Why did Kubrick demand so many takes?

Ha! I should have just posted this instead of my comment - she said everything I wanted to, and more, and better.

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Comparisons with Kubrick and visual narrative style become boundless when looking at other important cinema cultures outside of North America and ‘Hollywood’. I’m thinking of Antonioni in particular but then there’s Godard, Truffaut, Ozu, Mishima, Lee, Nolan, Leone, Hitchcock etc. et al.

Personally I can see a very consistent photographic lighting and framing aesthetic in all his films.

Michelangelo Antonioni is well worth a look when it comes to visual style as well as actor direction in comparison to Kubrick… must have been a very strong influence. Also made some good flicks to boot!!

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This video tried to convince us that Kubrick employed those tactics in order to evince authentic sounding dialogue from his actors. That’s not the impression I get from so many David Lynch films-- Mulholland Drive, Blue Velvet, Dune, Twin Peaks, etc.

Kubrick’s technique of exhaustion reminds me of Phil Spector.

You showed up, you smoked, you drank, and you played your ass off under the direction of Brian Wilson, Phil Spector, or another genius whose vision you were being called upon to help realize. If they wanted you to switch instruments, so be it. If they wanted over 30 takes to get a cavernous, “exhausted” sound — as Spector had the players do more than once — well, alright.

The idea of playing on to the point of exhaustion in order to create a naturalistic performance also ties into the cult of the method actor.

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