness and the clash of reality with things we don't understand -- all came from Kubrick, not King's book. King is a big believer in good vs evil, the supernatural, and lots of other woo that Lovecraft would have balked at. All those things play a big part in King's The Shining.