Written originally for English Communications, a Stage 2 subject, during 2005.

KUBRICK’S BAFTA

I recall sitting in this big room, not paying attention, really – I never did at those type of affairs – when, suddenly, I felt a hand touch my shoulder. I turned around to face John. “Are you nervous?” he asked me. “Nope, not nervous – there’s no way we’re going to win this; were you asleep last time?”; John contemplated this for a second, then sarcastically answered “Yes, I think I was – better keep an eye on me tonight, Stan”. I turned back around to watch the show; the BAFTA ceremonies were always terribly drawn-out, and this was no exception. The host was making an anecdote about Best Supporting Actor nominee Fred Astaire; something about him dancing – a joke about Fred Astaire dancing… original. Everybody was laughing, just in case the camera was pointed at them and the whole world finds out that you don’t find Fred Astaire jokes funny.

We were nearing the end of the evening, and coming close to our major nominations – it wasn’t that I was looking forward to finding out whether we won or not, it’s just that I wanted to get out of there. I was certain I wasn’t going to win, in fact, I really wanted Sidney Lumet to win; I really enjoyed Dog Day Afternoon – but in John’s category, thought he deserved to win; Best Cinematographer, he was a shoe-in. It was now time to announce the winners of Best Cinematographer – I turned around in my chair slightly to wish John good luck; the envelope was opened, and miraculously, the announcer said “John Alcott for Barry Lyndon”. “What?!” I heard him say in a surprised voice; he slowly stood up and with him, so did everybody else – John received a standing ovation. You could feel the room thunder with each clap of a person’s hand; the sound echoed around the auditorium, heightening everybody’s intensity in their claps – it seemed as if they wanted to see how long it would take for an ovation to collapse a building. John was very gracious, he really couldn’t believe he had won; he really deserved it though, put hours in the film – and was extremely patient with me.

I thought back to a day on location. We were in England and we were setting up for a normal day’s shoot – everyone was in full costume and John had just finished adjusting the new lens; we were going to shoot a crucial scene, with Barry running over a hill towards the camera. But something felt off, something wasn’t right. I consulted with John and the actor playing Barry, Ryan O’Neal; seeing if they felt the same – they both knew what I was talking about. It took me two hours to finally work it out. The lighting wasn’t right – we weren’t using artificial lighting, not from the back anyway, and it just didn’t look right. But artificial light would never have done he trick – so we put that scene off. We it off for four months, waiting for the right time of the right day for the sun to rise over that hill – giving the scene the perfect back lighting. John was very understanding about how he felt about this scene and when the day finally arrived, he set up as if it wasn’t a big deal. What a champ.

Eventually, John returned to his seat, award in hand – he really didn’t want to let go of it. And we eventually got around to the Best Director category; I completely zoned out – I didn’t pay any attention to the stage. I didn’t have to; I knew I wasn’t going to win. Then, all of a sudden, I hear something… Something familiar… “Stanley Kubrick”. That’s my name! I thought. I felt John slap me on the back, congratulating me for something of which I wasn’t even fully aware yet. I slowly got up and made my way to the stage – I still couldn’t believe it. I reached the podium, finally, held on to my award tightly, and this is what I said: “Thanks”.