Gonna try to catch up on a few link candidates sent to me by readers and contributors over the coming days. Let's do the moving picture ones in this entry. Catherine Grant tipped Matt Seitz about this two-part video essay on Steven Spielberg's A.I.: Artificial Intelligence.
Ali Arikan sends us another video of note, and I have to say it puts the whole Leno/Conan debacle into perspective. Conan smash!
Links for the Day: A collection of links to items that we hope will spark discussion. We encourage our readers to submit candidates for consideration to keithuhlich@gmail.com and to converse in the comments section.
This is a great video essay, as usual. A couple of questions. First off, the narrator mentions that Kubrick wanted Spielberg to direct A.I. for some time before his death, and it was only after Kubrick's passing that Spielberg chose to direct. Perhaps I'm being cynical, but this kind of sounds like a story people in marketing cooked up to persuade Kubrick fans who believed that Spielberg was "treading on sacred ground" that it was supposed to be Spielberg directing all along. Not that this will change my opinion of the movie, but can anyone provide any definite information regarding whether or not Kubrick actually did approach Spielberg to direct this movie? Another thing I noticed, and some may roll their eyes at this one, but there have been rumours that Kubrick was a believer in secret societies, specifically the Illuminati, and that he made references to them in his movies. In part 2 of the video essay, at around 1:27, the composition of images shows an eye-shaped "thing" (I'm not sure what that is, something metal) within triangular-shaped light. This could allude to the eye over the pyramid symbol as seen on the U.S. one dollar bill, which many conspiracy theorists equate with the Illuminati. I'm not going to go into any conspiracy theories here and I have no desire to spark some "are the Illuminati real" debate. I've simply heard stories that Kubrick happened to believe in them and made references in the movies, as such, I'm wondering if the afore-mentioned "oval above/over triangle" image from A.I. was perhaps Spielberg's acknowledgement of that.
These essays are great, especially the second one comparing the beginning and ending of the film. I believe A.I. is Spielberg's best work of the decade, which is really saying something considering how strong his work this decade was. Say what you want about the individual films, but few other mainstream directors repeatedly challenged themselves or their audiences the way he did in the 00′s (ignoring Indy 4, which I've already forgotten).
@Dersu: It never ceases to amaze me how cynical people are about Spielberg or this film. The long and very intimate relationship between Kubrick and Spielberg has been heavily documented. Read the Wikipedia entry on the film, which is extensively footnoted with references. Spielberg was attached to potentially direct A.I. before Kubrick died (he was also originally intended to produce it with Kubrick directing). After Kubrick's death, Kubrick's widow asked Spielberg to take the project over out of respect for her husband's belief that the film was more in line with Spielberg's style and skill set. From what I've read, Spielberg used Kubrick's last commissioned screenplay and all the production art and storyboards Kubrick commissioned to create A.I. He even hired Kubrick's storyboard artist as an advisor on the film. Spielberg did write his own script, but the film is likely very close to Kubrick's original vision in narrative, characters, and structure.
Everyone needs to give Spielberg a break.
I'm sorry if I came across sounding too harsh, as that wasn't my intention. I liked this movie very much when I first saw it, and have no desire to trash it or Spielberg. I was merely curious about the statement of Kubrick requesting Spielberg direct the movie. It kind of reminded of me of the time when "Eyes Wide Shut" was censored to attain an R rating, and it was claimed that that's how Kubrick really wanted it all along. But just because I inquired about the validity of the story of Kubrick asking Spielberg to direct this, doesn't mean I don't like the movie or Spielberg. I deeply respect the movie that Spielberg made, and I greatly admire many of his movies. It's interesting, to me anyway, that Spielberg seemed to change dramatically as a director ever since "Schindler's List." Before that movie, he was mostly known for his fantastic blockbusters, but after "Schindler's List," he made movies that were much more sombre, such as "A.I." Even blockbuster action pictures like "Minority Report" don't have the same sense of fun that his earlier pictures had, and no this isn't a complaint, only an observation. Anyway, thanks for the information.
Re: Kubrick's relationship to Spielberg
Hi everyone. This is the author of the A.I. visual essay. Thank you for watching the essays and for the kind words. I can confirm Jack Laughing's comments regarding Kubrick's relationship to Spielberg. According to Jan Harlan (Kubrick's brother-in-law and producer on many films, including A.I.) and Chris Baker (concept artist for film under both Kubrick and Spielberg), Spielberg was a consultant on the film throughout the 1990s and offered the director's chair several times. The actually met during the early 1980s, when both men were shooting films in England (THE SHINING and RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK). Spielberg claims that he wanted to see Kubrick's version of A.I. and so resisted the offers, until after Kubrick's death when he was approach by Harlan and Christaine Kubrick. The best account of this can be found in the recently published book 'A.I. Artificial Intelligence: From Stanley Kubrick to Steven Spielberg: The Vision Behind the Film,' which details the film's two decade production and Baker's remarkable concept art.
For anyone interested, these visual essays are actually part of a larger website project I did on A.I. that visually analyzes the film. Here's the link:
http://la.remap.ucla.edu/mias/ben/index.php/Main_Page
Thank you all again for watching the videos. Your thoughts are very appreciated.
Thanks again for the info. You do great work. I'll check out the website.