Kubrick's Demanding Legacy

Kubrick completed only thirteen features in forty-six years because each one required total reinvention. He never repeated himself. A war satire followed a historical epic followed a horror film followed a science fiction meditation followed an erotic thriller.

His demanding process — hundreds of takes, years of research, complete control over every detail — produced films that reveal new layers on every viewing. A Clockwork Orange works differently when you are twenty versus forty because the film holds more meaning than any single viewing can extract.

Kubrick's ultimate lesson for cinema is that difficulty is not a flaw.