Rare archive materials from Stanley Kubrick’s… | Little White Lies

Rare archive mate­ri­als from Stan­ley Kubrick’s Napoleon

18 Feb 2018

Words by Little White Lies

Roll no. 306 location research photography clapper board for Stanley Kubrick's "Napoleon" film, taken on 22/12/68 in Waterloo, Belgium.
Roll no. 306 location research photography clapper board for Stanley Kubrick's "Napoleon" film, taken on 22/12/68 in Waterloo, Belgium.
Scout­ing pho­tos and script drafts shed new light on the great­est movie nev­er made.

For 40 years, films fans have spec­u­lat­ed about Stan­ley Kubrick’s unmade Napoleon Bona­parte biopic. Orig­i­nal­ly sched­uled to begin film­ing imme­di­ate­ly after the release of 2001: A Space Odyssey, the direc­tor envi­sioned both a sweep­ing epic and inti­mate char­ac­ter study for which he embarked on two years of inten­sive research with the help of dozens of assis­tants and an Oxford Napoleon specialist.

Togeth­er they amassed thou­sands of loca­tion scout­ing pho­tographs and still more slides of Napoleon­ic imagery. No stone was left unturned in Kubrick’s obses­sive quest to uncov­er every piece of infor­ma­tion his­to­ry had to offer about the French rev­o­lu­tion­ary. But the film’s back­ers, first MGM and then Unit­ed Artists, deemed it too risky an under­tak­ing, and the project even­tu­al­ly fell apart.

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Now, Taschen are offer­ing read­ers a chance to expe­ri­ence the cre­ative process of one of cinema’s great­est tal­ents. Based on the orig­i­nal 2009 Lim­it­ed Edi­tion – which fea­tures 10 books hid­den inside of a carved out repro­duc­tion of a Napoleon his­to­ry book – ​‘Stan­ley Kubrick’s Napoleon’ brings all the orig­i­nal ele­ments togeth­er in one vol­ume. It includes cor­re­spon­dence, cos­tume stud­ies, loca­tion scout­ing pho­tographs, research mate­r­i­al, script drafts and Kubrick’s final draft – repro­duced in its entire­ty. Here’s an exclu­sive taster…

Film strip with image of a camera roll label for Stanley Kubrick's "Napoleon" project, showing details such as the roll number, location, date, and photographer's name.
A large white château with turrets and towers reflected in a pond surrounded by lush green lawns.
Barren landscape with cloudy sky, film strip border
Ornate, richly decorated bedchamber with red velvet curtains, canopy bed, and ornate furnishings.
Handwritten page with text describing a conversation between Josephine and Napoleon at the Tuileries.
Handwritten text on a green document page, with dates and brief notes about historical figures and events.
Handwritten dialogue between Napoleon and Junot on a page from a book, with scribbled notes and annotations.

‘Stan­ley Kubrick’s Napoleon. The Great­est Movie Nev­er Made’ is avail­able from 19 Feb­ru­ary via Taschen.

Illustrated book cover featuring ornate frame, text "STALINISM", images of Soviet military and propaganda elements in bold red, white, and blue colours.

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