1
00:00:20,135 --> 00:00:22,226
So I'm always stuck in that dichotomy,

2
00:00:22,603 --> 00:00:25,626
Is the trip the most exciting part of it?

3
00:00:25,803 --> 00:00:30,792
Or is it, I say final result? I don't think you'll ever reach a final result.

4
00:00:30,970 --> 00:00:35,959
You will get as close a result as possible in the time you need to get it.

5
00:00:36,136 --> 00:00:38,795
And I think if you're really curious,

6
00:00:38,970 --> 00:00:42,767
You never feel like you've completed any journey,

7
00:00:42,936 --> 00:00:45,596
because you are always changing trains.

8
00:00:45,770 --> 00:00:49,862
And you are always, without knowing it, in some other destination.

9
00:00:50,037 --> 00:00:51,060
It's an enigma.

10
00:01:19,072 --> 00:01:22,664
I thought of León as a moth attracted to the flame.

11
00:01:22,839 --> 00:01:25,532
That causes the moth to burn its wings.

12
00:01:28,240 --> 00:01:32,638
Stanley Kubrick was an incredibly bright light.

13
00:01:32,806 --> 00:01:38,000
Her seduction was strong enough for Leon to be burned by Stanley's light.

14
00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:52,767
I had seen 2001 just after leaving drama school.

15
00:01:52,940 --> 00:01:56,963
And I thought it was the best movie I had ever seen in my life.

16
00:02:02,074 --> 00:02:06,007
Then I went to see A Clockwork Orange, because it was Stanley Kubrick.

17
00:02:06,175 --> 00:02:07,141
Whoa, whoa!

18
00:02:11,141 --> 00:02:13,004
When I was watching the performances,

19
00:02:13,175 --> 00:02:14,573
like Malcolm McDowell,

20
00:02:15,509 --> 00:02:18,236
It was so big, so bold.

21
00:02:18,609 --> 00:02:24,236
And I thought, this is the closest thing to a theatrical performance in a movie.

22
00:02:24,609 --> 00:02:26,007
And it makes sense.

23
00:02:26,176 --> 00:02:28,199
And how wonderful for an actor.

24
00:02:28,575 --> 00:02:32,803
to be able to come and give that complete and broad feeling.

25
00:02:34,876 --> 00:02:36,967
-♪ I'm singing in the rain ♪ -When the movie ended,

26
00:02:37,142 --> 00:02:40,575
I turned to the person I was actually watching it with.

27
00:02:40,743 --> 00:02:43,607
and I said, "I want to work for that man."

28
00:02:43,776 --> 00:02:45,174
That's exactly what I said.

29
00:02:45,543 --> 00:02:46,873
"I want to work for that man."

30
00:03:00,911 --> 00:03:03,502
I was lucky because I never stopped working.

31
00:03:03,677 --> 00:03:08,110
I was doing theatre, television, prestige period dramas, BBC.

32
00:03:08,278 --> 00:03:09,642
I surprised you, didn't I?

33
00:03:09,811 --> 00:03:13,175
I was doing one-off plays, a couple of movies.

34
00:03:13,545 --> 00:03:15,170
There were police dramas.

35
00:03:15,545 --> 00:03:18,943
Why should they want to do it? I live on the outskirts of the city, in the middle of the suburbs.

36
00:03:19,112 --> 00:03:23,635
I think I did every single one that was being made at the time.

37
00:03:23,812 --> 00:03:27,040
You're not going to bring her back to life, are you, you meddling bastards?

38
00:03:27,212 --> 00:03:29,508
Were you, on the night in question, near that warehouse?

39
00:03:29,679 --> 00:03:30,474
No, no, no!

40
00:03:30,646 --> 00:03:32,669
I was doing sitcoms.

41
00:03:52,080 --> 00:03:54,740
I was in London when everything was changing.

42
00:03:54,914 --> 00:03:59,142
I felt like I could be, do, and behave however I wanted.

43
00:03:59,514 --> 00:04:01,878
It was a great liberation for me.

44
00:04:24,649 --> 00:04:28,479
-Your will be done, on Earth as it is... -Amen

45
00:04:28,649 --> 00:04:30,239
Can I come in with you?

46
00:04:33,616 --> 00:04:38,776
In fact, one of my agents had found out that Stanley Kubrick was making a new production.

47
00:04:38,949 --> 00:04:41,541
And he arranged an audition for me.

48
00:04:41,716 --> 00:04:43,478
and it was a movie called Barry Lyndon.

49
00:04:47,149 --> 00:04:48,843
So Stanley had the text sent to you.

50
00:04:49,017 --> 00:04:51,141
And in front of me, when it arrived,

51
00:04:51,517 --> 00:04:55,540
It had a small note that I later understood to be Stanley's handwriting.

52
00:04:55,717 --> 00:04:58,649
Which was: "Learn these lines."

53
00:04:58,817 --> 00:05:03,182
And when someone like Stanley Kubrick tells you to learn your lines,

54
00:05:03,551 --> 00:05:05,676
You learn your lines.

55
00:05:07,985 --> 00:05:10,712
A phone call came and my agent told me:

56
00:05:10,885 --> 00:05:14,079
"You have the role in Stanley Kubrick's movie."

57
00:05:14,252 --> 00:05:16,547
Well, my head was somewhere out there.

58
00:05:16,718 --> 00:05:17,979
Thank you, oh great ones.

59
00:05:20,719 --> 00:05:26,845
I got a phone call that said, "You should be at the White Hart Hotel at 6:00,

60
00:05:27,019 --> 00:05:28,951
because Stanley wants to meet you."

61
00:05:29,119 --> 00:05:32,108
And I was standing in the lobby of that hotel,

62
00:05:32,286 --> 00:05:35,547
and suddenly, there was a small tap on my shoulder.

63
00:05:35,719 --> 00:05:40,482
I turned around and he said, "Hi, Leon. I'm Stanley."

64
00:05:41,520 --> 00:05:42,508
And we shook hands.

65
00:05:42,686 --> 00:05:43,845
And I have to tell you something.

66
00:05:45,119 --> 00:05:46,779
When you shook Stanley's hand,

67
00:05:46,953 --> 00:05:50,078
It was warm and soft.

68
00:05:52,220 --> 00:05:54,913
It's like a buzz goes through you.

69
00:06:01,654 --> 00:06:04,245
The first day of filming I was a little surprised.

70
00:06:04,621 --> 00:06:08,213
how nervous I really felt about what was going to happen.

71
00:06:08,587 --> 00:06:10,576
They put a long tube in it.

72
00:06:10,754 --> 00:06:12,777
And he said, "Put in an 18."

73
00:06:12,954 --> 00:06:14,886
Now I didn't know what that meant.

74
00:06:15,054 --> 00:06:17,680
But then he put it to his eye and said, "Okay, Leon, action."

75
00:06:17,854 --> 00:06:20,013
And do it the way you think you're going to do it.

76
00:06:20,188 --> 00:06:22,814
"I don't want any of this save-it-for-drinking stuff."

77
00:06:22,989 --> 00:06:24,852
And so we begin.

78
00:06:25,022 --> 00:06:27,817
I was wandering. I was looking through this tube.

79
00:06:27,989 --> 00:06:30,217
It was getting closer. He was standing far behind

80
00:06:30,588 --> 00:06:32,713
standing on a ladder, kneeling.

81
00:06:32,889 --> 00:06:35,980
And then I would change the lenses and do the whole process again.

82
00:06:36,155 --> 00:06:38,519
And every time I would have to start from the beginning

83
00:06:38,689 --> 00:06:40,882
and he keeps saying it and he keeps saying it and he keeps saying it.

84
00:06:41,055 --> 00:06:43,113
And just then we were going to start filming it,

85
00:06:43,289 --> 00:06:45,222
In fact, he said, "Let's do something else."

86
00:06:45,589 --> 00:06:46,816
I became completely disoriented.

87
00:06:46,990 --> 00:06:48,149
I thought, "Oh my God."

88
00:06:48,523 --> 00:06:50,819
I was going to change the scene I was going to film.

89
00:06:53,990 --> 00:06:57,979
When I walk in with Bryan, my little stepbrother,

90
00:06:58,156 --> 00:07:01,987
and wear my shoes, we did it over and over again.

91
00:07:02,157 --> 00:07:07,817
And once we found the pulse, the emotional rhythm of the whole thing...

92
00:07:07,991 --> 00:07:10,014
-Madam! -...he just let everything go.

93
00:07:10,191 --> 00:07:11,952
There was never a cut.

94
00:07:12,124 --> 00:07:14,885
I have endured as long as mortals could endure.

95
00:07:15,057 --> 00:07:19,251
the mistreatment of the insolent Irish upstart whom you have taken to your bed.

96
00:07:20,892 --> 00:07:22,915
It's not just the lowliness of his birth

97
00:07:23,092 --> 00:07:26,024
and the general brutality of his manners which disgusts me.

98
00:07:26,192 --> 00:07:30,124
We continue doing full takes of the entire speech.

99
00:07:30,292 --> 00:07:33,690
His brutal and ungentlemanly behavior,

100
00:07:33,859 --> 00:07:36,757
his open infidelity, his brazen thefts

101
00:07:36,926 --> 00:07:40,915
and swindle of my assets and yours.

102
00:07:41,093 --> 00:07:44,957
And since I can't personally punish this rude ruffian,

103
00:07:45,126 --> 00:07:47,853
and since I cannot bear to witness his treatment of you,

104
00:07:48,026 --> 00:07:50,924
and detest their horrible society as if it were the plague,

105
00:07:52,560 --> 00:07:55,583
I have decided to leave my house and never return.

106
00:07:55,760 --> 00:07:58,658
And that's where I really got the message.

107
00:07:58,827 --> 00:08:01,987
This is what cinema is about.

108
00:08:02,160 --> 00:08:07,525
As opposed to simply shooting a movie, this was filmmaking.

109
00:08:07,694 --> 00:08:09,523
And I jump out of my chair,

110
00:08:09,694 --> 00:08:12,489
-and I hit him as hard as I can on the back.

111
00:08:12,661 --> 00:08:15,025
And throw him to the ground and try to strangle him.

112
00:08:15,194 --> 00:08:17,217
And I hit him and...

113
00:08:17,594 --> 00:08:19,651
And Stanley said, "You're not hitting him hard enough."

114
00:08:19,828 --> 00:08:22,851
-I'm looking at León, you know?

115
00:08:23,028 --> 00:08:23,994
"Oh, Leon."

116
00:08:26,794 --> 00:08:29,556
But we did it 30 times.

117
00:08:29,729 --> 00:08:32,718
And... and I know I hurt him. I know I hurt him.

118
00:08:32,896 --> 00:08:33,862
I didn't want to.

119
00:08:34,029 --> 00:08:36,620
But this was Stanley. "Again again."

120
00:08:36,795 --> 00:08:38,056
We took a break for lunch.

121
00:08:38,229 --> 00:08:40,626
He told me: "León, don't go anywhere. I want to talk to you."

122
00:08:40,795 --> 00:08:42,590
And I thought, "Oh my God. This is it."

123
00:08:42,762 --> 00:08:45,661
He will say, "You tried so hard, but it's not exactly what I'm looking for."

124
00:08:45,829 --> 00:08:47,920
Because we had three George the Third.

125
00:08:48,096 --> 00:08:50,790
And the first two were fired.

126
00:08:50,963 --> 00:08:54,520
If you didn't know your lines, suddenly you weren't in the photo anymore.

127
00:08:54,696 --> 00:08:56,219
And they brought a new one, the actor.

128
00:08:56,596 --> 00:08:58,153
This happened a couple of times.

129
00:08:58,530 --> 00:09:00,792
You didn't make friends. You didn't know if they were going to last.

130
00:09:00,963 --> 00:09:01,063
He said, "Leon, let's sit down." We sit down.

131
00:09:01,064 --> 00:09:03,893
He said, "Leon, let's sit down." We sit down.

132
00:09:04,063 --> 00:09:06,723
And then he said, “I really like what you’re doing.

133
00:09:06,897 --> 00:09:09,830
And I like the fact that when we take a break to install new lighting,

134
00:09:09,998 --> 00:09:13,021
that you are actually walking, reading your text.

135
00:09:13,198 --> 00:09:16,994
And then I decided I was going to write a bunch of scenes for you.

136
00:09:17,164 --> 00:09:18,629
and keep you here until the end of the movie."

137
00:09:18,797 --> 00:09:20,127
I almost fainted.

138
00:09:21,898 --> 00:09:24,955
Can you imagine? Oh, can you imagine?

139
00:09:31,632 --> 00:09:33,121
Although he had worked in films,

140
00:09:33,298 --> 00:09:35,560
You were always there as an actor.

141
00:09:35,732 --> 00:09:40,790
So you never really understood anything that was happening during the making of that movie.

142
00:09:40,965 --> 00:09:44,591
I started looking around me and seeing all the resources.

143
00:09:44,766 --> 00:09:48,095
And you see people moving these groups of brutes, like ten meters further in,

144
00:09:48,266 --> 00:09:49,630
ten meters further back.

145
00:09:49,799 --> 00:09:50,958
Angle them differently.

146
00:09:51,133 --> 00:09:53,530
The costumes were being made and sewn by hand.

147
00:09:53,699 --> 00:09:56,688
in the way they would have been made in the 18th century.

148
00:09:56,866 --> 00:09:59,094
and people talking about fine details.

149
00:09:59,267 --> 00:10:02,791
And you see Stanley and you hear Stanley talking to the art director.

150
00:10:02,966 --> 00:10:05,956
So many people walking. And everyone had something to do.

151
00:10:06,133 --> 00:10:09,032
And they were doing something to get something on a film strip.

152
00:10:09,201 --> 00:10:11,723
to make that one moment work.

153
00:10:13,567 --> 00:10:15,557
I thought, this is so amazing.

154
00:10:15,734 --> 00:10:19,928
that one man's idea should generate all this.

155
00:10:20,101 --> 00:10:22,932
This involves making a movie.

156
00:10:23,101 --> 00:10:25,533
And that intrigued me a lot.

157
00:10:28,035 --> 00:10:29,557
- The raw egg.

158
00:10:29,735 --> 00:10:32,167
But when you shoot with Stanley, you better have a dozen raw eggs.

159
00:10:32,535 --> 00:10:34,865
But do you know what they gave me for lunch before that?

160
00:10:35,035 --> 00:10:36,058
-No, enough. -It was...

161
00:10:36,235 --> 00:10:39,030
-Scrambled. -It was semi-raw chicken.

162
00:10:39,202 --> 00:10:42,794
-And tomatoes or tomatoes.

163
00:10:42,969 --> 00:10:46,163
And everything was crushed. I was so sick.

164
00:10:47,569 --> 00:10:49,831
But the moment I walked on set,

165
00:10:50,003 --> 00:10:52,128
-and it was as if nothing had happened. -Yeah.

166
00:10:52,303 --> 00:10:55,894
And then Stanley said, "Give him a raw egg." A raw egg. Give it a--

167
00:10:56,069 --> 00:10:57,626
But do you know what he saw in you?

168
00:10:57,803 --> 00:10:59,735
He saw a way out of the movie. He saw an end.

169
00:10:59,904 --> 00:11:02,267
-Yes, yes. -Someone has to catch Barry Lyndon.

170
00:11:02,637 --> 00:11:04,660
Someone has to catch him. Who can it be?

171
00:11:04,837 --> 00:11:08,133
It was in July that we shot the last scene.

172
00:11:08,304 --> 00:11:12,759
It was sad to know that these would be the last days of filming.

173
00:11:12,937 --> 00:11:17,165
I thought, "Oh, well, this is actually going to be pretty difficult."

174
00:11:17,538 --> 00:11:20,095
I told Stanley I'm starting to get quite interested.

175
00:11:20,271 --> 00:11:22,760
in all its technical aspects.

176
00:11:22,938 --> 00:11:25,904
And everything that has to do with the making of the film.

177
00:11:26,071 --> 00:11:28,798
And I would be very interested in working in that area.

178
00:11:28,971 --> 00:11:31,631
And he said to me: "If you really take it seriously, León,

179
00:11:31,804 --> 00:11:34,134
"Do something about it and let me know."

180
00:11:34,305 --> 00:11:37,829
And he gave me a Christmas gift, a beautiful art book.

181
00:11:38,005 --> 00:11:43,166
It says: "Dear León, thank you for your great talent, energy and kindness.

182
00:11:43,539 --> 00:11:45,630
Sincerely, Stanley."

183
00:11:45,805 --> 00:11:47,566
My eyes almost filled with tears.

184
00:11:47,739 --> 00:11:50,035
It was very moving. A treasure of master drawings.

185
00:11:50,206 --> 00:11:52,638
-Barry Lyndon. -And then Barry Lyndon came out.

186
00:11:52,805 --> 00:11:55,795
And I started receiving invitations to many parties.

187
00:11:55,972 --> 00:11:59,598
And there was someone who contacted me and wanted to be my press agent.

188
00:11:59,773 --> 00:12:02,171
And the more parties I attended,

189
00:12:02,540 --> 00:12:06,166
The more people I met thought it was the most fantastic movie they had ever seen.

190
00:12:06,540 --> 00:12:08,665
Wow! A Stanley Kubrick movie?

191
00:12:08,840 --> 00:12:10,204
Bloody hell!

192
00:12:10,574 --> 00:12:13,802
This guy is going places, you know, I couldn't believe it.

193
00:12:13,973 --> 00:12:17,599
Things were happening in parallel in a positive way.

194
00:12:17,774 --> 00:12:20,968
And they offered me a season at the Royal Shakespeare Company,

195
00:12:21,141 --> 00:12:25,869
which, when I had early thoughts of being an actor, I would have given anything to be a part of.

