Interview with Jan Harlan

Jan Harlan worked in Frankfurt, Vienna, New York, and Zurich with two companies dealing with business organization before joining Stanley Kubrick in 1969 for his project Napoleon, a film that was unfortunately never made. He stayed with Kubrick, becoming manager of his business affairs and his executive producer in 1973 working for Warner Bros. After Kubrick’s death in 1999, he worked with Steven Spielberg during the pre-production on A.I.: Artificial Intelligence and made the documentary Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures for Warner Bros.

Harlan continues to be involved in the management of the Kubrick estate. Together with the Film Museum in Frankfurt, he initiated a large exhibition on the life and works of Stanley Kubrick that is touring the world. Frankfurt, Berlin, Melbourne, Gent, Zurich were past stations and right now they are enjoying a huge success in Rome. Eventually this splendid display will be merged with the Stanley Kubrick Archive at its permanent home, the University of the Arts in London. He worked with Alison Castle and TASCHEN publishers on a substantial and rather unique book on the work and archive of Stanley Kubrick.

He has produced various bonus materials for Warner Brothers' new Stanley Kubrick DVD collection presently released in the USA and shortly thereafter around the world. His documentary film on Malcolm McDowell, “O Lucky Malcolm,” is an extra on the A Clockwork Orange DVD.

He was kind enough to respond to a few questions about the new set:

What are the origins for the new collection? Was it something Warner Brothers pushed for or was it the Kubrick camp?

The Kubrick family generally supports the wishes of Warner Bros. - they are the main “trustees” for the Kubrick legacy and own the titles of one of the great American artists of his generation.

Was it motivated by the HD format at all?

No doubt the new technology and the fact that more and more people watch films at home has an influence on marketing decisions.

Why does this set not include Dr. Strangelove, Lolita, and Barry Lyndon as previous Kubrick collections did? Are there any plans for new editions of those films to be released?

Dr. Strangelove belongs to Sony/Columbia. I can’t tell you why this is not included this time. This is a commercial and legal issue. I hope that Lolita and Barry Lyndon will come out in the future. These two films have not yet been re-mastered. I just received a unique interview conducted by Michel Ciment with Stanley Kubrick on Barry Lyndon which would be a perfect “bonus” item.

There are a lot of extras included with these DVDs compared to previous editions. Who now approves what gets added? Does WB say, "We’ve found these new items we’d like to include"? Or is the Kubrick camp responsible for licensing and creating this new material?

It is indeed the “Kubrick camp” which made a lot of material available. We always ask ourselves what Stanley would have wanted. Items that he himself had carefully preserved, like original conceptual drawings for 2001: A Space Odyssey, for example. I have no doubt that he would have approved the use of these wonderful designs at this point.

From what I have read Kubrick always seemed to be on top of technology. What were his thoughts on the DVD format, if any?

He would certainly have applauded the new technology, big plasma screens and HD DVDs. One can now get the full and intended impact of a film watching it at home, which was never possible with VHS tapes on old fashioned TV sets. Having said that, the problem of potential interruption and distraction remains, something that any director fears.

On a side note, are there any other Kubrick-related projects in the works fans can look forward to? Back when it was briefly leaked on the Internet, I had heard rumors of the Napoleon screenplay being released as a book.

You are right. TASCHEN publishers will bring out a comprehensive book on Stanley Kubrick’s Napoleon. Not just the script and treatment, which is not really revealing his true interest in person of Napoleon anyway, but also many pre-production details, designs etc. Stanley had 17000 images carefully collected, re-photographed on 35mm film and mounted in IBM cards for later sorting by clumsy machines. This was the state of the art in 1969. His library on the topic was huge and so was his knowledge.

Stanley Kubrick - Warner Home Video Directors Series includes: 2001: A Space Odyssey (Two-Disc Special Edition), A Clockwork Orange (Two-Disc Special Edition), The Shining (Two-Disc Special Edition), Full Metal Jacket (Deluxe Edition), Eyes Wide Shut (Two-Disc Special Edition), and Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures. The DVDs can be purchased individually and with the exception of A Life in Pictures are available in HD DVD and Blu-ray.

COLOR ME KUBRICK

The film is loosely based on real life hustler Alan Conway, a sociopathic alcoholic con man who posed as director Stanley Kubrick around London during the early ’90s. What made Conway’s ability to continually get away with the ruse all the more remarkable is not only did he know very little about Kubrick, he didn’t resemble him at all. Kubrick was American while Conway was English. Kubrick had a beard while Conway was clean-shaven. Kubrick was married while Conway was gay.

What Conway had in his favor was Kubrick shunned the trappings of fame and celebrity attached to filmmaking, so while many may have known the names of his films, very few people knew much about the man. According to the media, Kubrick was a genius and a recluse. For him to come out of hiding and open up to a stranger surely implied said person was special because surely Kubrick wouldn’t open up to just anyone. It would be like meeting J.D. Salinger.

Conway was a very interesting con man because rather than the usual big scores that take place in films he was only after, and successfully acquired, the little niceties of life: cigarettes, vodka, and the seduction of men. Color Me Kubrick shows Conway was very good at telling people what they wanted to hear: showering them with praise and the potential of great opportunities. They very much wanted to believe him and the wishes he says he can grant. And it wasn’t just the common folk. He even fooled New York Times writer Frank Rich and a British comedian who thought he was headed for Las Vegas to become an international star.

While John Malkovich gives a great performance in the lead role and Kubrick fans will enjoy the many allusions to Kubrick and his films, the repetition of the plot makes the film a disappointment. Conway is constantly revealed as a fraud, but that life is all he knows so he continues the charade with new marks. The ruses get slightly bigger but his goals remain the same. There are never any serious consequences to his actions, so the resolutions of the conflicts are increasingly anti-climactic. Even after the press exposes Conway, he is able to continue on. Color Me Kubrick began with a great premise, but it didn’t offer anything else.

The DVD contains a feature called “Being Alan Conway,” which presents a more interesting story as a documentary than the fictionalized film did. It begins looking at Conway, and then changes focus to Kubrick, about what his reaction to Conway was and what his reaction to the film might have been. Screenwriter Anthony Frewin was an assistant to Kubrick and director Brian W. Cook was an Assistant Director on Barry Lyndon, The Shining, and Eyes Wide Shut, so they have firsthand knowledge and interesting anecdotes about the man. The real Conway appears at the end in an interview before his death, which was three months before Kubrick passed away.

As of March 27th, 2006, Color Me Kubrick is playing at theaters in limited release and is available on DVD.