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I cannot profess to know what it’s like to encounter God. I’m certain i’ve brushed a few elbows with His creations. But even then, knowing whether you are in the presence of Heaven-sent grace is subjective and requires so much faith.

Not the case when it comes to Kubrick’s films. Is he taking dictation from a divine source? Is he using the medium of film to transcribe God’s thoughts and visions? Or is he God himself?

oldhollywood:

Stanley Kubrick on the set of 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968, dir. Stanley Kubrick) (via)

“One day I said: ‘I got a joke for you - you’re dead.’ [Kubrick] said, ‘It’s not funny.’ I said: ‘Let me tell the joke. Steven Spielberg’s dead, too.’ He said, ‘Steven’s dead, oh, that’s funny.’ And I said: ‘You’re dead and you’re up in heaven and Steven Spielberg has just died and he’s being greeted at the gate by Gabriel and Gabriel says: ‘God’s really dug a lot of your movies and he wants to make sure that you’re comfortable. If there’s anything you need, you come to me, I’m your man.’ And Steven says, ‘Well, you know, I always wanted to meet Stanley Kubrick, do you think you could arrange that?’

And Gabriel looks at him and says: ‘You know, Steven, of all the things that you could ask for, why would you ask for that? You know that Stanley doesn’t take meetings.’ He says, ‘Well, you said that if there was anything I wanted.’ Gabriel says: ‘I’m really sorry. I can’t do that.’ So now he’s showing him around heaven and Steven sees this guy wearing an army jacket with a beard riding a bicycle. And Steven says to Gabriel: ‘Oh, my God, look, over there, that’s Stanley Kubrick. Couldn’t we just stop him and say hello?’ And Gabriel pulls Steven to the side and says, ‘That’s not Stanley Kubrick; that’s God — he just thinks he’s Stanley Kubrick.’

Stanley liked that joke.”

-Matthew Modine