S is for Stanley (2016)

In life Stanley Kubrick threw a wall of secrecy around himself, his family and his creative process. Since his death the myth of Kubrick as an eccentric loner has ebbed away. In it's place we have a picture of a man who loved family, friends, and pets as much as the movies.

S is for Stanley is a puts another piece of the puzzle into place, telling the story of Kubrick's chauffeur, assistant and friend Emilio D’Alessandro. Born in Italy, he moved to the UK, working as a taxi driver in London. One fateful day, he got a call to move a giant phallus to the set of a film called A Clockwork Orange. Kubrick took a shine to him and his driving skills, and thus began a thirty year adventure. Emilio spent his days ferrying around the director, his props, and other aspects of his professional and private life.

I was concerned that this might be a cheap cash-in, someone on the periphery of Kubrick's life, vying for their fifteen minutes. It soon becomes clear that this is not the case. As unlikely as the anecdotes might sound, they are all backed up by photographic and documentary evidence, from the garage full of memories in D’Alessandro's home. The subject could easily have been self aggrandizing but he comes across as humble and sincere.

The running time is brief but it doesn't feel rushed, only focusing on an intense but relatively brief time in the whole of both men's lives.

The seemingly mismatched pair, had some things in common, both immigrants, both family men. It was also the differences between the men that bonded them. D’Alessandro, with his aspirations of being a Formula One driver, had no connections to the film industry. Indeed, he never actually saw one of his Kubrick's films until after his death.

Kubrick was a demanding boss. When a film was in production, he could pile one job after another onto D’Alessandro, who seemed to accept it all with good grace.

It may have been recorded elsewhere, but this was the first time that I had seen details of how frail Kubrick was at the end of his life, relying on oxygen tanks. There is a heartbreaking anecdote of him  being too frail to break up a tablet to feed to one of his cats. This was the great director with the fearsome reputation, who had driven the likes of Malcolm McDowell and Shelley Duvall to tears. Now, he was too weak to tend to one of his beloved pets.

This is a must for fans of Kubrick, and for everyone else there is an unlikely but warm and touching story about two unlikely friends.