The Duality of Man: Stanley Kubrick as Auteur and Adapter

Abstract

In this thesis I examine the scholarship of Adaptation Theory, commencing with the seminal work of George Bluestone in 1957, up to and including the more recent approaches of Kyle Meikle (2013), Thomas Leitch (2007), Linda Hutcheon (2006) and both Brian McFarlane (1996) and Karen Kline (1996). Each of these theorists has grappled with the overarching concept of fidelity, the status of film as autonomous art, the status of film authorship, and textual primacy. Secondly, I apply the current scholarship on Adaptation Theory to the work of film auteur, Stanley Kubrick. Kubrick’s films bear the indelible hallmarks of a director auteur, instantly recognisable in their stylisation and filmmaking technique. Kubrick's reputation as an obsessive and controlling director is (for the most part) unchallenged, despite the fact that he did not write original screenplays, with every film from 1956’s The Killing onwards being adapted from a primary source novel/novella. It is Kubrick’s instincts, decision making and overall approach to the source text in each film that forms the focus of this research thesis. Analysis will focus specifically on Kubrick’s final four films: Barry Lyndon (1975), adapting William Makepeace Thackeray's Luck of Barry Lyndon; The Shining (1980), adapting Stephen King's novel of the same name; Full Metal Jacket (1987), adapting Gustav Hasford's The Short Timers; and Eyes Wide Shut (1999) adapting Arthur Schnitzler's novella Dream Story. The reason for this is twofold; firstly, as a means of narrowing the scope of analysis for Kubrick's four-decade career. Secondly, I am of the view that Kubrick was at the peak of his directorial powers across these final four films, and that they represent a broad summation of the artist in terms of his technical, theoretical and philosophical approach to filmmaking. Further, I make an original contribution to the scholarship on Kubrick by suggesting that Kubrick's films can be analysed with respect to four central tenets: narrative structure, visual technique, performance, and music/sound design. These are summarised as "Kubrickian Tenets of Adaptation" or KTAs. I seek to apply those KTAs to the scholarship on Adaptation Theory through a number of theorists, but predominantly within the four paradigms of adaptation as described in Karen Kline's 1996 scholarship being Translation, Pluralist, Transformation, and Materialist. Ultimately, I determine whether Kubrick’s omnipresent approach to filmmaking fits within a particular area of Adaptation Theory, and further, whether analysis of Kubrick’s work can provide a meaningful contribution to the ongoing development of modern Adaptation Theory.