Reconstructing Stanley Kubrick’s “Aryan Papers”

Scott Von Doviak — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 18:00:00 GMT

Last summer we told you about Kubrick’s Boxes, the documentary Jon Ronson made about digging through the extensive Stanley Kubrick archives. (Sadly, the YouTube link to Ronson’s film is no longer functional.) As it turns out, Ronson was not the only one given the keys to the legendary filmmaker’s attic. Turner-prize nominated artists (and twins) Jane and Louise Wilson “were invited to delve into the Stanley Kubrick archives at the University of the Arts in London and come up with a piece of work to coincide with a major Kubrick season on the South Bank this year. What they alighted on was the fascinating story of Aryan Papers, a film that he was adapting from Louis Begley's 1991 novel, Wartime Lies,” according to The Guardian.

The Wilsons will tell the story of the unmade film through an installation at the BFI in London. “Kubrick, a secretive obsessional perfectionist by any standards, spent months on preproduction for Aryan Papers, even casting the Dutch actor Johanna ter Steege in the lead role. The Wilsons came across intriguing stills of Ter Steege in different costumes, shot at different angles and in different lights and, taking these as a starting point, then approached the actor herself. The resulting film will cut between the stills and their interview with Ter Steege.”

Kubrick abandoned the project once Steven Spielberg began work on his Holocaust film, Schindler’s List. (Given how many movies on the subject have been made since – and how long it took the director to complete his later films – he probably could have proceeded without worrying about any conflict of interest.) Or, as Louise Wilson notes, he may have had a different reason for moving on to other things: “Having spoken to Johanna, it sounds like he got very depressed. He was so immersed in this research I think he found the process quite disturbing and upsetting.”

If you happen to be in London in the next few months, you can check out the installation at the BFI beginning February 13th.

Related:
The Kubrick Rarities
Kubrick's Marketing Man Speaks

The Screengrab : wartime lies

Reconstructing Stanley Kubrick’s “Aryan Papers”