Cannibalizing Kubrick

Taschen is coming out with The Stanley Kubrick Archives, a massive, image-heavy display of artifacts from Kubrick's personal collections. The book will be 544 pages long and cost $200!

While I'm sure the book will be a welcome addition to the literature on Kubrick and his films, I am horrified to see that Kubrick's own personal 70-millimeter print of 2001: A Space Odyssey - surely a priceless artifact by any standard - is being dismantled to provide a bonus to those who puchase a copy of the first print run, which will include a strip of 12 frames from that print. How does this show respect for Kubrick's legacy and a commitment to keeping it intact for future generations? I hope that people who are known for their commitment to preserving films, such as Martin Scorsese, get up in arms over this shocking practice.

Having said that, I just have to point out one astonishing image from Taschen's catalog entry on the book: it is from the scene near the end of 2001 in which Keir Dullea, playing the character of astronaut David Bowman, is standing in his space suit in an eerily-lit room full of period furniture and paintings. I could write a book about the layers of meaning in just this one image alone. But what makes the image - as included in The Stanley Kubrick Archives - all the more astonishing - even jarring! - is a hand intruding from the left edge of the frame, holding a clapboard with scene information written on it! Obviously, this image is taken from a frame at the beginning of that shot.

I have to say it again: astonishing!