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Monday
05Jan2009

New Kubrick Art Installation Reveals Unfinished Film

DateMonday, January 5, 2009 at 11:18PM
You've never seen the Stanley Kubrick Holocaust film Aryan Papers because he never shot it. However, in the years before his death, Kubrick had committed countless hours to Aryan Papers, an adaptation of the 1991 Louis Begley novel, Wartime Lies.

But now The Guardian reports that parts of the film will be seen by the general public, with twin sisters and artists Jane and Louise Wilson bringing Aryan Papers to life in a new art installation to open at the British Film Institute on February 13th.

The sisters had been invited to look through the Kubrick archives at the University of London for something that would inspire them to create a piece for the BFI, and though the knowledge of this film was extremely limited - Kubrick was notoriously secretive about his projects - it was the project the sisters immediately took to.

"We did feel a bit like kids in a sweetshop and there is so much there you could easily spend days in there, it really is incredible," said Louise. "Of course the films he has made are so well known we wanted to concentrate on something he hadn't done."

Among the things they learned in their research is that the director had written the script, had traveled around Europe looking for locations to replicate wartime Warsaw, and had even cast a lead, Dutch actress Johanna ter Steege. There were several photos in the archives of ter Steege in various costumes, and the art installation will contain these pictures as well as a new interview the sisters conducted with Ter Steege.

"It is a sort of bittersweet story. The film would have been a major thing to happen for her, or for anyone," Louise said. "It was memorable for her to meet [Kubrick] and work with him, she had to keep the whole thing quiet for eight months."

The Kubrick installation will run at the BFI through April 19th, and it's one of those things you'd love to see just because you won't get to anwhere else at any time. Here's a chance to look inside the mind of not only a great filmmaker but a very exacting, demanding, and intellectual one. This would reveal so much more about Kubrick than we currently know. He was not a talker like Welles or Hitchcock. So at least a few of us can see this; that's better than nothing.

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AuthorColin Boyd | | in , | Print ArticlePrint Article | | Comment4 Comments |

Reader Comments (4)

Sundance Channel recently ran a doc about all the research Stanley left behind. It's called STANLEY KUBRICK'S BOXES and I highly recommend it -- the sheer wealth of material found in his over 1,000 boxes of stored stuff is fascinating insight to the level of detail he wanted when prepping a film.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterKevin Rupe

Just to add, the Wilson's film The Aryan Papers will also be shown on in February.

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Animate Projects

Wednesday, January 7, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterAnimate Projects

Just to add, the Wilson's film The Aryan Papers will also be shown on our website animateprojects.org from February 09.

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Animate Projects

Wednesday, January 7, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterAnimate Projects

That's great to know. I'll post an official update to that effect next month.

Thursday, January 8, 2009 | Registered CommenterColin Boyd

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