Phillips, Gene D. - Hill, Rodney : The Encyclopedia of Stanley Kubrick

Great Filmmakers.

Although this reference lives up to its promise of far-reaching coverage, its short, specific, alphabetically arranged entries tend to fragment information. Still, Phillips, the author of many film books and a friend of the director, and film scholar Hill have compiled an impressive fund of information, including a little over 200 well-researched entries on all 13 films, major cast and crew members, sources of the films' plots and musical scores, genres (with emphasis on the significance of Kubrick's films), and technical innovations. Each usually concludes with a short list of references, augmented by a selected bibliography of about 50 works by or about Kubrick. Many interesting stills and behind-the-scenes photos enliven the text. Unfortunately, numerous facts about the films appear in biographical entries only and are virtually lost due to limited indexing and cross references. For instance, details about lighting techniques in Barry Lyndon are mentioned only in entries for John Alcott and Ed DiGiulio. The entry for The Killing does not even mention its cinematographer, Lucien Ballard, or Kubrick's conflicts with him, whereas the entry on Ballard himself does discuss their disagreements. Michel Ciment's Kubrick: The Definitive Edition and Phillips's own Stanley Kubrick: Interviews offer more well-rounded views of the controversial director and his ground-breaking films. Suitable for large film collections.
Vivian Reed, California State Univ. Lib., Long Beach