‘Illumination’: Stanley Kubrick on the basic purpose of cinema

Posted On July 31, 2024July 31, 2024

The purpose of a film changes depending on which one you’re watching. Some movies seek to provide viewers with a sense of escapism, a cinematic journey into a new universe or another life, a two-hour respite from your own. Others look to replicate the world around us as faithfully as possible in documentaries or commentaries about existing figures and issues. Each genre, each movie, and each director has their own set of goals. But if you’re looking for a universal purpose that applies to every film, Stanley Kubrick has an answer.

Pinning down the purpose of an entire medium is a mammoth task, one that few are qualified to take on. But if there’s anyone who could define the universal goals of cinema, it’s Kubrick. After trying his hand at directing with a couple of short films, Kubrick made his feature debut in 1952 with Fear and Desire. From there, he would carve out a legacy as one of the most essential filmmakers in the medium’s history.

He pioneered the sci-fi genre with his ambitious 1968 offering, 2001: A Space Odyssey, which is widely considered to be one of the greatest films of all time. He offered something a little stranger with the dawn of the 1970s, venturing into violence and crime with A Clockwork Orange. Then came horror staple The Shining, war classic Full Metal Jacket, and the posthumous Eyes Wide Shut.

Kubrick’s films have come to dominate lists of the most influential pictures of all time, while his style has inspired a number of contemporary cinematic greats ranging from Christopher Nolan to Denis Villeneuve. With ambitious plots and equally ambitious visual prowess, he somehow mastered every genre he set his mind to. Perhaps this was because he understood the objectives of cinema.

In an interview recorded on Scraps From The Loft, the legendary director spoke about the “basic purpose of a film”, which he believed was “illumination, of showing the viewer something he can’t see any other way.” This certainly does seem to be the primary goal of movie-making. Whether a director situates their film firmly in the comedy realm or aims to thrill audiences with scares and gore, they are always looking to provide audiences with an insight into a new experience or world.

According to Kubrick, this effect could be “best accomplished by staying away from his own immediate environment”.

“This is particularly true when you’re dealing in a primarily visual experience,” he added, “and telling a story through the eyes. You don’t find reality only in your own backyard, you know – in fact, sometimes that’s the last place you find it.”

Kubrick certainly adhered to his own advice in his work, setting his stories in spacecrafts and haunted hotels, seeking to provide his viewers with a novel experience. Even a film like The Shining, which may leave some viewers shaking in fear, is illuminating. It places audiences in view of characters, strange visuals, and horrors that they couldn’t see otherwise.

Condensing the goals of cinema down into one word may seem like an impossible task, but Kubrick hit the nail on the head with “illumination”. The purpose of film, and, in fact, of all fictional creations, is to provide the viewer with a new experience or understanding.

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