Art should ask questions

Film-maker (and Monthy Python alumni) Terry Gilliam makes an important point about art in drawing an important distinction between Kubrick and Spielberg — "and it’s rooted in filmmaking philosophy as much as style." Gilliam described Spielberg as “excellent as a fairy‑tale storyteller." Kubrick's movies however provoke endless questions rather than tidy answers.

Spielberg and the success of most films in Hollywood these days, I think, is down to the fact they're comforting — even if the answers are stupid, they're answers. So you can go home and you don't have to worry about it. The Kubricks of this world, and the great filmmakers, make you go home and think about it.  

There's a wonderful quote in in the book that Frederic Raphael wrote about the making of 'Eyes Wide Shut' (called 'Eyes Wide Open') and he's talking to Kubrick about 'Schindler's List,' and the Holocaust. And he says, the thing is that 'Schindler's List' is about success; the Holocaust was about failure. And that's Kubrick, and that's just spot on. It was about the complete failure of civilisation, to allow six million people to die. 

And so I know which side I'd rather be on.

"Spielberg offers cinematic comfort, Kubrick offers cinematic conversation."