Stanley Kubrick's NAPOLEON (TASCHEN)

[Johann]

Readers and fans of Stanley Kubrick should take note of a limited edition book that has been published by TASCHEN last year:
"Stanley Kubrick's NAPOLEON: the greatest film that was never made", a mammoth tome, limited to 1000, with all sorts of little books tucked into it.
It seems to me to be the ultimate Kubrick piece of scholarship ever put together.

The Taschen website has a beautiful 5 minute film on it's release, with commentary by Alison Castle (who also edited the enormous and indispensible STANLEY KUBRICK ARCHIVES) and Kubrick's widow Christiane & brother Jan Harlan.

[Johann]

Just finished reading an amazing book for cinema study:
Stanley Kubrick and the Art of Adaptation by Greg Jenkins (1997)

Three novels, three films: LOLITA. THE SHINING and
FULL METAL JACKET

Here's a quote: (fantastic book)

On THE SHINING:

The film strikes off on it's own, however, when it omits a final, moving exchange between Jack and Danny. Cornered by his possessed father, Danny offers: "Go on and hit me". The real Jack, the human Jack, reasserts himself long enough to tell "Doc": "Run away. Quick. And remember how much I love you". No such wavering is seen in the film Jack, whose purpose is constant. Emerging from the maze, Danny repeatedly addresses his mother as "Mommy" and not, as Tony would have, "Mrs. Torrence". Glimmer of Happiness.

[cinemabon]

The printing, originally priced at $1000 dollars, is sold out. Collectors have editions for sale at $2500 dollars. Here is a blurb on the subject thanks to Amazon.com, author Alison Castle writes:

"Ten books in one tell the strange tale of Kubrick s unfilmed masterpiece


Tucked inside of a carved-out book, all the elements from Stanley Kubrick's archives that readers need to imagine what his unmade film about the emperor might have been like, including a facsimile of the script. This collector's edition is limited to 1,000 numbered copies.



For 40 years, Kubrick fans and film buffs have wondered about the director's mysterious unmade film on Napoleon Bonaparte. Slated for production immediately following the release of 2001: A Space Odyssey, Kubrick s "Napoleon" was to be at once a character study and a sweeping epic, replete with grandiose battle scenes featuring thousands of extras. To write his original screenplay, Kubrick embarked on two years of intensive research; with the help of dozens of assistants and an Oxford Napoleon specialist, he amassed an unparalleled trove of research and preproduction material, including approximately 15,000 location scouting photographs and 17,000 slides of Napoleonic imagery. No stone was left unturned in Kubrick's nearly-obsessive quest to uncover every piece of information history had to offer about Napoleon. But alas, Kubrick s movie was not destined to be: the film studios, first M.G.M. and then United Artists, decided such an undertaking was too risky at a time when historical epics were out of fashion.


TASCHEN s sumptuous, limited-edition tribute to this unmade masterpiece makes Kubrick s valiant work on "Napoleon" available to fans for the first time. Herein, readers can peruse a selection of Kubrick s correspondence, various costume studies, location scouting photographs, research material, script drafts, and more, each category of material in its own book. Kubrick s final draft is reproduced in facsimile while the other texts are tidily kenneled into one volume where they dare not interfere with the visual material. All of these books are tucked inside of or shall we say hiding in? a carved-out reproduction of a Napoleon history book.


The text book features the complete original treatment, essays examining the screenplay in historical and dramatic contexts, an essay by Jean Tulard on Napoleon in cinema, and a transcript of interviews Kubrick conducted with Oxford professor Felix Markham. The culmination of years of research and preparation, this unique publication offers readers a chance to experience the creative process of one of cinema s greatest talents as well as a fascinating exploration of the enigmatic figure that was Napoleon Bonaparte."



*Includes exclusive access to searchable/downloadable online research database: Kubrick's complete picture file of nearly 17,000 Napoleonic images*

[Johann]

Thanks for the additional info cinemabon. More is at www.taschen.com

I'm saving my pennies for this one. As a Kubrick freak I must have a copy.
I've had a copy of the Napoleon script for years. (printed it off the net about ten years ago)
I know what kind of film Kubrick would have made and it would've had a similar look to his own BARRY LYNDON, a Napoleonic-era film, and my favorite film of all-time. It IS the "Greatest Film Never Made". I've spent quite a bit of time thinking about Kubrick's Napoleon over the years, and I really lament that MGM pulled the plug. I mean, JACK NICHOLSON was going to play the Emperor. Imagine that!
A young Jack Nicholson as a Corsican who joins France's Artillery and rises to conquer the Earth.
It would've been sumptuous, visually ravishing, and most importantly: INTERESTING.
It would've been the ultimate cinematic statement on Napoleon Bonaparte, a 5-Act showcase of his rise (from lowly soldier all the way to placing the Emperor's crown on his own head), his romance with Josephine, his epic battles, his exile to Elba, his monumental return and epic loss at Waterloo and would've ended with a deathbed scene of Napoleon dreaming of Josephine. All in less than 3 hours. Imagine it.
All crafted by the Grand Master.

Kubrick is on record as saying that there has never been a good Napoleon movie and he's right. Abel Gance's 1927 silent (restored/presented by Francis Coppola at Telluride in the late 70's) is amazing for several reasons but it's not exactly a great Napoleon movie. The cinematic innovations are more important than the story, which is crudely put together. I've seen it several times. WATERLOO (another Napoleon film that helped derail Kubrick) is great, even though Rod Steiger seems a little off as Napoleon to me. I love how it opens, with his return from Elba- very dramatic and very cinematic. (THE BATTLE OF) AUSTERLITZ is great as well, but it only focuses on one part of Napoleon career. Pierre Mondy is excellent as Napoleon. I believed in his role.

Philip Kaufman's QUILLS is another great film with a nice *funny* cameo of a too-short Napoleon sitting on his throne. That movie is amazing and it's all but forgotten today. Geoffrey Rush, Joaquin Phoenix and Kate Winslet are brilliant in it. (and so is Michael Caine)