Kubrick's obsessions

[Scott H]

Not falling so much under the category of bad movies, but there are some things about Stanley Kubrcik that have always been of curiosity to me. First of all, can anyone give insight as to why Kubrick always chooses to match bright red with white in almost every one of his movies? Think back to the chairs aboard the Space Station in the lobby of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Think back to the bathroom of the Gold Room in The Shining. Think back to the moloko plus milk bar of A Clockwork Orange. Anyone who keeps a close eye on Kubrick's movies must have noticed this strange obsession with color and wondered why. Well, I've exhausted every possible reason as to explain it with no luck, so now I turn to fellow film fans. Please help if you can. Any response will lead to discussion, and through discussion maybe an answer can be found.

Scott H.
the other Scott

[Mr_Vindictive]

I have always wondered the same thing.  

My only guess would be because White and Red are two of the most powerful colors.  You have to consider all of the symbolisim behind each.  

White - Innocence, Purity, Cleanliness

Red - Blood, hate, and strangely enough love/romance.

Maybe Kubrick saw the colors as having enouch power to bring something special to his films.

[Chopper]

very true George. i know what you both are referring to. i've always noticed Kubrick's fascination with the machinery of mankind destroying us. i think he had a deep rooted problem with the government. you ever notice how in almost all of his films the main character or hero always gets screwed over by the system? think about it: Paths of Glory, A Clockwork Orange, Spartacus. and in 2001 the main character is betrayed but just by a different man-made machine. in Full Metal Jacket the young innocent boys are turned into heartless killers by the military machine.

just some morning observations/ramblings.

[Stanley Kubrick]

I'll tell you why! Because my movies kickarsh! A Clockwork Orange is about how much your life can suck even no matter how cool you are.

[Mr_Vindictive]

Always good to have input from a dead man........................

[Mofo Rising]

I don't remember who it was, but somebody said "Kubrick's entire body of work deals with is belief that man is not a fallen angel, but rather a raised ape."  I don't think that would cover his entire  body of work, but it's worth thinking about.

Different director, but a similar color fascination: David Lynch seems to have a fascination with a blue light on a red background.  Most notably in Twin Peaks (the blue rose), but it also crops up in Mulholland Drive.

[Chopper]

yeah he always seemed to have a bleak view of humanity, welcome to the board Stanley!

[Susan]

i still don't get the scene in The Shining where there is a man in a tux with another man kneeling before him dressed as a bear..lol  sometimes he just puts crap in there that nobody gets!

[Dave Munger]

The last interpretation I heard was that the furry was fellating the guy, but that dosen't make much sense to me with the mask on and everything.

[petrol lunatic]

It's from the book version I think.

[Chopper]

yeah i never got that scene either lol. does anyone know if that's in the book of the Shining?

[Mr_Vindictive]

Yes, it is in the book version.

The party, which is where the ghosts are from, was all about debauchery and sin.  The bear was....ummm....servicing the other guy.

[Susan]

Yeah but in the context of the movie it made no sense. One minute she's running to save her son and as she's crossing the hall she looks into a room and see's this. What made no sense to me is my interpretation of the movie (whichi s far off from the book) is that there are no ghosts. While the book is a full on ghost story, you'll notice the only times we really see Grady are when Jack is looking towards a mirror, mirrors play a pretty big role in the film. Maybe reflecting on who we really are or the truth we don't want to see about ourselves. The only way to see REDRUM's meaning on the door was to look into a mirror. Danny's chat at the beginning with Tony was in a mirror. Kubrick really changed the storyline of the  book (which is why Kind never embraced it) and made it his own, it really had some cultural undertones...which is why that one scene never made much sense except to add shock value. See my Review

[Mr. Hockstatter]

In 2010 it's explained that Hal killed those guys because the government told him to lie (keep the obelisk secret from them), but Hal didn't know how to lie.  So the only plan of action it could conceive of was to kill the crew.

[Mr. Hockstatter]

Red and white are just really cool colors.  There's an episode of Space 1999, I think it's called "A force of Life", where they've got a reactor room that's composed of red and white, with big chrome reactor doors.  It's totally cool.

People used to do a lot of drugs back in those days, which led to a lot of nonsensical plots, but a lot of striking visual imagery.  Check out stuff like Zardoz, Silent Running, etc.