196
00:12:26,041 --> 00:12:28,166
And I also had offers for the National Theater.

197
00:12:28,542 --> 00:12:32,565
But what I understood for myself was the first chance I had,

198
00:12:32,742 --> 00:12:34,708
the next film I was going to work on,

199
00:12:34,875 --> 00:12:37,705
I would ask if I could work in the editing room.

200
00:12:37,875 --> 00:12:39,966
I would make tea, anything. I don't mind. I didn't care.

201
00:12:40,142 --> 00:12:43,131
There was a Swedish-Irish co-production of Frankenstein.

202
00:12:43,309 --> 00:12:46,002
I spoke with the director. And he had seen Barry Lyndon.

203
00:12:46,175 --> 00:12:48,936
He said, "I think you would work well as Frankenstein."

204
00:12:49,109 --> 00:12:50,972
And then I said, "Cool."

205
00:12:51,142 --> 00:12:54,597
I said, "I was wondering if I could eventually work in the editing room.

206
00:12:54,776 --> 00:12:58,674
Just know that process.” And I said, “You don't have to pay me or anything.”

207
00:12:58,843 --> 00:13:01,673
And he said, "Sure, if you really want to."

208
00:13:01,843 --> 00:13:03,139
Let me tell you about myself.

209
00:13:04,644 --> 00:13:05,939
I started a whole period

210
00:13:06,110 --> 00:13:08,099
where I worked in the editing room

211
00:13:08,277 --> 00:13:11,732
until everything was assembled, mixed and released.

212
00:13:11,911 --> 00:13:15,809
So I did it and let Stanley know that was what I had done.

213
00:13:15,977 --> 00:13:17,909
I started very slowly.

214
00:13:18,077 --> 00:13:20,508
He sent me a book called The Shining.

215
00:13:20,677 --> 00:13:22,200
And there was a little note on the front.

216
00:13:22,578 --> 00:13:24,601
He wrote: "Read this book."

217
00:13:24,777 --> 00:13:28,141
And, again, it was like, "Well, if Stanley says I have to read it, I have to read it."

218
00:13:28,311 --> 00:13:32,175
The phone rang, I picked it up and the voice on the other end of the line said, "Did you read it?

219
00:13:32,545 --> 00:13:33,568
What do you think?"

220
00:13:33,745 --> 00:13:36,643
I said it could be a really exciting project.

221
00:13:36,811 --> 00:13:41,141
He said, "Would you like to go to America and find a little boy to play Danny?"

222
00:13:41,312 --> 00:13:45,903
Yeah, how would I like to go to America to find a little kid to play Danny?

223
00:13:46,078 --> 00:13:51,875
And actually, you know, I said no to all the acting job offers, you know.

224
00:13:52,046 --> 00:13:53,841
Mission accomplished, that's how I saw it.

225
00:13:55,679 --> 00:13:58,804
I think I was quite surprised that he had stopped acting.

226
00:13:58,979 --> 00:14:00,808
Because I thought he was a good actor.

227
00:14:00,979 --> 00:14:03,843
And I wanted to be an actor and I enjoyed it.

228
00:14:04,013 --> 00:14:05,536
It's a paradox, isn't it?

229
00:14:05,713 --> 00:14:07,906
He was at the peak of his career.

230
00:14:08,079 --> 00:14:10,012
And he decides not to continue acting.

231
00:14:10,179 --> 00:14:11,873
I was stunned.

232
00:14:12,047 --> 00:14:14,036
And suddenly he passes to the other side of the camera,

233
00:14:14,214 --> 00:14:16,271
something I could never imagine doing.

234
00:14:16,647 --> 00:14:19,170
He had already been there 16 months.

235
00:14:19,548 --> 00:14:21,639
So as soon as they told me I could go home, I ran away.

236
00:14:21,813 --> 00:14:24,780
Thinking they would probably try to call me back, so I ran away.

237
00:14:24,948 --> 00:14:29,607
But apparently they had some kind of connection.

238
00:14:29,781 --> 00:14:33,907
Why would someone like León Vitali, who was an actor,

239
00:14:34,081 --> 00:14:36,047
He had his life, he had his job,

240
00:14:36,215 --> 00:14:39,545
Put all that on hold for another individual?

241
00:14:39,715 --> 00:14:43,044
And I think because you recognize in that individual

242
00:14:43,215 --> 00:14:47,148
something not seen in 90 percent of the human race.

243
00:14:47,315 --> 00:14:50,111
He was, um, a teacher.

244
00:14:50,283 --> 00:14:52,805
You don't meet that many teachers in your life.

245
00:14:52,982 --> 00:14:54,607
You're lucky if you come across one.

246
00:14:54,782 --> 00:14:57,681
León is one of the only actors who ever,

247
00:14:57,849 --> 00:15:02,839
You know, he gave up his career to work closely with a filmmaker.

248
00:15:03,016 --> 00:15:04,277
Let's be honest.

249
00:15:04,650 --> 00:15:06,513
Uh, a Stanley Kubrick filmmaker,

250
00:15:06,683 --> 00:15:09,241
not only his stature, but his mystique.

251
00:15:09,616 --> 00:15:11,082
And I look at a box like this,

252
00:15:11,250 --> 00:15:16,876
And I just think, these are years of dealing with all the detritus.

253
00:15:17,050 --> 00:15:21,608
of what needs to be done within the film industry to make something work.

254
00:15:21,784 --> 00:15:25,739
All the correspondence and all the nonsense.

255
00:15:25,918 --> 00:15:28,043
There is a lot of that.

256
00:15:28,218 --> 00:15:31,150
There are filming notes about what's wrong with a print, you know?

257
00:15:31,318 --> 00:15:36,114
So you had to look at everything frame by frame and send him notes.

258
00:15:36,285 --> 00:15:41,946
One of Stanley's pet peeves was that he had to write everything down.

259
00:15:42,118 --> 00:15:45,278
Write it down. Remember to look at what you have written.

260
00:15:45,652 --> 00:15:50,744
You could say I spent half the time with Stanley writing things.

261
00:15:50,919 --> 00:15:55,784
We always worked with all the Stanley titles all the time.

262
00:15:55,952 --> 00:16:00,510
There was not a single one of his films that somewhere in the world

263
00:16:00,686 --> 00:16:03,709
I didn't want to get a print and I didn't want to do a test.

264
00:16:03,886 --> 00:16:06,216
If this was a special exhibition print.

265
00:16:06,586 --> 00:16:10,712
I mean Finland, France, Germany and Sweden were doing Paths of Glory and The Killing.

266
00:16:10,886 --> 00:16:12,614
And Denmark. And the thing is,

267
00:16:12,786 --> 00:16:15,275
We were working on something completely different,

268
00:16:15,654 --> 00:16:18,085
i.e. Full Metal Jacket at the moment.

269
00:16:18,253 --> 00:16:23,084
Oh, this is Danny Lloyd's. This is your time record. I call it a book of lies.

270
00:16:23,254 --> 00:16:26,277
By law in England, they were very strict with child actors.

271
00:16:26,654 --> 00:16:30,087
You could only film 20 minutes in an hour.

272
00:16:30,254 --> 00:16:33,652
Stanley started to get nervous. And Stanley said, "I want you to keep the times."

273
00:16:33,821 --> 00:16:35,946
Well, of course, this is where it becomes a book of lies.

274
00:16:36,121 --> 00:16:37,917
I think, oh, when was his last day of filming?

275
00:16:38,088 --> 00:16:40,713
March 27, 1979.

276
00:16:40,888 --> 00:16:43,877
- Good evening, Mr. Torrance.

277
00:16:44,055 --> 00:16:45,816
Good night.

278
00:16:45,988 --> 00:16:47,249
Well, first I went to Denver.

279
00:16:47,622 --> 00:16:50,611
The idea was to videotape all the children.

280
00:16:50,789 --> 00:16:54,778
We would ask them an initial series of questions that everyone would receive.

281
00:16:54,956 --> 00:16:56,285
There were 4,000 children.

282
00:16:56,656 --> 00:16:59,122
The largest number were in Chicago.

283
00:16:59,289 --> 00:17:02,653
The first thing I remember is that I am four years old.

284
00:17:02,822 --> 00:17:04,981
And my parents talking in the kitchen.

285
00:17:05,156 --> 00:17:07,951
Something about sending my photo.

286
00:17:08,123 --> 00:17:10,783
And now we had to go to Chicago for an audition.

287
00:17:10,956 --> 00:17:12,047
We are poorly dressed.

288
00:17:12,223 --> 00:17:13,689
And there are so many children there.

289
00:17:13,857 --> 00:17:15,846
And, you know, we don't stand a chance.

290
00:17:16,024 --> 00:17:19,013
And I said, "Hi, are you Danny?"

291
00:17:19,190 --> 00:17:21,281
and he did not answer.

292
00:17:21,657 --> 00:17:27,851
For some reason, I squatted, you know, to be on the same level.

293
00:17:28,024 --> 00:17:29,990
And he said, "I'm Leon. It's okay."

294
00:17:30,157 --> 00:17:31,646
Do you know why you came here?"

295
00:17:31,824 --> 00:17:33,653
I was sitting in the chair like...

296
00:17:34,624 --> 00:17:35,521
that.

297
00:17:35,691 --> 00:17:36,952
And his mother said:

298
00:17:37,125 --> 00:17:39,784
"Come on, Danny. We've come all this way," what have you done?

299
00:17:39,958 --> 00:17:42,890
And suddenly he said, "Okay."

300
00:17:43,058 --> 00:17:46,786
And then he took my hand and we walked into this room.

301
00:17:46,958 --> 00:17:52,152
Then we sat on a chair about a foot away from each other.

302
00:17:52,325 --> 00:17:54,848
and they just looked at each other like that.

303
00:17:56,293 --> 00:18:00,884
And then he said, "Wow, I really like your suit."

304
00:18:02,293 --> 00:18:03,849
And that was it.

305
00:18:04,026 --> 00:18:06,083
From that moment on we were talking.

306
00:18:06,259 --> 00:18:09,282
Wow, Leon was really so kind.

307
00:18:09,660 --> 00:18:11,649
From then on, you know, we were like best friends.

308
00:18:11,826 --> 00:18:14,258
Hello danny.

309
00:18:14,626 --> 00:18:16,558
It wasn't even in the script that they were twins.

310
00:18:16,726 --> 00:18:18,056
I was just looking for someone good.

311
00:18:18,227 --> 00:18:20,988
And the problem with children who come to these things,

312
00:18:21,160 --> 00:18:23,819
They go to these children's theater schools.

313
00:18:23,993 --> 00:18:29,017
But they were all infected by having an inflection in their speech.

314
00:18:29,193 --> 00:18:31,716
It was like, "I don't know why you--"

315
00:18:31,894 --> 00:18:34,519
And you thought, you know...

316
00:18:34,694 --> 00:18:36,251
But I was getting very, very desperate.

317
00:18:36,627 --> 00:18:38,150
And suddenly, on the last day,

318
00:18:38,328 --> 00:18:41,226
this woman brought these two girls into the room.

319
00:18:41,595 --> 00:18:43,060
And they were twins.

320
00:18:43,228 --> 00:18:45,285
And the first thing that went through my head was

321
00:18:45,662 --> 00:18:49,287
Diane Arbus's famous photograph of these twins who look a little strange.

322
00:18:49,662 --> 00:18:53,060
So I did about ten takes of them doing this.

323
00:18:53,229 --> 00:18:55,751
And I ran out onto the stage.

324
00:18:55,929 --> 00:18:58,690
"I got it, I got it! It's the Arbus twins!"

325
00:18:58,862 --> 00:19:01,885
He looked at it and said, "Well, there's no doubt about it, right? That's all."

326
00:19:02,062 --> 00:19:03,688
Come play with us, Danny.

327
00:19:03,863 --> 00:19:05,192
When something like this happens...

328
00:19:06,829 --> 00:19:09,624
-Forever. -...in a way it speaks for itself.

329
00:19:09,796 --> 00:19:13,956
-You don't need to say it. -And always, and always.

330
00:19:16,729 --> 00:19:18,628
I remember León and me...

331
00:19:18,796 --> 00:19:20,729
He'd say, "Okay, color. Okay, now stop."

332
00:19:20,896 --> 00:19:22,260
Or. "Okay, give me that scary look."

333
00:19:22,630 --> 00:19:25,028
Then I was able to tune into his voice.

334
00:19:25,196 --> 00:19:27,026
He was my acting coach.

335
00:19:27,197 --> 00:19:30,163
Stanley saw that it worked that way.

336
00:19:30,331 --> 00:19:33,263
If we ever did a running shot, a moving shot or something like that,

337
00:19:33,630 --> 00:19:36,119
I would be the closest to him behind the camera.

338
00:19:36,298 --> 00:19:37,957
Danny, you have to listen to Stanley.

339
00:19:38,131 --> 00:19:41,154
Then you could tell him to do things like look around now or hesitate.

340
00:19:41,331 --> 00:19:43,058
Keep going, come on, scared.

341
00:19:43,231 --> 00:19:44,925
"He looks scared." What's with the gun, Danny?

342
00:19:45,098 --> 00:19:47,121
"Look back, look back. Left, Danny. Turn right."

343
00:19:47,298 --> 00:19:49,288
Leon and I would work together and practice that.

344
00:19:49,665 --> 00:19:51,631
Or maybe we were actually filming it.

345
00:19:51,798 --> 00:19:52,923
But Leon would play Jack.

346
00:19:53,098 --> 00:19:55,223
Danny!

347
00:19:55,599 --> 00:19:57,996
Yes, this whole place is a huge maze. I feel like...

348
00:19:58,165 --> 00:20:01,962
And then Stanley wanted me to work with Shelley, just directing the dialogue.

349
00:20:02,132 --> 00:20:04,065
And the same with Scatman.

350
00:20:04,232 --> 00:20:06,698
It's big, but it's still nothing more than a kitchen.

351
00:20:06,866 --> 00:20:09,957
Remember the repetitive and numerous takes?

352
00:20:10,133 --> 00:20:13,758
Eh, more or less. I think the reason I do it is because there was a bowl of ice cream.

353
00:20:13,933 --> 00:20:16,229
But it was as if a few days later someone said:

354
00:20:16,600 --> 00:20:18,896
"Oh, we consumed five gallons of chocolate ice cream."

355
00:20:19,066 --> 00:20:21,056
Continuity would be if you had to stop and start again,

356
00:20:21,233 --> 00:20:22,756
You have a new bowl of ice cream.

357
00:20:22,934 --> 00:20:25,127
And not being able to eat it all, something like that.

358
00:20:25,301 --> 00:20:27,994
You know, a five-year-old's mind was like, "Hey, look at all this ice cream."

359
00:20:28,167 --> 00:20:30,962
That's such an iconic character.

360
00:20:31,134 --> 00:20:33,793
Many people strive to reach that level.

361
00:20:33,967 --> 00:20:37,058
The most important thing I would like to say about this is that

362
00:20:37,234 --> 00:20:41,667
I think that's the tribute to the work León did and the type of person he is.

363
00:20:41,834 --> 00:20:43,527
Stanley had said from the beginning,

364
00:20:43,701 --> 00:20:45,826
"As long as you're not doing anything specific, you know,

365
00:20:46,001 --> 00:20:49,263
Stay by my side and you can come to meetings and things like that,

366
00:20:49,634 --> 00:20:52,692
and just seeing how things are done, how they are executed, and how they are organized.”

367
00:20:52,868 --> 00:20:54,630
I worked with John Alcott.

368
00:20:54,802 --> 00:20:58,165
We worked a lot with black and white Polaroids to achieve contrast and density.

369
00:20:59,069 --> 00:20:59,966
This is something else.

370
00:21:00,136 --> 00:21:01,863
They allowed me to bring my camera.

371
00:21:02,036 --> 00:21:05,832
And then Stanley explained to me the ASA speeds and what you could do with them.

372
00:21:06,002 --> 00:21:08,230
Push them, underexpose them, overexpose them,

373
00:21:08,603 --> 00:21:11,932
all those things he learned as a young man, as a photographer.

374
00:21:12,102 --> 00:21:15,535
Plus, he had given me the job of taking all those location photographs.

375
00:21:15,703 --> 00:21:17,896
in Chicago and Denver, and Kansas City, Missouri.

376
00:21:18,070 --> 00:21:21,264
So we went to every hotel in whatever city we were in.

377
00:21:21,636 --> 00:21:25,034
and I just photographed every type of room there was.

378
00:21:25,203 --> 00:21:27,998
I came back with about a hundred rolls of film.

379
00:21:28,170 --> 00:21:31,034
And he said, "I just want you to know that I think you've done a great job."

380
00:21:31,203 --> 00:21:33,260
And he just makes you feel so good,

381
00:21:33,637 --> 00:21:36,262
because it makes you feel part of it.

382
00:21:36,637 --> 00:21:38,296
Make him come in. That you are part of their process.

383
00:21:38,671 --> 00:21:40,830
That you have been an important part of their process.

384
00:21:41,004 --> 00:21:43,993
Just get him in! Let him realize that our time is up!

385
00:21:44,171 --> 00:21:47,535
Every day was filled with many different jobs.

386
00:21:47,705 --> 00:21:49,637
I was in absolute paradise.

387
00:21:51,772 --> 00:21:54,034
Mr. and Mrs. Kiget, Mr. Kubrick.

388
00:21:54,204 --> 00:21:55,966
-How are you? - And Mr. Woodland.

389
00:21:56,139 --> 00:21:58,764
-If anyone knew Stanley,

390
00:21:58,939 --> 00:22:01,962
maybe I talked to him for ten or twenty minutes,

391
00:22:02,139 --> 00:22:05,299
Or maybe I worked for him for a year, or as long as I did,

392
00:22:05,673 --> 00:22:11,537
They'll always come away thinking, "I know the real Stanley Kubrick."

393
00:22:11,706 --> 00:22:14,729
I could meet someone, shake their hand and be...

394
00:22:14,906 --> 00:22:17,304
"Hello, I'm Stanley."

395
00:22:17,673 --> 00:22:19,730
And remember, he was a chess player.

396
00:22:19,906 --> 00:22:24,635
I always remember that people who met him for the first time always came out saying:

397
00:22:24,806 --> 00:22:28,170
“Oh wow, it's nothing like I've ever heard of.

398
00:22:28,340 --> 00:22:32,534
It's fantastic. It's so gentle. He's like this, he's like that."

399
00:22:32,707 --> 00:22:35,730
I mean, he was the same way with me when I first met him.

400
00:22:35,907 --> 00:22:38,169
It was only when we got into Full Metal Jacket

401
00:22:38,341 --> 00:22:41,603
and the responsibilities were getting heavier,

402
00:22:41,774 --> 00:22:43,297
Another Stanley entered.

403
00:22:43,675 --> 00:22:46,539
Because it was like POW! PRISONER OF WAR! PRISONER OF WAR!-

404
00:22:46,748 --> 00:22:48,343
♪ Kiss me, goodbye ♪

405
00:22:48,675 --> 00:22:54,938
♪ And write to me while I'm gone ♪

406
00:22:55,108 --> 00:22:59,200
♪ Goodbye, honey Hello, Vietnam ♪

407
00:22:59,576 --> 00:23:01,939
Date, August 19, 1985.

408
00:23:02,108 --> 00:23:04,802
Location, production office.

409
00:23:04,975 --> 00:23:08,999
Stanley invites me to the production office to show me what happens behind the scenes.

410
00:23:09,175 --> 00:23:11,664
The first thing that catches my attention is the lack of people.

411
00:23:11,842 --> 00:23:13,967
This place is almost empty.

412
00:23:14,143 --> 00:23:16,540
There's a guy here named León Vitali.

413
00:23:16,709 --> 00:23:18,834
I've seen him several times at Stanley's house.

414
00:23:19,009 --> 00:23:20,998
I think he's Stanley's assistant.

415
00:23:21,176 --> 00:23:23,540
Leon seems to be a jack of all trades.

416
00:23:23,710 --> 00:23:25,198
Take notes about everything.

417
00:23:25,577 --> 00:23:28,600
Sometimes he writes on his arms. One thing about Leon..."

418
00:23:28,777 --> 00:23:29,970
When I was working on Full Metal Jacket,

419
00:23:30,144 --> 00:23:32,905
I thought of Leon as a kind of Igor character.

420
00:23:33,077 --> 00:23:34,736
From Frankenstein, you know?

421
00:23:34,910 --> 00:23:39,275
"Yes sir". That he was... That he was just a slave to Stanley Kubrick.

422
00:23:39,644 --> 00:23:42,542
You had to be everywhere at the same time.

423
00:23:42,711 --> 00:23:45,939
It was just one of those things where Stanley used me.

424
00:23:46,110 --> 00:23:49,565
in whatever way I thought would be effective and work.

425
00:23:49,744 --> 00:23:54,074
It was the first time that Stanley entrusted me with the responsibility of casting.

426
00:23:54,245 --> 00:23:56,710
There were thousands and thousands and thousands

427
00:23:56,878 --> 00:23:59,106
and thousands of tapes that were sent.

428
00:23:59,278 --> 00:24:01,870
And there was a lot to do, you know?

429
00:24:02,045 --> 00:24:05,534
I agreed to be Stanley's technical advisor.

430
00:24:05,712 --> 00:24:11,043
just so I could get my foot in the damn door and audition for Stanley.

431
00:24:11,212 --> 00:24:14,303
I wanted to be Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, there's no doubt about that.

432
00:24:14,679 --> 00:24:18,271
I couldn't imagine anyone who could do it better than me.

433
00:24:18,646 --> 00:24:20,202
He looked me straight in the eyes and said:

434
00:24:20,580 --> 00:24:23,637
"It's not possible. I already have an actor hired."

435
00:24:23,813 --> 00:24:27,211
Well, it's... The Marine Corps never taught me how to lose gracefully.

436
00:24:27,580 --> 00:24:30,103
Good afternoon sir. My name is Tim Colceri. I'm 32 years old--

437
00:24:30,280 --> 00:24:31,609
I get a phone call from Warner Bros.

438
00:24:31,780 --> 00:24:32,746
"Uh, hello, Tim?" "Yes sir?".

439
00:24:32,913 --> 00:24:34,140
"Come and sign your contract."

440
00:24:34,314 --> 00:24:36,576
I think you have the best role in the movie.

441
00:24:36,747 --> 00:24:39,770
And he reached under his desk and pulled out the Full Metal Jacket...

442
00:24:39,948 --> 00:24:42,073
He said: "You play the role of the drill instructor."

443
00:24:42,247 --> 00:24:45,146
I was looking for extras for the platoon.

444
00:24:45,314 --> 00:24:49,077
So I went to the army regiments and just said, we're making a movie.

445
00:24:49,248 --> 00:24:51,736
We would like to know if anyone would be interested,

446
00:24:51,914 --> 00:24:56,210
And it occurred to me, Lee Ermey, who used to dress up in his drill instructor gear.

447
00:24:56,582 --> 00:24:59,309
I thought, well, why don't we do it like he used to do it?

448
00:24:59,682 --> 00:25:02,876
Just stand them up. You give them their induction.

449
00:25:03,049 --> 00:25:05,810
So we did it. And I was recording it on video.

450
00:25:05,982 --> 00:25:09,073
So, I think Stanley Kubrick has to see this.

451
00:25:09,249 --> 00:25:11,545
And then I had a little chat with these people.

452
00:25:11,715 --> 00:25:16,705
and let them know that I might say some nasty things about their mothers and fathers,

453
00:25:16,883 --> 00:25:18,610
his immediate family.

454
00:25:18,783 --> 00:25:20,908
And don't let them shoot me,

455
00:25:21,083 --> 00:25:24,072
because if they hit me I wouldn't hire them for sure.

456
00:25:28,317 --> 00:25:30,283
Uh, how trash they looked.

457
00:25:30,650 --> 00:25:31,910
"What's your name, bastard?"

458
00:25:32,083 --> 00:25:33,879
A couple of them sucked their thumb.

459
00:25:34,050 --> 00:25:39,312
Then I realized this, that Leon was subtly...

460
00:25:39,684 --> 00:25:43,082
He would record them. Then he would come to me.

461
00:25:43,251 --> 00:25:45,910
So I said yes, it's working.

462
00:25:48,284 --> 00:25:52,216
I ended up having to rehearse this whole dialogue with León.

463
00:25:52,585 --> 00:25:55,244
And Lee Ermey is out with the troops, marching them.

464
00:25:55,618 --> 00:25:57,208
And I started to make that dialogue.

465
00:25:57,585 --> 00:26:00,551
"If you have a mole, lump, scar or anything else sticking out of your head,

466
00:26:00,718 --> 00:26:03,650
and by stick out I mean anything else that sticks out of your head,

467
00:26:03,818 --> 00:26:05,546
The moment you sit in that chair, the...

468
00:26:05,718 --> 00:26:08,685
He says, "Stop." I say, "What? "It's going pretty well."

469
00:26:08,851 --> 00:26:12,306
"It's the moment you sit in that chair." And I went...

470
00:26:14,152 --> 00:26:17,243
He knew that Leon would send the tape to Stanley.

471
00:26:17,619 --> 00:26:21,949
Stanley would watch the tape that night and have the job tomorrow.

472
00:26:22,119 --> 00:26:24,244
-Plain and simple. - Did you know?

473
00:26:24,619 --> 00:26:27,609
In my mind, I knew it, yes.

474
00:26:27,787 --> 00:26:30,753
I took the tapes to Stanley. I said, "You have to see this."

475
00:26:30,920 --> 00:26:33,818
He couldn't help but laugh. I mean, it was falling everywhere.

476
00:26:33,987 --> 00:26:38,317
I was practically counting on them calling me to the production office.

477
00:26:38,687 --> 00:26:40,846
First thing the next morning, he was.

478
00:26:41,020 --> 00:26:47,180
I think the hardest thing I had to do in that movie was go to this guy's house.

479
00:26:47,354 --> 00:26:50,047
and give him a letter that Stanley had written saying:

480
00:26:50,220 --> 00:26:52,618
"I'm really sorry to tell you, but..."

481
00:26:52,788 --> 00:26:56,312
"After painful deliberation, I have decided to use Lee Ermey to play Sergeant Hartman.

482
00:26:56,688 --> 00:26:58,847
I'd like you to stay and play helicopter door gunner,

483
00:26:59,021 --> 00:27:01,044
which is a very powerful role in a very powerful scene.

484
00:27:01,221 --> 00:27:04,085
Sincerely, Stanley Kubrick."

485
00:27:04,255 --> 00:27:07,221
Well, it crushed me. And I didn't want to be around people.

486
00:27:07,589 --> 00:27:09,214
Then I could see that they... they were...

487
00:27:09,589 --> 00:27:12,055
Everything became blurry to me.

488
00:27:12,221 --> 00:27:13,778
The television was a little blurry.

489
00:27:13,956 --> 00:27:17,081
And I got angry, because I had that role for eight months,

490
00:27:17,256 --> 00:27:19,744
that he couldn't come to me as a man and talk to me about it.

491
00:27:19,922 --> 00:27:21,582
He sent Leon with a letter.

492
00:27:21,755 --> 00:27:24,085
The caliber of actors who would probably sell out their own mothers.

493
00:27:24,256 --> 00:27:26,722
Just to have the opportunity to work with Stanley.

494
00:27:26,890 --> 00:27:30,720
And you think you have it, and then all of a sudden it's gone.

495
00:27:30,890 --> 00:27:32,685
It wasn't easy to sit still.

496
00:27:32,856 --> 00:27:34,947
My heart bled for him. He really did it.

497
00:27:35,123 --> 00:27:38,146
"As Stanley's assistant, León is prepared to go after

498
00:27:38,324 --> 00:27:40,119
and answer everything that may arise.

499
00:27:40,290 --> 00:27:42,654
It is a huge company.

500
00:27:42,823 --> 00:27:48,688
León's face is a testimony of that enterprise, a road map of insomnia and worry.

501
00:27:48,857 --> 00:27:51,085
I love León, but he makes me sad.

502
00:27:51,258 --> 00:27:54,985
"I want to help him, but I don't know how he chose his path."

503
00:27:55,158 --> 00:27:57,124
I suspected Leon

504
00:27:57,291 --> 00:28:00,086
when he came to me and told me he wanted to work on my lines.

505
00:28:00,258 --> 00:28:03,122
Because I knew he was that guy there in the shadows.

506
00:28:03,291 --> 00:28:04,314
who was talking to Stanley.

507
00:28:04,692 --> 00:28:05,885
And I thought maybe...

508
00:28:06,059 --> 00:28:07,922
I think the other actors working on the film

509
00:28:08,092 --> 00:28:11,580
I thought Leon might have been some kind of spy.

510
00:28:11,758 --> 00:28:16,123
That was going to see if someone smoked marijuana or someone used drugs.

511
00:28:16,292 --> 00:28:19,190
And then everyone was a little suspicious of León.

512
00:28:19,359 --> 00:28:24,849
When, in fact, all Leon wanted to do was make sure that people were truly and deeply prepared.

513
00:28:25,026 --> 00:28:26,889
Everyone was nervous.

514
00:28:27,060 --> 00:28:29,958
I realized that with each passing day,

515
00:28:30,126 --> 00:28:35,218
I could see and feel Stanley getting more and more tense and nervous.

516
00:28:35,594 --> 00:28:38,617
We had an art director who had a nervous breakdown,

517
00:28:38,794 --> 00:28:40,919
simply because of the work that had to be done.

518
00:28:41,093 --> 00:28:44,026
I mean, Beckton had to be demolished and then rebuilt.

519
00:28:44,193 --> 00:28:46,785
Stanley assigned me to León.

520
00:28:46,961 --> 00:28:49,722
I was León's project.

521
00:28:49,894 --> 00:28:51,190
Do you think you're Mickey Spillane?

522
00:28:51,361 --> 00:28:53,792
That's how it is. You think you're Mickey Spillane.

523
00:28:53,961 --> 00:28:57,257
There are all the hours and hours and hours of these auditions and these tapes.

524
00:28:57,628 --> 00:28:59,150
We had them transcribed.

525
00:28:59,328 --> 00:29:04,625
And we actually put together Lee's paper from about 800 pages.

526
00:29:04,795 --> 00:29:07,818
Damn... That's fucking horrible.

527
00:29:07,995 --> 00:29:09,824
I know how hard you worked with Lee Ermey.

528
00:29:09,995 --> 00:29:13,052
Because Lee's dressing room was next to mine.

529
00:29:13,228 --> 00:29:15,694
And I—and I heard them playing catch.

530
00:29:15,861 --> 00:29:18,123
One day I pissed off León.

531
00:29:18,295 --> 00:29:19,989
And there was a plate of fruit.

532
00:29:20,162 --> 00:29:23,129
He walked over, picked up an orange and threw it at me.

533
00:29:23,295 --> 00:29:24,955
I got it.

534
00:29:25,129 --> 00:29:26,924
And I threw it back.

535
00:29:27,096 --> 00:29:32,790
And while we were throwing that orange from one side to the other, I began to talk.

536
00:29:32,963 --> 00:29:35,895
He didn't care how often we went through things,

537
00:29:36,063 --> 00:29:37,791
how much we go through things.

538
00:29:37,964 --> 00:29:41,089
I would have him lying face up on the floor with his eyes closed.

539
00:29:41,263 --> 00:29:42,854
Just say the dialogue.

540
00:29:43,030 --> 00:29:45,655
And then speed it up, speed it up, speed it up.

541
00:29:45,830 --> 00:29:48,023
So I just said it quick, quick, quick, quick, quick.

542
00:29:48,197 --> 00:29:50,322
Sir, no sir! Are you a peter pumper?

543
00:29:50,697 --> 00:29:52,163
Sir, no, sir!

544
00:29:52,331 --> 00:29:54,797
I bet you're the kind of person who would fuck a person in the ass.

545
00:29:54,964 --> 00:29:57,988
and not even have the damn courtesy of giving him a hand.

546
00:29:58,164 --> 00:30:01,154
León Vitali, I...

547
00:30:01,331 --> 00:30:06,230
He dropped me off in the afternoon and then picked me up in the morning.

548
00:30:06,598 --> 00:30:07,996
When I was there, he was there.

549
00:30:08,165 --> 00:30:12,325
And he spent anywhere from 14 to 20 hours a day, seven days a week.

550
00:30:12,699 --> 00:30:15,824
It was incredible. He never slept. Stanley took him.

551
00:30:15,999 --> 00:30:18,794
If it weren't for León Vitali,

552
00:30:18,966 --> 00:30:22,830
I doubt it would have done half the job.

553
00:30:22,999 --> 00:30:26,193
which I ended up doing in Full Metal Jacket.

554
00:30:27,865 --> 00:30:30,229
Now listen to me, Private Pyle.

555
00:30:31,733 --> 00:30:33,323
and you listen well.

556
00:30:34,967 --> 00:30:38,660
I want that gun. And I want it now!

557
00:30:40,366 --> 00:30:43,662
You will place that rifle on the deck at your feet...

558
00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:46,727
and stay away from it.

559
00:30:53,300 --> 00:30:54,664
Oh.

560
00:30:54,834 --> 00:30:58,732
What is your main malfunction, fools?

561
00:30:58,901 --> 00:31:00,799
Didn't mom and dad pay enough attention to you?

562
00:31:00,968 --> 00:31:03,560
And that's the one who opened all the doors.

563
00:31:03,734 --> 00:31:06,633
So... I haven't stopped working since then.

564
00:31:06,801 --> 00:31:08,926
It's been a great life.

565
00:31:09,101 --> 00:31:10,260
They already finished the movie.

566
00:31:10,635 --> 00:31:13,328
The movie is finished, filmed and finished.

567
00:31:13,702 --> 00:31:16,032
And they decide to give him back the role of door gunner.

568
00:31:18,336 --> 00:31:22,132
- Action. - Then, as we went over it, what you noticed was that,

569
00:31:22,302 --> 00:31:25,166
Little by little he began to find nuances.

570
00:31:25,336 --> 00:31:28,700
- Any women and children? -Sometimes!

571
00:31:28,869 --> 00:31:31,835
It really was a wonderful process.

572
00:31:32,003 --> 00:31:36,060
to see someone understand something.

573
00:31:36,236 --> 00:31:40,168
And then we went to the location to film it, we went up in a helicopter.

574
00:31:40,337 --> 00:31:42,030
And I took a video camera with me.

575
00:31:42,203 --> 00:31:45,260
And we rehearse it. Because Stanley, of course, wasn't going to fly.

576
00:31:45,637 --> 00:31:50,093
And then Stanley arrived around noon and we had been doing this for about two or three hours.

577
00:31:50,270 --> 00:31:52,327
And then they installed it in the toilet.

578
00:31:52,704 --> 00:31:55,136
And he said, "This angle still isn't right. Okay, Tim."

579
00:31:55,304 --> 00:31:57,769
-Get some! Get some! - “Do it 13 more times just like that.”

580
00:31:57,937 --> 00:32:00,335
Get some, get some, come on! Get it, come on!

581
00:32:00,704 --> 00:32:02,829
Get some, get some! Yes, yes, yes!

582
00:32:03,004 --> 00:32:04,334
I have you mother...

583
00:32:06,671 --> 00:32:10,001
And it became a little calmer, but scarier because of it.

584
00:32:10,172 --> 00:32:13,865
Anyone who runs is a VC.

585
00:32:14,038 --> 00:32:16,629
Anyone who stays still

586
00:32:16,805 --> 00:32:20,568
He is a well disciplined VC.

587
00:32:20,739 --> 00:32:23,136
♪ Ho Chi Minh is a son of a bitch ♪

588
00:32:23,339 --> 00:32:25,134
Stanley came up to me and said:

589
00:32:25,305 --> 00:32:27,237
"You have to do the feet and the Foley."

590
00:32:27,606 --> 00:32:29,868
"What do you mean?" He says, "That's where you do all the steps,

591
00:32:30,039 --> 00:32:32,800
and you do all the sound effects, and you do all this and all that."

592
00:32:32,973 --> 00:32:36,235
And I said, "I don't know if I can do that." And he said, "Of course you can."

593
00:32:36,606 --> 00:32:40,198
And that was how I always started on a new task.

594
00:32:40,373 --> 00:32:42,839
If I ever said, "I don't know how to make designs."

595
00:32:43,006 --> 00:32:43,995
"You sure do."

596
00:32:44,173 --> 00:32:46,799
- Well. Four in the morning Foley's man.

597
00:32:46,974 --> 00:32:50,906
Eddie Tise, who was our sound engineer, and I,

598
00:32:51,074 --> 00:32:54,870
Just the two of us, we did all the steps and the rustling of clothes,

599
00:32:55,040 --> 00:32:57,097
and the gear rattles, and everything.

600
00:32:57,274 --> 00:33:00,798
Every sound, including that of the prostitute.

601
00:33:02,608 --> 00:33:05,199
♪ Something you call love But confess- ♪

602
00:33:05,374 --> 00:33:08,102
Could you, after Full Metal Jacket, do what Leon did?

603
00:33:08,275 --> 00:33:11,638
And actually change the subject, knowing what you know about Stanley?

604
00:33:13,841 --> 00:33:16,932
A no.

605
00:33:17,108 --> 00:33:20,973
I guess I couldn't have done it after Full Metal Jacket was like, “You know what?

606
00:33:21,141 --> 00:33:23,607
"I'm going to go work for Stanley." I'm too selfish.

607
00:33:23,775 --> 00:33:26,741
What León did was a selfless act,

608
00:33:26,909 --> 00:33:29,341
a kind of crucifixion of himself.

609
00:33:29,709 --> 00:33:33,267
I couldn't imagine doing it myself. I guess I'm too selfish.

610
00:33:33,643 --> 00:33:38,632
Leon was forced to dedicate his entire life, 30 years, which he spent with Stanley Kubrick.

611
00:33:38,810 --> 00:33:40,605
León did it for Stanley

612
00:33:40,776 --> 00:33:42,867
what half a dozen executive producers and associate producers

613
00:33:43,043 --> 00:33:44,770
and production managers and...

614
00:33:44,943 --> 00:33:48,341
and drivers and tailors...

615
00:33:48,710 --> 00:33:51,199
do in other films for directors.

616
00:33:51,377 --> 00:33:55,776
It was a real rollercoaster even for just one day.

617
00:33:55,943 --> 00:33:58,739
And of course, the days were very, very long.

618
00:33:58,911 --> 00:34:01,877
And when you walked through the doors,

619
00:34:02,044 --> 00:34:05,340
These huge wrought iron doors that would never normally close.

620
00:34:05,711 --> 00:34:07,007
They wouldn't... They would just never close.

621
00:34:07,178 --> 00:34:12,167
Mentally you would hear this knock, you know?

622
00:34:12,345 --> 00:34:15,970
They were coming up behind you. You'll hear... I mean, I did. I did.

623
00:34:16,144 --> 00:34:18,736
The bottom line was, "This is it."

624
00:34:18,912 --> 00:34:21,878
There will be no "you"

625
00:34:22,045 --> 00:34:26,171
until you start getting out of here at some point.

626
00:34:26,346 --> 00:34:29,937
The phone calls you had to make early in the morning with the lab,

627
00:34:30,112 --> 00:34:31,839
or Warner's in London.

628
00:34:32,012 --> 00:34:35,809
Because what you know is that you will be chasing the rest of the day.

629
00:34:35,980 --> 00:34:42,572
The thing is, when I say I worked 14, 15, 16 hours a day, that was on location.

630
00:34:42,746 --> 00:34:45,735
That was at Stanley's house, the place where we worked.

631
00:34:45,913 --> 00:34:49,243
But when I got home, it was all phone work.

632
00:34:49,614 --> 00:34:51,671
Was there a lot of staff on the farm?

633
00:34:51,847 --> 00:34:55,802
No, I was the one who worked, I took care of all the film, video, TV...

634
00:34:56,947 --> 00:34:59,038
Lab work and all that.

635
00:34:59,214 --> 00:35:00,873
You know, what to do with his movies.

636
00:35:01,047 --> 00:35:03,979
And then there was Tony Frewin, who looked after the property,

637
00:35:04,147 --> 00:35:07,136
an intermediary between the writers, between them and Stanley.

638
00:35:07,314 --> 00:35:10,803
And then it was Jan who looked after Stanley's interests.

639
00:35:10,981 --> 00:35:14,106
and legal interest, and that was it.

640
00:35:14,281 --> 00:35:16,338
But did you handle Stanley creatively?

641
00:35:16,715 --> 00:35:19,307
-No, I never handled Stanley. -Actually? Well.

642
00:35:19,681 --> 00:35:21,307
-I never "handled" Stanley. -Well, rephrase it for me.

643
00:35:21,681 --> 00:35:23,704
I managed myself

644
00:35:23,881 --> 00:35:29,143
in order to exist in Stanley's world.

645
00:35:29,315 --> 00:35:31,975
You know, you're there until 3:00 in the morning.

646
00:35:32,148 --> 00:35:33,944
You're just writing these notes.

647
00:35:34,116 --> 00:35:36,308
And that's how I learned so much about color timing.

648
00:35:36,682 --> 00:35:39,876
Because I was with him doing it all those years.

649
00:35:40,049 --> 00:35:40,912
It was years.

650
00:35:41,083 --> 00:35:42,310
Most of your qualifications,

651
00:35:42,682 --> 00:35:45,581
It stopped and continued along the Steenbeck.

652
00:35:45,750 --> 00:35:47,272
He arrived around 11:00.

653
00:35:47,650 --> 00:35:50,013
And León would be there.

654
00:35:50,183 --> 00:35:52,911
So it was a very familiar thing.

655
00:35:53,084 --> 00:35:57,176
These are Stanley's notes, the master's writing.

656
00:35:57,351 --> 00:36:00,783
All damn night doing this. "Very unnatural color. Ryan's hair is not orange."

657
00:36:00,950 --> 00:36:02,677
Fifteen pages of this stuff.

658
00:36:02,850 --> 00:36:04,839
I'm sure your hearts sank

659
00:36:05,017 --> 00:36:07,916
when they arrived in the morning and found this waiting for them.

660
00:36:08,084 --> 00:36:11,915
Warner Bros. went through a time where every fax they sent you had that.

661
00:36:13,185 --> 00:36:15,673
In fact, you started hating Bugs Bunny.

662
00:36:15,851 --> 00:36:17,340
You really did it.

663
00:36:17,718 --> 00:36:21,912
You thought, "Oh, this is another fax of bad news coming in."

664
00:36:22,085 --> 00:36:26,677
This was, uh, 2001, the video, VHS, with the notes that I gave you.

665
00:36:26,852 --> 00:36:29,750
They had not followed my design. I mean, not to the millimeter.

666
00:36:29,919 --> 00:36:31,646
So I had to give them these notes.

667
00:36:31,819 --> 00:36:33,614
I made this one. There it is.

668
00:36:33,785 --> 00:36:37,343
And then you opened it and you had a little booklet.

669
00:36:37,719 --> 00:36:40,117
Everything had to be to the millimeter.

670
00:36:40,286 --> 00:36:41,979
We even got Stanley to sign.

671
00:36:42,152 --> 00:36:44,118
I was using a color copier.

672
00:36:44,286 --> 00:36:47,719
Do you know how slow those things were? It drove you crazy.

673
00:36:47,886 --> 00:36:51,909
It drove you crazy because Stanley wanted everything now.

674
00:36:52,087 --> 00:36:57,713
This was all pre-production of Wartime Lies aka Aryan Papers.

675
00:36:57,886 --> 00:37:00,682
List of hand weapons, small arms, artillery.

676
00:37:00,853 --> 00:37:02,012
Inventory.

677
00:37:02,187 --> 00:37:04,619
Do you know that for each of Stanley's films,

678
00:37:04,787 --> 00:37:07,810
There were about 25 protection tracks.

679
00:37:07,988 --> 00:37:10,613
for each original negative.

680
00:37:10,787 --> 00:37:13,310
There were dozens, and dozens, and dozens, and dozens.

681
00:37:13,687 --> 00:37:17,620
The original negative of Dr. Strangelove disappeared from planet Earth.

682
00:37:17,787 --> 00:37:20,117
-And the only original negative you will see.

683
00:37:20,288 --> 00:37:24,345
It's just a small moment when Mandrake discovers a working radio.

684
00:37:24,722 --> 00:37:28,120
That tells you that there is no nuclear alert.

685
00:37:28,288 --> 00:37:33,017
And so, for ten years I was looking for that one.

686
00:37:33,189 --> 00:37:39,088
That's why we kept a record of every reel of all of Stanley's films.

687
00:37:39,255 --> 00:37:45,155
And if we could take them, store them and archive them ourselves, we did it.

688
00:37:45,322 --> 00:37:46,720
Was that a full-time job in itself?

689
00:37:46,889 --> 00:37:48,718
Well yes. Yes. Yes.

690
00:37:48,889 --> 00:37:51,355
Funnily enough, everything you did was a full-time job.

691
00:37:55,190 --> 00:38:00,054
Leon put together, literally put together different trailers.

692
00:38:00,223 --> 00:38:01,712
for all countries in the world.

693
00:38:01,890 --> 00:38:03,015
They were printed here.

694
00:38:03,190 --> 00:38:06,157
Stanley Kubrick...

695
00:38:06,323 --> 00:38:07,949
They were reviewed by León.

696
00:38:08,124 --> 00:38:09,817
-Hello!

697
00:38:09,991 --> 00:38:11,014
And then they were sent.

698
00:38:12,324 --> 00:38:13,654
He helped small production companies.

699
00:38:13,824 --> 00:38:15,290
He delivered the ads if we needed them.

700
00:38:15,658 --> 00:38:20,886
All the minutiae that led Leon to, you know, catatonic froth,

701
00:38:21,058 --> 00:38:23,819
foam at the mouth hysteria

702
00:38:23,992 --> 00:38:26,890
were the things that other people in our company,

703
00:38:27,058 --> 00:38:29,853
and certainly at other film companies, they hadn't thought about it.

704
00:38:30,758 --> 00:38:32,156
I didn't think about it.

705
00:38:32,325 --> 00:38:37,121
When it came time to release Full Metal Jacket in the UK,

706
00:38:37,292 --> 00:38:40,747
Stanley intuitively

707
00:38:40,926 --> 00:38:46,086
He came to distrust the managing director of Warner Home Video in the United Kingdom,

708
00:38:46,259 --> 00:38:51,282
even sending people across England,

709
00:38:51,660 --> 00:38:56,718
Take pictures of shop windows and displays.

710
00:38:56,893 --> 00:39:00,586
I walked around all these stores and took pictures.

711
00:39:00,760 --> 00:39:02,783
When I told Stanley

712
00:39:02,960 --> 00:39:08,722
"There is not a single piece of advertising in the Warner Home Video building itself,"

713
00:39:10,027 --> 00:39:12,585
You know, he just went crazy.

714
00:39:12,761 --> 00:39:17,750
I felt incredibly responsible for this.

715
00:39:17,928 --> 00:39:21,985
In the end, we fixed the deficiencies.

716
00:39:22,161 --> 00:39:27,287
His attention to perfection could periodically be infuriating.

717
00:39:27,662 --> 00:39:30,628
Well, the reality, these were his works,

718
00:39:30,795 --> 00:39:33,090
and he brought the passion

719
00:39:33,261 --> 00:39:37,853
of an artist who wanted the public to see the films

720
00:39:38,029 --> 00:39:40,291
in the highest quality

721
00:39:40,662 --> 00:39:43,322
and market them properly.

722
00:39:43,695 --> 00:39:47,025
What León provided was that link.

723
00:39:47,196 --> 00:39:51,720
between Stanley and this great giant that was Warner Bros.

724
00:39:51,896 --> 00:39:54,794
Huge, huge, powerful corporation,

725
00:39:54,963 --> 00:39:56,724
more like a dinosaur.

726
00:39:56,896 --> 00:40:01,261
Wonderful mass, powerful body and a tiny brain.

727
00:40:01,630 --> 00:40:04,597
And what Stanley was doing, and he passed through León...

728
00:40:06,130 --> 00:40:08,619
I was getting things changed slightly.

729
00:40:08,797 --> 00:40:12,354
I never heard a word other than "Leon needs it. Let's do it."

730
00:40:12,731 --> 00:40:14,629
If anything ever went wrong, he said,

731
00:40:14,797 --> 00:40:19,957
"It's your responsibility to make sure they understand exactly what you want."

732
00:40:20,131 --> 00:40:25,189
And that might take two, three, four, five, six tries to get it right.

733
00:40:25,365 --> 00:40:29,127
If you felt like you weren't getting any answers,

734
00:40:29,298 --> 00:40:33,856
or people would say, eh, for lack of a better phrase,

735
00:40:34,032 --> 00:40:35,259
teasing me, you know,

736
00:40:35,632 --> 00:40:37,791
saying they are going to send something, but it is never sent.

737
00:40:37,965 --> 00:40:39,590
You have to chase them and chase them.

738
00:40:39,765 --> 00:40:44,164
He said: "Okay, León, tonight you call on the phone and tell them:

739
00:40:44,332 --> 00:40:48,321
"If they talk to you like that, that's how they talk to me."

740
00:40:48,699 --> 00:40:51,131
I really felt like there was a kind of loyalty there.

741
00:40:52,666 --> 00:40:55,064
So sometimes he would come into my office

742
00:40:55,233 --> 00:40:58,290
and there would be a fax from Stanley on my desk

743
00:40:58,666 --> 00:41:02,759
to someone about some heinous crime they had committed.

744
00:41:02,933 --> 00:41:08,628
Except it didn't come from Stanley. I had written my name underneath.

745
00:41:08,800 --> 00:41:11,766
Where I never knew what I was saying to anyone,

746
00:41:11,934 --> 00:41:14,332
Because Stanley said it for me,

747
00:41:14,700 --> 00:41:17,292
using me as a substitute for him.

748
00:41:17,667 --> 00:41:23,066
I never met, with perhaps two exceptions, anyone from the offices here in Los Angeles,

749
00:41:23,234 --> 00:41:24,995
even when he came to England.

750
00:41:25,167 --> 00:41:27,190
Stanley would lock me in a back room.

751
00:41:27,368 --> 00:41:30,062
I think what it was, in a way, this, you know,

752
00:41:30,235 --> 00:41:32,267
Stanley didn't want them to see what I looked like.

753
00:41:32,268 --> 00:41:32,631
Stanley didn't want them to see what I looked like.

754
00:41:32,801 --> 00:41:35,165
Being your spokesperson, for lack of a better word, when I would say:

755
00:41:35,335 --> 00:41:36,891
"We need to do this. You have to do that."

756
00:41:37,068 --> 00:41:38,591
You have to do this. You have to do that."

757
00:41:38,768 --> 00:41:40,598
They probably heard my voice on the phone.

758
00:41:40,769 --> 00:41:43,792
And I thought I was wearing a three-piece suit, six feet tall

759
00:41:43,969 --> 00:41:45,161
and he had tremendous authority.

760
00:41:45,335 --> 00:41:46,824
The assumption that people think,

761
00:41:47,003 --> 00:41:50,060
"Oh, someone is someone's assistant, you're doing designs."

762
00:41:50,236 --> 00:41:52,793
-Mm-hmm. -"You are, you know, you are working with laboratories.

763
00:41:52,969 --> 00:41:54,696
-You are working in restoration. -Mm-hmm.

764
00:41:54,869 --> 00:41:57,960
You're, uh, selecting people. You are working with the actors.

765
00:41:58,136 --> 00:41:59,999
And sometimes I'm acting.

766
00:42:00,169 --> 00:42:02,067
Was that the title you were happy with?

767
00:42:02,236 --> 00:42:03,793
-Or was it that... You never... -It didn't make any difference.

768
00:42:03,970 --> 00:42:05,765
Do you know something? When I traveled abroad,

769
00:42:05,937 --> 00:42:08,630
and I used to have to complete these visas.

770
00:42:08,803 --> 00:42:10,099
They used to say, "Occupation."

771
00:42:10,270 --> 00:42:12,168
And I always used to write "filmmaker."

772
00:42:12,337 --> 00:42:14,303
I mean, I'm a filmmaker.

773
00:42:14,670 --> 00:42:16,829
I am a worker. That's what I do.

774
00:42:17,004 --> 00:42:23,733
So for me assistant is nothing more than helping someone.

775
00:42:23,904 --> 00:42:29,666
to fulfill what they want to upload to a screen.

776
00:42:29,838 --> 00:42:31,997
I was training dialogues and doing casting.

777
00:42:32,171 --> 00:42:34,603
I was also in charge of shipping. Television. Sales.

778
00:42:34,771 --> 00:42:36,670
It was about licenses. Doing layout.

779
00:42:36,839 --> 00:42:39,327
Video transfers. DVD. Laser discs. Inventory.

780
00:42:39,705 --> 00:42:41,694
Timing sheets. Checking all these traces.

781
00:42:41,872 --> 00:42:44,861
The trailer. Translations. All of that works in the moment.

782
00:42:45,039 --> 00:42:48,005
There wasn't a copy or a telecine that I hadn't sat with Stanley,

783
00:42:48,172 --> 00:42:51,729
He made the changes and then talked to the lab about it, for all his films.

784
00:42:51,905 --> 00:42:54,701
At first you think, “Oh!

785
00:42:54,872 --> 00:42:56,202
"My God, Stanley Kubrick."

786
00:42:56,373 --> 00:42:59,635
And then you're like, "Fucking hell, man."

787
00:42:59,806 --> 00:43:01,931
Because they push you to a point where you think:

788
00:43:02,107 --> 00:43:03,663
"I have no more."

789
00:43:03,840 --> 00:43:06,329
You have to understand Stanley Kubrick

790
00:43:06,706 --> 00:43:08,036
before you could even begin to understand...

791
00:43:09,340 --> 00:43:13,705
what León V-Vitali did, does, happened,

792
00:43:13,873 --> 00:43:16,704
what is imprinted on your soul and mind.

793
00:43:16,874 --> 00:43:21,068
Only when you understand that this extraordinary man, a genius,

794
00:43:21,240 --> 00:43:25,969
a nightmare, warm, loving, distant, cold,

795
00:43:26,141 --> 00:43:31,005
Expansive, funny, tremendously intelligent and totally motivated man.

796
00:43:31,174 --> 00:43:33,333
would do to make his films.

797
00:43:33,708 --> 00:43:38,073
Stanley's extraordinary attention to the smallest detail.

798
00:43:38,241 --> 00:43:40,037
it alienated many people from him.

799
00:43:40,209 --> 00:43:42,697
Barry Lyndon's production designer

800
00:43:42,875 --> 00:43:46,239
he was actually kidnapped by men in white coats

801
00:43:46,409 --> 00:43:48,341
because I couldn't stand the pressure.

802
00:43:48,708 --> 00:43:51,607
He could be as charming as he is charming to you.

803
00:43:51,776 --> 00:43:54,037
You know, when you think, "Wow, I'm on top of the world."

804
00:43:54,209 --> 00:43:57,937
He just patted me on the back and seemed very happy about something.

805
00:43:58,110 --> 00:44:01,598
And the next thing is that they can shit on you from a great height.

806
00:44:01,776 --> 00:44:04,970
I was always afraid of him, to be honest. I really was, you know?

807
00:44:05,143 --> 00:44:07,200
Because it was very cold.

808
00:44:07,377 --> 00:44:09,865
It was like talking to God, more or less.

809
00:44:10,043 --> 00:44:14,135
But living in that environment and working in that environment, you know, it was very intense.

810
00:44:14,310 --> 00:44:18,107
And Stanley's intensity is well documented.

811
00:44:18,277 --> 00:44:22,141
So León was the closest anyone could get to that.

812
00:44:22,311 --> 00:44:27,005
If Leon did something that wasn't right, or what...

813
00:44:27,177 --> 00:44:30,200
No one can do everything correctly. I'm sorry.

814
00:44:30,378 --> 00:44:31,776
Especially when you work with Stanley,

815
00:44:31,945 --> 00:44:35,843
because there are... there are so many details and so many things.

816
00:44:36,012 --> 00:44:40,206
It was his nature to always think that you didn't care or that you were going to make a mistake.

817
00:44:40,379 --> 00:44:42,901
that people were not going to be as committed as he was.

818
00:44:43,078 --> 00:44:46,203
In a way, I was always waiting for you to screw up.

819
00:44:46,379 --> 00:44:51,243
So it was always like no matter how much you gave, it was like, “Give more.”

820
00:44:51,412 --> 00:44:54,344
And we had to give more, and more, and more, and more.

821
00:44:54,712 --> 00:44:56,337
And that's why they ate León.

822
00:44:56,712 --> 00:45:01,304
I think we have these ideas about what it would be like to spend all your time

823
00:45:01,679 --> 00:45:03,236
with one of the best film directors in the world.

824
00:45:03,413 --> 00:45:05,935
And then when you really stop to think about it, you think:

825
00:45:06,113 --> 00:45:08,170
"God, that would be hell, actually."

826
00:45:08,346 --> 00:45:11,040
Because you would never have your own life again, you know?

827
00:45:11,213 --> 00:45:14,976
Your entire existence would revolve around this individual.

828
00:45:15,147 --> 00:45:19,102
I would say that outside of the film industry,

829
00:45:19,280 --> 00:45:23,974
Stanley's equivalent would be Gordon Ramsay in one of his,

830
00:45:24,147 --> 00:45:26,306
You know, reality TV shows.

831
00:45:26,681 --> 00:45:28,374
where he says, "Oh, fuck me, fuck me."

832
00:45:28,748 --> 00:45:29,975
Yeah, fucking stupid. Do you know what...?

833
00:45:30,148 --> 00:45:31,306
Look at me, dammit! Look me in the eyes!

834
00:45:31,681 --> 00:45:33,738
You're not as angry as I am! Damn idiot!

835
00:45:33,914 --> 00:45:35,210
I'm not sending that shit!

836
00:45:35,382 --> 00:45:36,677
This is not personal. This is professional!

837
00:45:36,848 --> 00:45:37,836
Sorry, chef.

838
00:45:38,015 --> 00:45:39,140
That was bullshit. Now give it back!

839
00:45:39,315 --> 00:45:40,974
Stanley could be like that.

840
00:45:41,148 --> 00:45:43,307
I mean, if I was angry about something,

841
00:45:43,682 --> 00:45:45,910
You could bet that if there was a glitch...

842
00:45:48,281 --> 00:45:49,338
...you're done.

843
00:45:49,715 --> 00:45:51,806
The worst part of any of those jobs,

844
00:45:51,982 --> 00:45:55,005
It was actually the moment you left the lab.

845
00:45:55,182 --> 00:46:00,774
or whatever facility he had with what he thought he had.

846
00:46:02,216 --> 00:46:04,705
And you had to have many alternatives.

847
00:46:04,883 --> 00:46:08,145
And the whole trip back was, you know, really, uh,

848
00:46:08,316 --> 00:46:10,748
"Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God. You might not like this.

849
00:46:10,916 --> 00:46:12,779
"You may not like this."

850
00:46:12,950 --> 00:46:13,711
-I mean-- -Stress?

851
00:46:13,883 --> 00:46:15,042
That... Oh, yeah.

852
00:46:15,217 --> 00:46:19,206
They made a print of 70 thousand from the year 2001.

853
00:46:19,384 --> 00:46:23,874
And they sent us this copy that was about ten points too green.

854
00:46:24,050 --> 00:46:26,209
I had to review every frame.

855
00:46:26,384 --> 00:46:29,782
The smallest frame here is Stanley's 35mm print,

856
00:46:29,951 --> 00:46:32,383
Color synchronized to your specifications.

857
00:46:32,751 --> 00:46:35,115
But you can see that they are very different.

858
00:46:35,284 --> 00:46:39,080
And when Stanley saw him, he was just... crazy.

859
00:46:39,251 --> 00:46:41,342
I think that's the word to describe it.

860
00:46:41,718 --> 00:46:46,048
Oh, I saw it and I was like, "There's no way I'm approving this."

861
00:46:46,219 --> 00:46:48,776
What a big difference there is.

862
00:46:48,952 --> 00:46:52,282
And how could anyone not see that?

863
00:46:52,652 --> 00:46:56,050
That's where I felt a lot of empathy for Stanley.

864
00:46:56,219 --> 00:47:00,618
But I also think he got a little bit of that,

865
00:47:00,786 --> 00:47:05,946
because his temper was so vitriolic, so sarcastic and so harsh.

866
00:47:06,120 --> 00:47:11,018
It took a little courage to tell the truth about any situation.

867
00:47:11,186 --> 00:47:13,152
If when we looked at the reeds,

868
00:47:13,320 --> 00:47:18,218
I couldn't help but say, "I don't think that seems quite right."

869
00:47:19,687 --> 00:47:22,847
Because if I didn't say it,

870
00:47:23,021 --> 00:47:25,214
I would say later,

871
00:47:25,387 --> 00:47:28,354
"Why didn't you say something?"

872
00:47:28,720 --> 00:47:33,846
♪ Happy Birthday Dear Jesus ♪

873
00:47:34,021 --> 00:47:36,010
♪ Happy birthday... ♪

874
00:47:36,187 --> 00:47:40,279
It was Christmas Eve and suddenly I was the only person left in the editing room.

875
00:47:40,655 --> 00:47:42,712
And by noon everyone was pissed off.

876
00:47:42,888 --> 00:47:44,717
And I had to show Stanley these rushes.

877
00:47:44,888 --> 00:47:48,252
And he got in a bad mood.

878
00:47:48,422 --> 00:47:50,717
And every time I told Stanley,

879
00:47:50,888 --> 00:47:53,377
"There are flashes in this or that shot," he said, "I like flashes."

880
00:47:53,756 --> 00:47:56,017
So I never bothered to mention it.

881
00:47:56,188 --> 00:47:59,382
We were watching the reeds and he saw this flare.

882
00:48:01,856 --> 00:48:04,345
And I said, "Well, yeah, but you've always said you like sparkles."

883
00:48:04,722 --> 00:48:07,688
And he gave me such a fight. It was incredible.

884
00:48:07,856 --> 00:48:09,822
I mean, he was just yelling at me.

885
00:48:09,989 --> 00:48:12,717
And as soon as he finished, he said, "I guess you want to go home now."

886
00:48:12,890 --> 00:48:14,185
I have some gifts for you. Come."

887
00:48:14,356 --> 00:48:16,914
And so he walked down the hallway.

888
00:48:17,090 --> 00:48:20,920
And outside his office was this box with many gifts inside.

889
00:48:21,090 --> 00:48:23,352
He said, "Then take it and Merry Christmas."

890
00:48:23,723 --> 00:48:25,349
You think, "I can't believe this.

891
00:48:25,723 --> 00:48:28,281
Well, this will be the end. "He'll leave me alone now."

892
00:48:28,658 --> 00:48:31,180
Until 1:00 p.m. on Christmas Day.

893
00:48:31,357 --> 00:48:33,983
And that's when I started getting bombarded with phone calls.

894
00:48:34,157 --> 00:48:37,022
Uh, "What's going on with this? What's going on with that? Where are we now?"

895
00:48:37,191 --> 00:48:39,884
And I thought you ended the conversation. You put down the phone.

896
00:48:40,058 --> 00:48:42,149
And nine, ten minutes later, it would ring.

897
00:48:42,325 --> 00:48:44,348
"What's going on with that? And what's going on with this?"

898
00:48:44,724 --> 00:48:46,815
And have you looked at that? And you have done this?"

899
00:48:46,991 --> 00:48:48,218
It just went on and on.

900
00:48:48,392 --> 00:48:49,948
Oh, what am I doing?

901
00:48:50,125 --> 00:48:52,284
When you work as Stanley Kubrick's assistant,

902
00:48:52,659 --> 00:48:56,682
General factotum, it is not very difficult to lose your temper.

903
00:48:56,859 --> 00:48:58,291
It-it's easy.

904
00:48:58,659 --> 00:49:01,682
You have to have the patience of a tribe full of Jobs.

905
00:49:01,859 --> 00:49:04,791
listen to that kind of stuff every day and take it

906
00:49:04,959 --> 00:49:06,925
and understand where it came from.

907
00:49:07,092 --> 00:49:09,786
I guess I didn't feel like I needed anymore.

908
00:49:09,960 --> 00:49:15,256
Be very careful with me and my sensitivities.

909
00:49:15,426 --> 00:49:17,892
It became, right, you're here to do this.

910
00:49:18,060 --> 00:49:19,616
and you have to do it.

911
00:49:19,793 --> 00:49:23,624
Any type of error or mistake could be exploited

912
00:49:23,793 --> 00:49:27,123
And you absolutely might feel crucified at the end.

913
00:49:27,293 --> 00:49:27,494
There were times when he was a complete asshole.

914
00:49:27,495 --> 00:49:30,017
There were times when he was a complete asshole.

915
00:49:30,193 --> 00:49:32,216
And I didn't understand it,

916
00:49:32,394 --> 00:49:37,259
or I made a serious error in judgment or something.

917
00:49:37,428 --> 00:49:39,257
No matter how much Stanley yelled at him

918
00:49:39,428 --> 00:49:41,723
and say, "León, what are you doing?"

919
00:49:41,894 --> 00:49:45,657
"Oh, God, yes, Stanley. Yes, Stanley. Okay, Stanley, but listen."

920
00:49:45,828 --> 00:49:47,953
Always keeping the tone low.

921
00:49:48,128 --> 00:49:51,253
It was... How many years were you together?

922
00:49:51,428 --> 00:49:54,986
I think the only reason this could have continued for so long

923
00:49:55,162 --> 00:49:57,253
It was out of deep loyalty.

924
00:49:57,429 --> 00:50:02,259
That Stanley understood that Leon was someone who had his back, who would protect him.

925
00:50:02,429 --> 00:50:06,122
The few things Leon has shared with me that are dearest to him,

926
00:50:06,295 --> 00:50:10,387
standing on the porch of his house smoking cigarettes and urinating on the porch.

927
00:50:10,763 --> 00:50:13,991
I don't think Jack Nicholson ever peed on the porch with Stanley Kubrick.

928
00:50:14,163 --> 00:50:18,959
I think they had a unique, rarely found relationship.

929
00:50:19,130 --> 00:50:21,925
And they had this level of trust in each other.

930
00:50:22,096 --> 00:50:23,926
Leon was like part of Stanley.

931
00:50:24,096 --> 00:50:27,358
There was an understanding between them, a tacit understanding.

932
00:50:27,730 --> 00:50:29,923
These are statements I wrote.

933
00:50:30,097 --> 00:50:35,291
about the proportions that Stanley had wanted his films to have.

934
00:50:35,664 --> 00:50:37,221
And I had them notarized.

935
00:50:37,398 --> 00:50:40,989
Barry Lyndon, that's been a point of contention all along.

936
00:50:41,164 --> 00:50:43,926
And I went through a day of hell

937
00:50:44,097 --> 00:50:46,222
where I had all these people saying,

938
00:50:46,398 --> 00:50:50,024
"It was never 1.77. It never was."

939
00:50:50,198 --> 00:50:53,721
I mean, it's really funny, isn't it, that he worked with Stanley all those years,

940
00:50:53,898 --> 00:50:55,194
working on prints.

941
00:50:55,365 --> 00:50:58,888
We had a special aperture plate that we put on the projector,

942
00:50:59,065 --> 00:51:00,326
and it was 1.77.

943
00:51:00,699 --> 00:51:02,756
You know, I mean, pshh.

944
00:51:02,932 --> 00:51:04,955
A little like room 237, you know,

945
00:51:05,133 --> 00:51:09,293
where people had their own ideas about what the movie was about and blah, blah, blah.

946
00:51:09,666 --> 00:51:13,689
And, you know, a photo of an alpine skier was not a photo of an alpine skier.

947
00:51:13,866 --> 00:51:17,321
It was an image of Satan and you could see his tail behind him.

948
00:51:17,700 --> 00:51:21,359
You know, when I look at the full moon, I don't see a man on the moon.

949
00:51:21,733 --> 00:51:26,257
If you look to the side, I can see a French poodle sitting.

950
00:51:26,433 --> 00:51:29,797
I don't think there's a French poodle sitting on the moon.

951
00:51:29,967 --> 00:51:31,796
I'll have to turn to Leon and I'll have to tell him:

952
00:51:31,967 --> 00:51:35,024
"Leon, uh, was Stanley involved in the Apollo landings?"

953
00:51:35,200 --> 00:51:38,064
No.

954
00:51:39,868 --> 00:51:41,299
Task lists.

955
00:51:41,668 --> 00:51:45,192
"Finish cleaning the projection room." About half a day.

956
00:51:45,367 --> 00:51:51,164
"Go through my filing cabinets and reorganize them." About a day.

957
00:51:51,335 --> 00:51:53,892
"Clean out the old library.

958
00:51:54,068 --> 00:51:56,398
Finish the inventory of the long garage.

959
00:51:56,769 --> 00:52:00,132
Finish inventory in long positions.” Approximately half a day.

960
00:52:00,301 --> 00:52:05,291
And the stable was a row of buildings 50 meters long.

961
00:52:05,669 --> 00:52:08,999
where everything was pushed,

962
00:52:09,169 --> 00:52:10,930
and I had to solve it.

963
00:52:11,102 --> 00:52:15,000
"Dear Stanley, this is now complete regarding the stable block."

964
00:52:15,169 --> 00:52:16,100
Was he happy?

965
00:52:16,269 --> 00:52:17,997
He didn't even come to see him.

966
00:52:18,169 --> 00:52:22,034
"Leon, how could you get the couch so dirty?"

967
00:52:22,203 --> 00:52:26,135
Well, it was the dog hair of the dogs.

968
00:52:26,303 --> 00:52:29,098
who he let lie on the couch

969
00:52:29,270 --> 00:52:32,703
On Sunday afternoon I was watching the cinema.

970
00:52:32,870 --> 00:52:36,963
My appreciation for genius would probably end

971
00:52:37,137 --> 00:52:39,865
when the genie told me to clean a room for him.

972
00:52:40,038 --> 00:52:42,401
I would do anything for the boy.

973
00:52:42,771 --> 00:52:44,169
and I wouldn't do it.

974
00:52:44,338 --> 00:52:47,099
I, when it became physically difficult,

975
00:52:47,271 --> 00:52:49,760
I'm here to tell you that I would probably say:

976
00:52:49,937 --> 00:52:53,199
"Thank you very much. You are a genius. Leave me alone now"

977
00:52:53,371 --> 00:52:56,997
Among my other tasks is the cat enclosure.

978
00:52:57,171 --> 00:52:59,195
How we kept cats safe.

979
00:52:59,371 --> 00:53:04,736
Stanley, my God. He never thought that animals had cunning.

980
00:53:04,905 --> 00:53:10,338
And then when one of them was dying, it became a very, very important problem.

981
00:53:10,706 --> 00:53:14,934
There was a beautiful cat, you know, 16 years old, named Jessica.

982
00:53:15,106 --> 00:53:17,663
He had a seizure and couldn't move.

983
00:53:17,839 --> 00:53:21,135
I set up a full video system in the house.

984
00:53:21,306 --> 00:53:24,897
so that there was a monitor in each room

985
00:53:25,073 --> 00:53:30,768
where Jessica could be seen lying there at any time of the day or night.

986
00:53:30,940 --> 00:53:34,337
He just became obsessive. I just didn't want to let her go.

987
00:53:34,707 --> 00:53:36,673
And in the end we called the vet.

988
00:53:36,840 --> 00:53:40,863
And they gave him the injection he should have received weeks earlier.

989
00:53:41,041 --> 00:53:44,132
-Put her to sleep. -Everything was a tragedy for him.

990
00:53:44,307 --> 00:53:49,365
If a dog was dying, there was nothing but this dying dog.

991
00:53:49,741 --> 00:53:52,935
And I understand it. Nothing was done.

992
00:53:53,108 --> 00:53:56,870
I had to get on with the job so that when I got back to it,

993
00:53:57,042 --> 00:53:59,304
You might say, "This is where we are."

994
00:53:59,675 --> 00:54:04,233
León is fascinated, he is curious and he is there.

995
00:54:04,409 --> 00:54:07,000
Someone who is a Shakespeare trained actor.

996
00:54:07,175 --> 00:54:09,005
Someone you can explain three point lighting to.

997
00:54:09,175 --> 00:54:10,835
and they understand it.

998
00:54:11,009 --> 00:54:14,305
Then you find someone you can tell about the bathrooms in the labs.

999
00:54:14,676 --> 00:54:15,642
and they remember it.

1000
00:54:15,809 --> 00:54:17,139
And you have found gold.

1001
00:54:17,309 --> 00:54:19,002
And that person is so in love with you,

1002
00:54:19,176 --> 00:54:20,971
and they don't want to leave your existence.

1003
00:54:21,143 --> 00:54:23,109
That kind of thing is irreplaceable.

1004
00:54:23,276 --> 00:54:26,674
And if Leon had ever really seriously tried to take a breakup,

1005
00:54:26,843 --> 00:54:30,105
You know, because of the hills, I think he would have been prevented from doing so.

1006
00:54:30,276 --> 00:54:33,072
He walked into my office and said:

1007
00:54:33,244 --> 00:54:37,642
"Leon, I just thought. You're not going to work for Warner Bros., are you?"

1008
00:54:37,810 --> 00:54:40,776
He was wearing a navy jacket.

1009
00:54:40,943 --> 00:54:44,876
My hair didn't look like it had been combed in a week.

1010
00:54:45,044 --> 00:54:47,806
I just said, "Stanley, do I look corporate?"

1011
00:54:47,978 --> 00:54:51,341
He smiled, then laughed, and then left.

1012
00:54:51,711 --> 00:54:57,008
And then there was never any discussion about me leaving or him getting rid of me again.

1013
00:54:57,178 --> 00:54:59,406
When someone told Stanley, and they did it,

1014
00:54:59,778 --> 00:55:01,642
"I would give my right arm to work for you"

1015
00:55:01,812 --> 00:55:03,778
he kind of smile.

1016
00:55:03,945 --> 00:55:07,206
Because I actually think, you know, he thought,

1017
00:55:07,378 --> 00:55:09,310
"Well, why are you looking down on me?

1018
00:55:09,679 --> 00:55:13,634
What, just a right arm? How about the left one and the legs?

1019
00:55:13,812 --> 00:55:17,267
And the body and the heart and everything?"

1020
00:55:17,446 --> 00:55:20,674
If you said, "I'm committed,"

1021
00:55:20,846 --> 00:55:23,243
You better make sure you're serious.

1022
00:55:23,413 --> 00:55:26,641
Otherwise, why would you bother?

1023
00:55:26,813 --> 00:55:29,973
Because in the end you will betray yourself anyway.

1024
00:55:30,147 --> 00:55:32,977
If you're not going to give everything you've got...

1025
00:55:34,313 --> 00:55:37,302
to what you're doing, because he did it.

1026
00:55:37,681 --> 00:55:40,704
He gave everything he had to what he was doing.

1027
00:55:40,881 --> 00:55:42,642
And that is the most important thing.

1028
00:55:42,814 --> 00:55:45,302
And that's what I saw, that's what I understood,

1029
00:55:45,681 --> 00:55:47,909
And that's what I reacted to.

1030
00:55:49,981 --> 00:55:53,379
Friends, family, etc., did everyone understand that?

1031
00:55:53,747 --> 00:55:55,373
I don't think so.

1032
00:55:55,748 --> 00:55:57,213
And why is that?

1033
00:55:57,381 --> 00:56:01,211
Because Stanley ate you.

1034
00:56:01,381 --> 00:56:03,404
You are in this strange world.

1035
00:56:03,782 --> 00:56:06,976
And Stanley Kubrick's world was probably stranger than most.

1036
00:56:07,149 --> 00:56:10,411
It was obviously someone who was so soaked

1037
00:56:10,782 --> 00:56:13,715
in the day-to-day minutiae of his own films.

1038
00:56:13,882 --> 00:56:17,781
I wanted to do everything. And much of that work remained in León's hands.

1039
00:56:17,949 --> 00:56:20,380
And León really became his arms and legs.

1040
00:56:20,749 --> 00:56:23,045
And I think it probably came at a pretty serious cost.

1041
00:56:23,216 --> 00:56:25,374
He wouldn't admit it.

1042
00:56:25,749 --> 00:56:29,273
I probably wouldn't say it out loud. But I will do it.

1043
00:56:29,450 --> 00:56:35,280
León gave a large part of his family life to the cause. Did I need the job?

1044
00:56:35,450 --> 00:56:39,076
No, I could have worked, continued working, as I said, as a very good actor.

1045
00:56:39,250 --> 00:56:43,081
Stanley said: "You either care or you don't.

1046
00:56:43,251 --> 00:56:46,046
There's no gray area in between."

1047
00:56:46,217 --> 00:56:49,842
So caring meant giving all the time you had,

1048
00:56:50,017 --> 00:56:52,415
until you were literally too tired to continue.

1049
00:56:52,785 --> 00:56:54,341
How was Stanley with you?

1050
00:56:54,718 --> 00:56:55,809
Stanley? Yes.

1051
00:56:55,985 --> 00:56:57,143
Hey, he was...

1052
00:56:58,317 --> 00:57:00,181
mmm, it was lovely.

1053
00:57:00,351 --> 00:57:04,079
He was always very sweet to me and Max.

1054
00:57:04,252 --> 00:57:06,979
But I always found him quite charming.

1055
00:57:07,152 --> 00:57:08,845
Probably because I didn't work for him.

1056
00:57:09,018 --> 00:57:11,882
If they had a good day, then it was a good day for me.

1057
00:57:12,052 --> 00:57:15,143
If it was a bad day for Stanley, it became a bad day for León.

1058
00:57:15,318 --> 00:57:17,307
and that would be a bad day for me.

1059
00:57:19,419 --> 00:57:21,385
Very good. Well done.

1060
00:57:21,752 --> 00:57:26,014
Of course, I see a person who demanded a lot from León.

1061
00:57:26,186 --> 00:57:29,118
and made Leon's life difficult perhaps to balance it out.

1062
00:57:29,286 --> 00:57:31,252
And he would be working, working, working, working, working.

1063
00:57:31,420 --> 00:57:33,852
And working constantly. Not a break.

1064
00:57:34,020 --> 00:57:36,043
And that would take all his time.

1065
00:57:36,219 --> 00:57:38,651
Then Vera and I would do other things.

1066
00:57:38,820 --> 00:57:40,184
He would just be talking on the phone.

1067
00:57:40,354 --> 00:57:44,218
or through the photocopier, without stopping, without stopping, without stopping. And smoke.

1068
00:57:44,387 --> 00:57:49,410
And a cigarette and a cup of tea and being totally at work.

1069
00:57:49,788 --> 00:57:52,754
- I guess it was a bit Kafkaesque.

1070
00:57:52,921 --> 00:57:55,682
There were always tons of things to do that would never go away.

1071
00:57:55,854 --> 00:57:58,286
Lots of film reels to check out.

1072
00:57:58,454 --> 00:58:02,910
All video club stands, and all dubbing, translations and subtitles.

1073
00:58:03,088 --> 00:58:05,418
Lots of signs to check color temperature,

1074
00:58:05,788 --> 00:58:09,414
or stacks of VHS to check out the Hungarian dubbing.

1075
00:58:09,789 --> 00:58:12,254
Or whatever. Phew.

1076
00:58:12,422 --> 00:58:15,718
In fact, I get tired just thinking about those things.

1077
00:58:15,889 --> 00:58:19,844
On a professional level, León never relaxed.

1078
00:58:20,022 --> 00:58:24,352
I know there were periods when he stayed dressed and slept on the mat.

1079
00:58:24,723 --> 00:58:27,018
so you can wake up two hours later and go back to work.

1080
00:58:27,189 --> 00:58:29,781
Never be comfortable, because then you might fall asleep.

1081
00:58:29,956 --> 00:58:32,183
When you work for someone who is such a perfectionist,

1082
00:58:32,356 --> 00:58:35,084
You just go on and on and on and on,

1083
00:58:35,257 --> 00:58:37,280
I think, until you literally fall.

1084
00:58:37,456 --> 00:58:41,048
And I think there have been times when there came a point where León literally fell.

1085
00:58:41,223 --> 00:58:42,779
Because he feels like he is bigger than him.

1086
00:58:42,956 --> 00:58:45,320
So he will keep going until he achieves it.

1087
00:58:45,691 --> 00:58:48,282
something close to incredibly beautiful or perfect.

1088
00:58:48,457 --> 00:58:50,117
It's something that continues to drive you.

1089
00:58:50,290 --> 00:58:52,256
That you need to have it again. It's almost like a drug.

1090
00:58:52,424 --> 00:58:56,118
Nothing mattered to him as much as the work he had been doing.

1091
00:58:56,291 --> 00:58:58,382
Because that overshadowed everything.

1092
00:58:58,757 --> 00:59:01,121
It would be difficult to have just one discussion, let's say.

1093
00:59:01,291 --> 00:59:05,724
Try to communicate, but there is still someone...

1094
00:59:07,091 --> 00:59:09,058
somewhere else in your mind.

1095
00:59:09,224 --> 00:59:13,680
I remember feeling jealous that he always had energy for other people.

1096
00:59:13,858 --> 00:59:17,347
Being a kid and seeing that doesn't... I don't understand it.

1097
00:59:17,725 --> 00:59:19,351
Nobody works 24 hours a day,

1098
00:59:19,725 --> 00:59:24,886
but if anyone could or wanted to, León's work practically encompassed that.

1099
00:59:25,059 --> 00:59:27,787
And it was certainly available seven days a week.

1100
00:59:27,959 --> 00:59:29,788
There was one day, I remember,

1101
00:59:29,959 --> 00:59:33,891
When Stanley decided that we were going to change the Full Metal Jacket campaign,

1102
00:59:34,060 --> 00:59:38,890
and León had to go frame by frame of a 35 millimeter film

1103
00:59:39,060 --> 00:59:44,083
to achieve the right framing that reflected the nuance Stanley was looking for.

1104
00:59:44,260 --> 00:59:47,249
And that day, León felt absolute pain.

1105
00:59:47,427 --> 00:59:49,359
He had an abscess in his tooth.

1106
00:59:49,727 --> 00:59:54,217
And he was taking a swig from a bottle of, uh, whiskey to...

1107
00:59:54,394 --> 00:59:58,156
hoping that the whiskey would dull the pain.

1108
00:59:58,327 --> 01:00:00,088
León had a lot of knowledge,

1109
01:00:00,261 --> 01:00:03,352
not only about cinema, but also about literature and all that.

1110
01:00:03,728 --> 01:00:06,092
And at the same time it was a workhorse.

1111
01:00:06,261 --> 01:00:07,727
Hey, he'd do anything.

1112
01:00:07,895 --> 01:00:09,918
I mean, he'll carry logs for you.

1113
01:00:10,095 --> 01:00:14,255
When you work with these types of directors,

1114
01:00:14,429 --> 01:00:18,088
It's like you're sharing your blood with them,

1115
01:00:18,262 --> 01:00:19,853
if you are inside.

1116
01:00:20,028 --> 01:00:22,085
I think it could be like a drug.

1117
01:00:22,262 --> 01:00:24,728
Film workers are slightly different from other people.

1118
01:00:24,896 --> 01:00:26,418
And that also applies to theater workers.

1119
01:00:26,796 --> 01:00:28,853
They are generally there for love.

1120
01:00:29,029 --> 01:00:31,325
They work worse hours. They are usually not at home.

1121
01:00:31,696 --> 01:00:33,219
And they do all this

1122
01:00:33,396 --> 01:00:37,987
with a fantastic ability to create a functional social unit

1123
01:00:38,163 --> 01:00:41,220
that's extremely intimate in a matter of hours.

1124
01:00:41,396 --> 01:00:45,261
I remember arriving at night and meeting the negative development team.

1125
01:00:45,430 --> 01:00:48,828
Beautiful negative. There is no light in the room.

1126
01:00:48,997 --> 01:00:51,020
Everything you do is by sensation and touch.

1127
01:00:51,197 --> 01:00:53,390
Once, there was a breakup with a developer,

1128
01:00:53,764 --> 01:00:56,889
and a guy basically wrapped himself in a movie

1129
01:00:57,064 --> 01:01:01,190
so you can stop it and quickly put it back into solution to save the film.

1130
01:01:01,364 --> 01:01:04,297
I mean, this industry has been built on people like that.

1131
01:01:04,464 --> 01:01:08,022
And you're not just doing it at this level. You're doing it at this level.

1132
01:01:08,198 --> 01:01:10,664
You're doing it... You're at the tip of the spear.

1133
01:01:10,831 --> 01:01:16,662
That is an absolutely intoxicating and addictive environment.

1134
01:01:16,832 --> 01:01:19,229
I have no obsession with creativity.

1135
01:01:19,398 --> 01:01:22,024
It is simply a necessary requirement.

1136
01:01:22,199 --> 01:01:25,165
Or you love it so much that you can't help it,

1137
01:01:25,332 --> 01:01:29,128
either you're a fucking idiot, or you're a mix of both.

1138
01:01:29,299 --> 01:01:31,765
Are you also obsessed with creativity?

1139
01:01:31,932 --> 01:01:34,057
I don't know, I don't think about that. I am creative.

1140
01:01:34,232 --> 01:01:36,425
I, uh... work a lot.

1141
01:01:36,800 --> 01:01:38,412
And when I'm not working, I'm cooking.

1142
01:01:38,413 --> 01:01:42,955
And when I'm not cooking, I'm fucking. It's all creative work.

1143
01:01:43,133 --> 01:01:47,293
I worked as an assistant to a very, very good Swedish director.

1144
01:01:47,467 --> 01:01:49,330
at the Royal Dramatic Theater for several years.

1145
01:01:49,701 --> 01:01:51,724
I played small roles in his works.

1146
01:01:51,900 --> 01:01:55,993
And I helped and I did... and I did a lot of assistant work. And I loved it.

1147
01:01:56,167 --> 01:01:59,100
And after a while, you feel what he feels.

1148
01:01:59,268 --> 01:02:01,756
You think like he thinks.

1149
01:02:01,934 --> 01:02:06,424
And you learn to see what's happening with their eyes.

1150
01:02:06,801 --> 01:02:10,199
And that's a fantastic revelation as an assistant.

1151
01:02:14,069 --> 01:02:17,865
This was a vicarious experience.

1152
01:02:18,035 --> 01:02:23,161
I'm experiencing something through someone else's genius or whatever.

1153
01:02:23,335 --> 01:02:25,926
You follow it and work with it.

1154
01:02:26,102 --> 01:02:29,694
And then you learn from it. And you master it.

1155
01:02:29,869 --> 01:02:34,733
And then Stanley would suddenly say, "I changed my mind. You're starting all over again."

1156
01:02:34,903 --> 01:02:36,664
What difference does it make to me?

1157
01:02:36,836 --> 01:02:40,893
I am at his service, because he is at the service of his film.

1158
01:02:42,136 --> 01:02:46,000
And the thing was, I wanted to--

1159
01:02:46,170 --> 01:02:52,001
I wanted to be with Stanley, work with Stanley.

1160
01:02:52,170 --> 01:02:55,295
Do all those things. I just wanted to.

1161
01:02:55,470 --> 01:03:00,096
He was the most brilliant fantasy filmmaker of the 20th century.

1162
01:03:00,271 --> 01:03:03,294
And how honored I felt

1163
01:03:03,471 --> 01:03:08,062
Being able to work for him, hmm, for all those years?

1164
01:03:08,237 --> 01:03:11,000
I've noticed it for a long time, since I was very young,

1165
01:03:12,172 --> 01:03:14,933
that how—what kind of impact Stanley had on him.

1166
01:03:15,105 --> 01:03:18,299
How important that was, although I didn't always like it.

1167
01:03:18,472 --> 01:03:23,200
But I always knew that was his, you know, that's what he needed too.

1168
01:03:25,038 --> 01:03:26,800
My dad, who I loved...

