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DATE=3/8/99 TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT NUMBER=5-42798 TITLE=STANLEY KUBRICK REMEMBERED BYLINE=MIKE O'SULLIVAN DATELINE=LOS ANGELES CONTENT= VOICED AT: INTRO: ONE OF THE WORLD'S LEADING FILM DIRECTORS DIED SUNDAY. STANLEY KUBRICK, WHO WAS 70, DIED IN HIS SLEEP AT HOME NEAR LONDON. V-O-A'S MIKE O'SULLIVAN REPORTS HE WAS CONSIDERED A MASTER CRAFTSMAN IN THE ART OF FILM MAKING, AND INSPIRED A GENERATION OF YOUNG DIRECTORS. TEXT: STANLEY KUBRICK WAS AN AMERICAN WHO MADE HIS HOME IN ENGLAND IN THE LAST DECADES OF HIS LIFE. HE HAD ACHIEVED A STATUS IN THE MOVIE INDUSTRY THAT HE COULD WORK WHEN, AND WHERE, HE PLEASED. THE DIRECTOR OF SUCH MAINSTREAM 1960S HITS AS "SPARTACUS, "THE TALE OF A SLAVE REBELLION IN ANCIENT ROME -- AND "DOCTOR STRANGELOVE," A SATIRE ON THE COLD WAR, WAS EVENTUALLY GIVEN THE FREEDOM TO PUT HIS DISTINCTIVE VISION ON THE SCREEN. IN THE SCIENCE-FICTION CLASSIC "TWO-THOUSAND-AND-ONE, A SPACE ODYSSEY," KUBRICK CREATED A VISUALLY STRIKING FILM, WHICH OFFERED A CRITICAL COMMENTARY ON MAN'S TECHNOLOGICAL FUTURE. HIS GRAPHIC AND CONTROVERSIAL 1971 FILM "A CLOCKWORK ORANGE" OFFERED A VIOLENT VIEW OF A NIHILISTIC FUTURE SOCIETY. OTHER NOTABLE FILMS INCLUDE THE WAR PICTURE "FULL METAL JACKET" -- THE PERIOD DRAMA "BARRY LYNDON" -- THE SUSPENSE THRILLER "THE SHINING" -- AND "LOLITA," BASED ON THE NOVEL BY VLADIMIR NABOKOV. STANLEY KUBRICK'S VISION AND SKILL EARNED HIM THE ADMIRATION OF YOUNGER FILM MAKERS. OLIVER STONE CALLED HIM THE GREATEST AMERICAN DIRECTOR OF HIS GENERATION. STEVEN SPIELBERG, SPEAKING AT A HOLLYWOOD LUNCHEON MONDAY, RECALLED THAT HE MET STANLEY KUBRICK IN LONDON IN 1980. /// SPIELBERG ACT /// WE MET FOR THE FIRST TIME AND WE BECAME FRIENDS. AND MY RECOLLECTIONS ARE HE WAS A FATHER FIGURE, AND HE WAS WARM AND HE WAS VERY GENTLE, AND VERY FUNNY -- EXTREMELY FUNNY, ALMOST DEVILISHLY FUNNY. AND (HE) KNEW EVERYTHING YOU COULD POSSIBLY KNOW ABOUT THE CRAFT OF MOTION PICTURE MAKING. I DON'T THINK I MET ANYBODY THAT EVER KNEW AS MUCH AS STANLEY KNEW. /// END ACT /// STANLEY KUBRICK'S PUBLIC IMAGE IN HIS LATER YEARS WAS ONE OF A RECLUSIVE AND FASTIDIOUS FILM MAKER, WHO SPENT YEARS ON A SINGLE PROJECT. FRIENDS SAY HE AVOIDED THE PRESS, AND WAS A INDEED A PERFECTIONIST -- BUT PERSONALLY, THEY SAY, HE WAS WARM AND ENGAGING. STANLEY KUBRICK'S LAST FILM, CALLED "EYES WIDE SHUT," IS SCHEDULED FOR RELEASED THE MIDDLE OF THIS YEAR. STARS TOM CRUISE AND NICOLE KIDMAN ISSUED A STATEMENT AFTER HIS DEATH, CALLING THE DIRECTOR A GENIUS. OTHERS IN HOLLYWOOD, WHO COUNT THEMSELVES FANS AS WELL AS COLLEAGUES, SAY STANLEY KUBRICK'S BODY OF WORK -- WHICH SPANS NEARLY FIFTY YEARS -- WILL CONTINUE TO INFLUENCE FILM MAKERS. (SIGNED) NEB/PT 08-Mar-99 7:06 PM EST (0006 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .