Synopsis
Notorious filmmaker Stanley Kubrick (1928–1999) has always been depicted by the media as a weird artist obsessed with his work to the point of seclusion. Books, newspaper articles and documentaries have always insisted on this supposed aura of mystery, megalomaniac ingeniousness, and hermitage.
Until now.
In October 2012 the book ‘Stanley Kubrick e Me’ (Stanley Kubrick and Me) finally reveals the thirty years of collaboration and friendship by one of the master’s closest collaborator: Emilio D’Alessandro.
In 1960, aged 18, Emilio, from Cassino (Italy), goes to England to work and establish a new life. In London he becomes a Formula Ford driver, racing against the likes of Emerson Fittipaldi and James Hunt. Just when he is ready to jump to Formula One competitions, the economic crisis of the late ‘60s ends Emilio’s dream. He then finds a job as a minicab driver, taking famous directors and actors of British cinema to the studios in Borehamwood. And suddenly, at the end of 1970, he is summoned by a certain Mr Kubrick who wants to buy his time exclusively.
Being an indispensable element of Kubrick’s personal life and film productions, Emilio becomes familiar with all the secrets of the master’s craft: from the meetings with the screenwriters to the location scouting, film tests, rehearsals, editing – Emilio is always there with Kubrick, testifying the director’s inventiveness in producing large-scale films with small crews, almost guerrilla style.
In 30 years side by side, the two have grown closer by the day bringing Emilio to become a center-point in every aspect of SK’s life - both private and professional – and creating a bond that will only be interrupted by the director’s sudden death in 1999.
S is for Stanley tells the story of an unlikely friendship, the story of two very different men who discover they are kindred spirits. By depicting Kubrick with a new, fresh and candid perspective, S is for Stanley is also a journey inside Kubrick's world through the eyes of the only person – other than his immediate family – to have access to his files, his sets, his house and ultimately his mind and soul.
Accompanied by Emilio’s narration, director Alex Infascelli travels inside photographs from Emilio’s personal collection filled with more than 200 photographs comprising private snapshots and photos taken on the film sets: from house parties to costume rehearsals, from continuity polaroids to pictures documenting scenes deleted from the finished films.
In addition, Emilio D’Alessandro owns around 100 papers, ranging from simple memos for the daily routine jobs to exhaustive typed instructions for business tasks, from production documents to warmhearted personal letters jotted down by Stanley’s own hand.
S is for Stanley is a cinematographic work that tells an incredible story that will change forever the perception of one of the greatest artist of the XX century.