1169
01:03:27,972 --> 01:03:29,938
I loved him--

1170
01:03:30,106 --> 01:03:33,731
He would sit at the piano and sing "La Mer" to me.

1171
01:03:33,906 --> 01:03:36,429
It was just wonderful to be there, and he would be playing,

1172
01:03:36,806 --> 01:03:38,432
and he looked at me while I sang it.

1173
01:03:38,806 --> 01:03:40,999
You felt like, "Oh, this is just for me."

1174
01:03:41,173 --> 01:03:42,833
And whether I understood it or not,

1175
01:03:43,006 --> 01:03:48,166
That song permeated me so deeply for many years.

1176
01:03:48,339 --> 01:03:52,669
that really became, and still is,

1177
01:03:52,840 --> 01:03:57,296
One of those beautiful songs that I can listen to over and over again.

1178
01:04:00,240 --> 01:04:04,263
During World War I, when my father was a child living in Belgium,

1179
01:04:04,441 --> 01:04:07,771
The Germans had arrived at his house.

1180
01:04:07,941 --> 01:04:10,338
There were only him and his mother.

1181
01:04:10,708 --> 01:04:14,868
And his father was part of the Resistance to the German invasion,

1182
01:04:15,041 --> 01:04:16,870
and they had come to look for him.

1183
01:04:17,041 --> 01:04:21,440
And his mother couldn't or wouldn't say what she knew about where he was.

1184
01:04:21,809 --> 01:04:24,900
They took her out to the patio and shot her.

1185
01:04:25,076 --> 01:04:28,337
and I made my father observe the incident.

1186
01:04:28,709 --> 01:04:33,165
He was a very, very volatile person for the rest of his life.

1187
01:04:33,342 --> 01:04:34,932
What was home like?

1188
01:04:35,109 --> 01:04:37,836
Sometimes it can be explosive.

1189
01:04:38,009 --> 01:04:39,908
-It's tense, I think... -Yes.

1190
01:04:40,076 --> 01:04:42,736
-...that's how I remember it. -Yeah. I am, uh--

1191
01:04:42,910 --> 01:04:44,307
-What, when dad was alive? -Hmm.

1192
01:04:44,476 --> 01:04:45,373
- Yes. - Oh yes.

1193
01:04:45,743 --> 01:04:47,834
You had to do the bare minimum.

1194
01:04:48,010 --> 01:04:50,238
to get it to change its type.

1195
01:04:50,410 --> 01:04:56,309
I think we just tried not to put ourselves in a position that would attract criticism.

1196
01:04:56,477 --> 01:04:59,443
I think that's really what we're trying to do.

1197
01:04:59,811 --> 01:05:04,334
Keep your head down and stay out of the way?

1198
01:05:04,711 --> 01:05:06,143
He died when I was eight years old.

1199
01:05:06,311 --> 01:05:09,765
I remember it was a beautiful summer morning.

1200
01:05:09,944 --> 01:05:15,309
And what made me funny, my mother and my older brother were painting the hallway.

1201
01:05:18,144 --> 01:05:20,804
And before I could say anything else, she simply shushed me.

1202
01:05:20,978 --> 01:05:22,705
And I looked at his face,

1203
01:05:22,878 --> 01:05:28,674
and I had never seen such a peaceful face in my life.

1204
01:05:28,845 --> 01:05:32,777
And she said, "Go to your room and sit quietly and think."

1205
01:05:32,945 --> 01:05:36,742
Of course I was thinking, "Well, we'll never go to the movies with him again."

1206
01:05:36,913 --> 01:05:41,005
"We will never go to the candy store with him on a Sunday morning again."

1207
01:05:41,180 --> 01:05:45,703
And then you also thought, "Well, he'll never slap me again."

1208
01:05:45,879 --> 01:05:49,675
And I won't have to watch him try to kill my big brother again."

1209
01:05:49,846 --> 01:05:53,335
And while I was thinking about all these things, all I could hear were these brushes moving...

1210
01:05:58,280 --> 01:06:01,838
Little by little, we rebuild our lives.

1211
01:06:02,014 --> 01:06:05,003
But, of course, we were in charge of the school,

1212
01:06:05,181 --> 01:06:08,806
so it meant we had a job to do every night.

1213
01:06:08,980 --> 01:06:13,072
When it came to Stanley, you see, I kind of understood it.

1214
01:06:13,247 --> 01:06:17,078
I just understood from my experience with my dad,

1215
01:06:17,247 --> 01:06:19,237
you take a step back

1216
01:06:19,414 --> 01:06:23,813
so you wouldn't be abused.

1217
01:06:23,981 --> 01:06:28,004
You just backed away and didn't confront, didn't challenge.

1218
01:06:28,182 --> 01:06:33,114
You just let them out of whatever it was

1219
01:06:33,282 --> 01:06:35,010
they had a problem with.

1220
01:06:35,182 --> 01:06:38,444
I think that's why I bless Stanley more than anything else.

1221
01:06:38,816 --> 01:06:42,805
Did he help me understand who I am?

1222
01:06:42,982 --> 01:06:46,437
The thing about Stanley was that you worked for him.

1223
01:06:46,816 --> 01:06:50,715
but you also worked with him and he gave you that freedom.

1224
01:06:50,883 --> 01:06:53,008
It's no longer about what I want to be.

1225
01:06:53,183 --> 01:06:56,308
It's about how I am.

1226
01:06:56,483 --> 01:06:59,211
You know, the head of Warner Bros. once told me during a visit to London:

1227
01:06:59,384 --> 01:07:01,213
Shortly before Stanley died, you know, he said,

1228
01:07:01,384 --> 01:07:05,441
"It's amazing how low their production costs are."

1229
01:07:05,817 --> 01:07:07,976
And I said, "Well, it's because, frankly, he does everything."

1230
01:07:08,150 --> 01:07:10,446
This is Stanley Kubrick, and he...

1231
01:07:10,818 --> 01:07:13,147
The only thing he doesn't do is act."

1232
01:07:13,317 --> 01:07:15,045
In fact, he performed once.

1233
01:07:15,218 --> 01:07:19,082
He once did a performance for León.

1234
01:07:19,251 --> 01:07:23,115
Good night. I'm sorry I can't be with you tonight

1235
01:07:23,285 --> 01:07:25,717
to receive this great honor.

1236
01:07:25,884 --> 01:07:29,146
People came and prepared the cue card. I had the camera.

1237
01:07:29,318 --> 01:07:34,876
So, as usual, the guys who put up the cue cards were going to be there operating.

1238
01:07:35,052 --> 01:07:39,882
And Stanley said, "Uh, no, no, no. And, um, uh, could you... could you go?"

1239
01:07:40,052 --> 01:07:42,280
So at the end I was operating the camera.

1240
01:07:42,453 --> 01:07:45,817
and having to operate the reference card at the same time.

1241
01:07:45,985 --> 01:07:50,043
And we did it again, and it was, "Leon, you're moving the cue card too fast."

1242
01:07:50,219 --> 01:07:52,811
Or "Leon, you're moving it too slow."

1243
01:07:52,986 --> 01:07:57,078
When he finished, he started walking backwards.

1244
01:07:59,220 --> 01:08:02,913
And I said, "Why are you doing that?"

1245
01:08:03,087 --> 01:08:06,815
And he said, "Well, you know, like finishing it, you know."

1246
01:08:06,987 --> 01:08:08,919
And I said, "I think it would be better, really,

1247
01:08:09,088 --> 01:08:13,452
if i just put a big fade in the camera

1248
01:08:13,821 --> 01:08:16,185
so that you were no longer there.

1249
01:08:16,354 --> 01:08:17,944
We just went to black, you know?"

1250
01:08:18,121 --> 01:08:20,679
It was quite torturous for him.

1251
01:08:20,854 --> 01:08:24,981
I had the feeling that everything around Leon and Stanley

1252
01:08:25,154 --> 01:08:30,416
It was a studio for, um, film.

1253
01:08:30,788 --> 01:08:35,118
Ups and downs, small details, big things.

1254
01:08:35,289 --> 01:08:40,688
It was like coming to a creative workshop, a very creative environment.

1255
01:08:42,889 --> 01:08:45,753
- So, León, yes? - Mm-hmm?

1256
01:08:45,923 --> 01:08:47,718
Uh, we, have we been recording this?

1257
01:08:47,889 --> 01:08:49,219
You've been talking, yes.

1258
01:08:49,389 --> 01:08:51,719
Do you have more wigs? Yes.

1259
01:08:51,889 --> 01:08:54,082
- Let's try something. - Okay, okay.

1260
01:08:54,256 --> 01:08:56,813
It looks like you've lost weight anyway.

1261
01:08:56,989 --> 01:08:58,921
They asked me to come to London.

1262
01:08:59,090 --> 01:09:02,022
It was just Stanley, Leon and I in the room.

1263
01:09:02,190 --> 01:09:05,315
-A little depressed perhaps. - Look at me.

1264
01:09:05,490 --> 01:09:08,923
Oh. Just stand with your legs a little straighter, yeah.

1265
01:09:09,091 --> 01:09:10,216
With, uh--

1266
01:09:10,391 --> 01:09:12,323
Any way you want. But not like you were, no.

1267
01:09:12,491 --> 01:09:14,081
Just, uh, moving... Whatever.

1268
01:09:14,257 --> 01:09:15,348
Whatever you feel comfortable with.

1269
01:09:15,725 --> 01:09:17,748
Oh, I feel very uncomfortable.

1270
01:09:20,024 --> 01:09:22,320
You haven't been a model from what I see, huh?

1271
01:09:22,491 --> 01:09:25,423
-No. No.

1272
01:09:25,791 --> 01:09:27,757
Oh, these are from Eyes Wide Shut.

1273
01:09:27,925 --> 01:09:33,381
You know, when I was playing Red Cloak for a little makeup touch-up.

1274
01:09:33,758 --> 01:09:38,157
I never understood it though, since he wore a mask the whole time. I never-

1275
01:09:38,325 --> 01:09:41,087
What was the feeling when he called you to be an MC or...?

1276
01:09:41,258 --> 01:09:43,088
Oh well, embarrassed.

1277
01:09:43,258 --> 01:09:47,089
Because I was actually doing a screen test for the MC.

1278
01:09:47,259 --> 01:09:50,191
And I had seen around 30, 35 actors.

1279
01:09:50,359 --> 01:09:53,382
And I'm auditioning, he was a very well-known actor,

1280
01:09:53,760 --> 01:09:56,817
and suddenly this phone call came, so I picked up the phone.

1281
01:09:56,992 --> 01:10:00,356
And he said, "León, I just decided. You're going to play it."

1282
01:10:00,727 --> 01:10:02,091
And hangs up the phone. That was it.

1283
01:10:02,259 --> 01:10:05,317
Can I give me the password please?

1284
01:10:05,493 --> 01:10:08,755
I just felt like I could take advantage of it in every take.

1285
01:10:08,927 --> 01:10:12,916
And you weren't afraid to go too far or cross the line.

1286
01:10:13,094 --> 01:10:15,856
You could go on and on,

1287
01:10:16,027 --> 01:10:19,119
just like when I was working on Barry Lyndon.

1288
01:10:19,294 --> 01:10:22,920
This is what we had to do every day. They were the lighting plans.

1289
01:10:23,095 --> 01:10:26,891
So we went together every night at like 1:00 am.

1290
01:10:27,061 --> 01:10:30,357
And we would take the readings of the lights.

1291
01:10:30,729 --> 01:10:34,752
And then I had to fax the DOP.

1292
01:10:34,929 --> 01:10:37,986
with a plan drawn for each light.

1293
01:10:38,161 --> 01:10:41,151
But isn't that what the cinematographer is supposed to do?

1294
01:10:41,328 --> 01:10:45,818
Yes. But you know, Stanley never trusted anyone.

1295
01:10:45,995 --> 01:10:47,893
He just didn't do it.

1296
01:10:48,062 --> 01:10:53,757
It must have been very difficult for people who are serious professionals.

1297
01:10:53,930 --> 01:10:58,022
go through that kind of,

1298
01:10:58,197 --> 01:11:02,289
I don't know, exam, for lack of a better word.

1299
01:11:02,463 --> 01:11:04,293
But did you have a specific look you wanted?

1300
01:11:04,464 --> 01:11:07,827
Yes, he did. And he wanted to keep it once he found it.

1301
01:11:07,996 --> 01:11:10,394
One day, León called me aside and said:

1302
01:11:10,764 --> 01:11:13,229
"You know, Stanley really only watched your tape."

1303
01:11:13,397 --> 01:11:15,920
And I was like, "Oh, thanks, Leon. That's really cool."

1304
01:11:16,098 --> 01:11:18,825
He said, “No, really, yours is the only tape I played.

1305
01:11:18,997 --> 01:11:22,225
So, you know, Stanley looked at him and said, 'Cool, yeah.' Let's have it.

1306
01:11:22,398 --> 01:11:25,795
So let yourself know, you know, you were great that day, and that's why I hired you.

1307
01:11:25,964 --> 01:11:27,862
and I'm so happy you're a part of it."

1308
01:11:28,031 --> 01:11:30,122
And I was like, "Oh, Leon, thanks, man. This really...

1309
01:11:30,298 --> 01:11:33,787
Wow, that's a lot of, um, high praise coming from you and...

1310
01:11:33,965 --> 01:11:36,726
León was always working, never sleeping.

1311
01:11:36,898 --> 01:11:39,023
I don't know when he slept at all.

1312
01:11:39,199 --> 01:11:43,461
In the Masquerade Ball scene, I play eight different people, including the Red Cloak.

1313
01:11:43,832 --> 01:11:46,731
You know, we'd finish a take and Stanley would say:

1314
01:11:46,898 --> 01:11:51,888
"León, go down and look for the photo we took about two weeks ago."

1315
01:11:52,066 --> 01:11:57,930
She was on these six-inch-high platforms in this ballgown.

1316
01:11:58,100 --> 01:12:00,225
I would have to run down this corridor,

1317
01:12:00,400 --> 01:12:02,457
Because it had to be "Now, now"

1318
01:12:02,833 --> 01:12:06,993
And then I'd have to dig through all those boards and put it on a Steenbeck.

1319
01:12:07,166 --> 01:12:08,894
And he came down and we looked at him.

1320
01:12:09,066 --> 01:12:10,930
And he'd say, "Great. Now, go back up there."

1321
01:12:11,101 --> 01:12:13,033
Then I'd be running back to the set.

1322
01:12:13,201 --> 01:12:15,064
And then we were up and running again.

1323
01:12:16,000 --> 01:12:19,795
You know, that's what Stanley came to look like.

1324
01:12:19,967 --> 01:12:22,399
And you could see he was a little tired.

1325
01:12:22,768 --> 01:12:26,461
I mean, some people have said, cruelly, that they thought he had lost control,

1326
01:12:26,835 --> 01:12:29,767
but I can tell you that you were there with him every day, that was the last thing.

1327
01:12:29,935 --> 01:12:34,867
He and I and Margaret Adams, who was his coordinator,

1328
01:12:35,035 --> 01:12:36,898
We were the last people to leave the studio.

1329
01:12:37,068 --> 01:12:38,931
And it would be 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning.

1330
01:12:39,102 --> 01:12:41,000
But it was a ritual we always had.

1331
01:12:41,168 --> 01:12:44,191
When it was over and everyone left the studio,

1332
01:12:44,368 --> 01:12:47,357
He would come to my office and say, "Let's talk."

1333
01:12:47,736 --> 01:12:52,691
And then we would talk about everything that had gone well that day.

1334
01:12:52,869 --> 01:12:54,698
Who made an effort and who didn't.

1335
01:12:54,869 --> 01:12:57,892
We were always looking at footage that was filmed yesterday.

1336
01:12:58,069 --> 01:13:00,058
or the day before or whatever.

1337
01:13:00,236 --> 01:13:02,293
We were shooting and at the same time,

1338
01:13:02,470 --> 01:13:05,028
The Venice Film Festival had announced

1339
01:13:05,203 --> 01:13:10,465
who were going to honor the filmmaker Stanley Kubrick.

1340
01:13:10,837 --> 01:13:13,303
But they needed copies of all their films.

1341
01:13:13,471 --> 01:13:17,130
So I had to get them out of the lab.

1342
01:13:17,304 --> 01:13:19,963
And at the same time--

1343
01:13:20,137 --> 01:13:23,934
We were making a new internegative of A Clockwork Orange.

1344
01:13:24,104 --> 01:13:28,162
And at the same time, I was doing dialogue training, casting, and God knows what.

1345
01:13:28,337 --> 01:13:30,462
And I thought I was going to explode.

1346
01:13:30,838 --> 01:13:35,827
I was getting more and more tired.

1347
01:13:36,004 --> 01:13:40,993
You know, there were some days when we were driving home from this place in Norfolk.

1348
01:13:41,171 --> 01:13:43,467
And when he got out of the car, you thought:

1349
01:13:43,839 --> 01:13:47,101
You won't even find your way to the front door.

1350
01:13:47,272 --> 01:13:49,135
But we're parked right in front.

1351
01:13:49,306 --> 01:13:52,431
If he bent down to the ground to pick something up,

1352
01:13:52,805 --> 01:13:55,930
Then I had to bend down and pick up Stanley.

1353
01:13:56,106 --> 01:14:01,266
I think last week was totally exhausting for him.

1354
01:14:01,439 --> 01:14:01,606
One Saturday afternoon I went down to the supermarket.

1355
01:14:01,607 --> 01:14:05,004
One Saturday afternoon I went down to the supermarket.

1356
01:14:05,173 --> 01:14:09,867
My phone rang and I answered.

1357
01:14:10,040 --> 01:14:13,131
And it was Stanley. And there we--

1358
01:14:15,040 --> 01:14:18,131
I was standing leaning against my car,

1359
01:14:18,307 --> 01:14:20,865
and we talked for two and a half hours.

