Jon Ronson, multi-talented author of The Men Who Stare at Goats (2004, 2005), has also made a fascinating short documentary -- Stanley Kubrick's Boxes (2008). The title means what it sounds like. Ronson, with Stanley Kubrick's longtime assistant Tony Frewin, plus Christiane and Anya Kubrick and a German archivist, examine and muse about an impressive variety of materials Stanley Kubrick housed in 1,000 boxes. There's plenty of footage from Kubrick films thrown in for good measure. It's now accessible on the internet for anyone with a high speed connection.
As for Men Who Stare at Goats, it's being made into a movie as of this post, starring George Clooney, Jeff Bridges, Ewan McGregor and Kevin Spacey -- its release may come as early as sometime in 2009. This one could be as whacky as Catch-22.
Jon Ronson in the Kubrick archives. I love archival stuff, especially after working at the Southern Historical Collection in Chapel Hill, the Duke Public Documents and Maps Department, and the Temple University Special Collections. It's incredibly fun and compelling, sifting through primary sources.
Today's Rune: The Mystery Rune.
6 comments:
How strange you mentioned Men who stare at Goats. Our writing group has been talking about this book quite a bit lately.
I'll have to look up the doc. Kubrick was the administrator of the twisted reality. Always like his work.
1,000 boxes of what? Can't even imagine what would be in 'em. I am into tossing out stuff these days..
I'll have to look for "Goats" I haven't seen that yet.
I love Kubrick's work. I even liked "Eyes Wide Shut" which I know some people didn't. I'll have to watch for that documentary too.
While Jon Ronson may have studied the contents of Kubrick's boxes, I read about another person who studies Hitler's books. I guess there's always something left behind worth talking or writing about.
One of the most interesting books I ever read was W.E.B. Dubois' "Black Reconstruction." It was nearly as interesting reading, in the introduction, the story of Dubois writing the book, spending thousands of hours in the archives of city halls and county buildings throughout county seats in the South, sifting through property, tax and voting records. The reward was huge: he very effectively exploded the myth that the south was "saved" by the KKK and the pogroms against African-Americans. He revealed the epic fiscal mismanagement and theft by the white folks who shut black folks out of the political and economic life of the south after Reconstruction ended.
My son shares my love of history; I realized this when, at the age of seven, he and I had a discussion about primary and secondary history sources, which he'd learned about in school.
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