1360
01:14:21,041 --> 01:14:25,769
It was disturbing simply because it was the same kind of gentleness.

1361
01:14:25,941 --> 01:14:31,067
from the first day I met him when he said to me: "Hello León. I'm Stanley."

1362
01:14:31,241 --> 01:14:35,298
Everything was rational, measured and gentle.

1363
01:14:35,475 --> 01:14:38,964
More relaxed than I had been for quite some time,

1364
01:14:39,141 --> 01:14:42,108
because you are in the middle of this chaos.

1365
01:14:42,274 --> 01:14:46,264
Mmm, but it was. Was.

1366
01:14:46,442 --> 01:14:49,374
That was the last contact I had with him.

1367
01:14:49,742 --> 01:14:52,038
And then, of course,

1368
01:14:52,209 --> 01:14:56,198
Early Sunday morning, that's when he died, you know?

1369
01:14:58,110 --> 01:15:02,804
They told me it looked as if it had been

1370
01:15:02,976 --> 01:15:06,806
trying to reach an oxygen bottle...

1371
01:15:08,043 --> 01:15:10,100
that he had in his bedroom.

1372
01:15:10,276 --> 01:15:12,765
Stanley Kubrick has died at the age of 70.

1373
01:15:12,943 --> 01:15:15,171
one of the greatest and most controversial masters of cinema.

1374
01:15:15,343 --> 01:15:16,900
Director Stanley Kubrick

1375
01:15:17,077 --> 01:15:20,440
one of the most important and controversial figures in cinema, died today.

1376
01:15:20,810 --> 01:15:26,141
Kubrick was revered by his peers for films such as 2001: A Space Odyssey and A Clockwork Orange.

1377
01:15:26,311 --> 01:15:30,368
He had just finished what would be his last film, Eyes Wide Shut.

1378
01:15:34,411 --> 01:15:37,309
The studio was... was in shock for a while.

1379
01:15:37,478 --> 01:15:40,104
And because Stanley,

1380
01:15:40,278 --> 01:15:44,370
when I was making the film and preparing it for delivery as a finished work,

1381
01:15:44,745 --> 01:15:46,870
as a finished film to the studio,

1382
01:15:47,045 --> 01:15:50,739
that part was now missing.

1383
01:15:50,912 --> 01:15:56,140
Then there was León Vitali, who was the key factor in all this.

1384
01:15:56,312 --> 01:15:58,369
I had gone through the process of making the film.

1385
01:15:58,746 --> 01:16:02,735
Leon Vitali was probably the most important person

1386
01:16:02,912 --> 01:16:05,901
of what I call the Kubrick stable.

1387
01:16:06,079 --> 01:16:09,204
I have to tell you. It was a very moving scene at the Dorset Hotel.

1388
01:16:09,379 --> 01:16:13,142
There was León, with his eyes red with tears,

1389
01:16:13,313 --> 01:16:16,871
but decided, in front of the president of the company's board of directors,

1390
01:16:17,047 --> 01:16:18,377
the technical chief of Warner Bros.,

1391
01:16:18,747 --> 01:16:20,236
Stanley Kubrick's brother-in-law

1392
01:16:20,414 --> 01:16:23,244
He decided that he was going to do everything he could.

1393
01:16:23,414 --> 01:16:27,039
finish Eyes Wide Shut the way Stanley would have wanted.

1394
01:16:27,214 --> 01:16:28,874
And that's the biggest compliment I can give.

1395
01:16:29,047 --> 01:16:34,844
Because that does not speak of personal congratulations but of a commitment.

1396
01:16:35,014 --> 01:16:38,878
The person you had this relationship with for 30 years,

1397
01:16:39,048 --> 01:16:41,446
Every day, you sacrificed your life.

1398
01:16:41,814 --> 01:16:46,440
They're gone and now it's up to you to do this last part of their job.

1399
01:16:46,815 --> 01:16:50,111
And then you have a bunch of other people who don't respect you.

1400
01:16:50,281 --> 01:16:52,804
and treat you like shit for it.

1401
01:16:52,982 --> 01:16:55,005
It was bad. It was a bad moment.

1402
01:16:55,182 --> 01:17:00,842
It was easier to work and live by those standards and that code.

1403
01:17:01,015 --> 01:17:06,038
I think that as an assistant it was more difficult to demand the same.

1404
01:17:06,216 --> 01:17:08,080
- Was it easy? - No.

1405
01:17:08,249 --> 01:17:10,909
While he was alive, we fought the battles.

1406
01:17:11,083 --> 01:17:13,106
Of course I did, but he was there.

1407
01:17:13,283 --> 01:17:16,340
And everything revolved around him.

1408
01:17:18,417 --> 01:17:23,076
Now it was about what everyone thought...

1409
01:17:24,317 --> 01:17:26,249
I was ready.

1410
01:17:26,417 --> 01:17:29,747
I mean, there were people who would just come out of the woodwork, being so obstructive,

1411
01:17:29,917 --> 01:17:32,349
like everyone wants to be them

1412
01:17:32,517 --> 01:17:36,314
that now they were going to tell us how things were going to be done.

1413
01:17:36,485 --> 01:17:40,417
And then, by posting that photo in my office, I could just look at it.

1414
01:17:40,785 --> 01:17:43,148
And I thought, well, no, that's why you're doing it.

1415
01:17:43,318 --> 01:17:48,013
Everything in this image doesn't even describe the rest.

1416
01:17:48,185 --> 01:17:50,344
Because at that moment,

1417
01:17:50,518 --> 01:17:56,247
I was also reviewing every transfer from every country in the world.

1418
01:17:56,419 --> 01:18:00,476
One in every five copies that were shown in theaters in the United States

1419
01:18:00,853 --> 01:18:03,284
It was checked from the first reel to the last.

1420
01:18:03,452 --> 01:18:07,407
I think about 2,500 copies arrived in the United States.

1421
01:18:07,786 --> 01:18:08,979
So how did you collapse?

1422
01:18:09,153 --> 01:18:10,880
I'm going to tell you this.

1423
01:18:11,053 --> 01:18:16,350
And it's not to make me a hero or anything like that.

1424
01:18:16,520 --> 01:18:20,782
I did two 36 hour sessions

1425
01:18:20,954 --> 01:18:23,385
in a projection room of the laboratory.

1426
01:18:23,754 --> 01:18:27,846
And I had to make a call every now and then to say:

1427
01:18:28,020 --> 01:18:31,453
"Could someone come here and watch the print?"

1428
01:18:31,820 --> 01:18:37,378
Because I had to run out and throw up, I was so sick.

1429
01:18:37,755 --> 01:18:39,084
I was so sick.

1430
01:18:39,254 --> 01:18:42,220
Our work days were anything, 15, 18 hours.

1431
01:18:42,387 --> 01:18:45,149
León worked 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

1432
01:18:45,322 --> 01:18:46,947
I don't think I want to talk about this.

1433
01:18:47,122 --> 01:18:49,315
I don't know when he ever slept.

1434
01:18:49,489 --> 01:18:52,114
They had released a DVD set,

1435
01:18:52,288 --> 01:18:56,846
because they had done a lot of publicity coinciding with the release of Eyes Wide Shut.

1436
01:18:57,021 --> 01:18:58,351
It was a bit of a disaster.

1437
01:18:58,522 --> 01:19:01,386
There was so much angry reaction,

1438
01:19:01,756 --> 01:19:05,984
How could you do this to the master's work?

1439
01:19:06,156 --> 01:19:09,054
When you do that, it's not just a matter of sticking a piece of film on a machine,

1440
01:19:09,223 --> 01:19:10,450
and comes out in a new format.

1441
01:19:10,822 --> 01:19:12,220
You have to do everything again.

1442
01:19:12,389 --> 01:19:15,253
And you have to have people like León who knew the movies inside out.

1443
01:19:15,423 --> 01:19:19,822
I authorized the cost to be incurred.

1444
01:19:19,990 --> 01:19:22,820
for perfect mastering and digitization.

1445
01:19:22,990 --> 01:19:25,785
Remastered again

1446
01:19:25,957 --> 01:19:31,720
and in a higher quality format than what was available on VHS.

1447
01:19:31,890 --> 01:19:35,482
Surely, there was only one man who could have spearheaded that restoration effort.

1448
01:19:35,858 --> 01:19:37,414
and that was Leon.

1449
01:19:37,791 --> 01:19:42,247
Someone like León, who had that wonderful understanding of the production process.

1450
01:19:42,424 --> 01:19:46,754
and the distribution process, which is a fairly rare animal.

1451
01:19:46,924 --> 01:19:50,448
You learn film by working with it and printing it, you know?

1452
01:19:50,825 --> 01:19:55,223
And if you've been printing it for 15 years, you know... You know the negative.

1453
01:19:55,391 --> 01:19:57,085
And I didn't do it.

1454
01:19:57,258 --> 01:19:58,884
It was that discouraging.

1455
01:19:59,059 --> 01:20:02,184
He was trained in how to know what he was supposed to sound like,

1456
01:20:02,359 --> 01:20:04,154
know what to do with the clues,

1457
01:20:04,326 --> 01:20:06,757
knowing what it was supposed to look like and knowing how to handle negatives.

1458
01:20:06,925 --> 01:20:09,016
And he was the only person who knew.

1459
01:20:09,192 --> 01:20:14,318
The last part of his job was to basically preserve everything.

1460
01:20:14,493 --> 01:20:18,755
Making sure it was in good order, making sure everything was stored safely on the shelves.

1461
01:20:18,926 --> 01:20:22,154
So he packed his bags and came to the United States.

1462
01:20:22,327 --> 01:20:25,384
Someone has to be the standard bearer for that thought process.

1463
01:20:25,760 --> 01:20:27,317
And this is where León comes in.

1464
01:20:27,494 --> 01:20:32,791
León was tasked with this type of herculean effort to advance the ball,

1465
01:20:32,961 --> 01:20:36,484
and then get all the criticism from people who thought this shouldn't be done at all.

1466
01:20:36,861 --> 01:20:41,226
And León was the person who was left standing there when all the knives came out.

1467
01:20:41,394 --> 01:20:44,019
And I know it took a lot of shit.

1468
01:20:44,194 --> 01:20:47,422
for what Stanley had done to people for many, many years.

1469
01:20:47,795 --> 01:20:49,260
Because Stanley wasn't around anymore.

1470
01:20:49,428 --> 01:20:53,054
And it was the gang of Kubrick, Chris Young and Jan, the Warner Bros. people.

1471
01:20:53,228 --> 01:20:57,389
They were known for being tough and not taking nonsense from anyone.

1472
01:20:57,762 --> 01:21:00,456
and do what they wanted to do because they had this guy who had proven it.

1473
01:21:00,828 --> 01:21:03,851
He was unique. So Warners wasn't going to say no.

1474
01:21:04,028 --> 01:21:05,722
The critics weren't going to say yes.

1475
01:21:05,895 --> 01:21:07,919
And León was trapped in this position in the middle.

1476
01:21:08,095 --> 01:21:10,960
of having to be the guy who had to address all the parties.

1477
01:21:11,130 --> 01:21:12,493
When I'm working on a movie,

1478
01:21:12,863 --> 01:21:16,421
I need to learn the film's production history, the archaeology.

1479
01:21:16,796 --> 01:21:18,353
And you have to know how it was done.

1480
01:21:18,530 --> 01:21:21,394
And when you have it, the film speaks to you.

1481
01:21:21,763 --> 01:21:25,196
Just to recreate what Stanley had originally done.

1482
01:21:25,363 --> 01:21:29,159
It took two to three years of research and searching for teachers

1483
01:21:29,330 --> 01:21:31,387
and go and prove that that was exactly what it was.

1484
01:21:31,764 --> 01:21:33,230
And then you could start doing your job.

1485
01:21:33,396 --> 01:21:36,488
Barry Lyndon, that's a lot of very, very, very far shots.

1486
01:21:36,864 --> 01:21:39,728
And many times it is outside. They are often landscaped exteriors.

1487
01:21:39,897 --> 01:21:43,295
Leon always knew how brilliant he was supposed to be,

1488
01:21:43,464 --> 01:21:46,022
how contrasty it was supposed to be, how rich or how dense.

1489
01:21:46,197 --> 01:21:49,823
And, working with him, you realize that his skills are enormous.

1490
01:21:49,998 --> 01:21:53,862
And then you finish it and realize it's actually not finished at all.

1491
01:21:54,031 --> 01:21:56,997
because León then had the task of moving to Warner Bros.,

1492
01:21:57,165 --> 01:21:59,222
where he was the only person left,

1493
01:21:59,398 --> 01:22:01,989
and fighting for another transfer to be made,

1494
01:22:02,165 --> 01:22:04,461
or something that must be maintained in a certain way.

1495
01:22:04,832 --> 01:22:06,457
Suddenly, it's Leon against the world.

1496
01:22:06,832 --> 01:22:08,354
And they were just crushing it,

1497
01:22:08,532 --> 01:22:12,021
because Warners had radiated goodwill far beyond what anyone would have done

1498
01:22:12,199 --> 01:22:13,495
when going through the process.

1499
01:22:13,866 --> 01:22:17,992
You know, I have people who call me and say:

1500
01:22:18,166 --> 01:22:22,292
"You know what they say about you right now is that you're looking for trouble."

1501
01:22:22,466 --> 01:22:25,024
No, we are not looking for problems.

1502
01:22:25,199 --> 01:22:27,256
We were never looking for problems.

1503
01:22:27,433 --> 01:22:31,389
But if there were problems, they must be pointed out.

1504
01:22:31,767 --> 01:22:33,290
You have to.

1505
01:22:33,467 --> 01:22:38,990
You know, I mean, in all honor, you have to say, "This is not right."

1506
01:22:39,167 --> 01:22:42,793
So he began to lose more and more weight and become sicker and sicker.

1507
01:22:42,968 --> 01:22:45,433
He looked very haggard, a little scared.

1508
01:22:45,801 --> 01:22:49,029
At one point I weighed 65 pounds.

1509
01:22:49,201 --> 01:22:53,099
That was when I wasn't feeling very well, and that was my statement.

1510
01:22:53,268 --> 01:22:56,859
"I'm León Vitali. I'm healing."

1511
01:22:57,034 --> 01:22:59,500
He was always present at work, one hundred percent, more.

1512
01:22:59,869 --> 01:23:02,733
But, you know, everyone says he's like a cockroach.

1513
01:23:02,902 --> 01:23:06,834
It's not a good term, but there's nothing stopping it. Just keep going.

1514
01:23:07,002 --> 01:23:11,025
In the end, they gave away his office and gave him a desk in the Warner Bros. hallway.

1515
01:23:11,202 --> 01:23:13,031
And he was sitting there alone,

1516
01:23:13,202 --> 01:23:16,168
I kept going through all the files, making sure everything was done.

1517
01:23:16,336 --> 01:23:19,302
And if someone wanted to screen 2001, they had to be there.

1518
01:23:19,469 --> 01:23:23,333
No one else was going to follow through with the manic level of detail.

1519
01:23:23,503 --> 01:23:25,935
that only Stanley or only León could have done it.

1520
01:23:26,103 --> 01:23:27,898
And it shows in the work.

1521
01:23:28,070 --> 01:23:31,264
It's this body of work that exists today that would never have existed.

1522
01:23:31,437 --> 01:23:35,392
Because León took the sweat of all those years with Stanley.

1523
01:23:35,771 --> 01:23:39,033
León corrected every mistake made.

1524
01:23:39,203 --> 01:23:41,999
It basically preserved the process.

1525
01:23:42,171 --> 01:23:45,433
so that future generations can see Stanley's work,

1526
01:23:45,804 --> 01:23:48,168
They will see it just as the master made them.

1527
01:23:48,338 --> 01:23:52,828
That will always be Leon's mark on Stanley Kubrick's legacy.

1528
01:24:00,872 --> 01:24:03,463
Well, right now in Los Angeles, California, there is an exhibition.

1529
01:24:03,838 --> 01:24:05,963
You could say that director Stanley Kubrick made...

1530
01:24:06,139 --> 01:24:08,367
And then the exhibition arises.

1531
01:24:08,539 --> 01:24:10,767
And there's this grand opening and a world tour.

1532
01:24:10,938 --> 01:24:13,234
And León is not really part of it.

1533
01:24:13,405 --> 01:24:15,200
It felt like Leon was really fired.

1534
01:24:15,372 --> 01:24:19,998
All these Stanley experts talking about Stanley and what he was like.

1535
01:24:20,173 --> 01:24:23,866
Here is this person still standing in the corner, as he always would be,

1536
01:24:24,039 --> 01:24:27,335
who has worked with him from acting, from cinematography, everything.

1537
01:24:27,507 --> 01:24:29,803
And meanwhile, it was as if León did not exist.

1538
01:24:29,973 --> 01:24:31,803
I guess the opening, I guess, or the presentation,

1539
01:24:31,973 --> 01:24:33,735
were you part of that?

1540
01:24:33,907 --> 01:24:37,498
Do you mean in some sort of official capacity?

1541
01:24:37,874 --> 01:24:39,170
Not at all. Yes.

1542
01:24:39,341 --> 01:24:42,205
The big royal gala... Gala, mm.

1543
01:24:42,374 --> 01:24:44,272
...where people came and talked about Stanley.

1544
01:24:44,441 --> 01:24:46,906
Oh no no. Um, no, I didn't go to that.

1545
01:24:47,074 --> 01:24:49,302
-Didn't you go to that? -No, I didn't go to that.

1546
01:24:49,474 --> 01:24:52,338
Was that your choice or you just weren't invited, or...

1547
01:24:52,508 --> 01:24:55,031
Um, no, he just didn't invite me, so...

1548
01:24:55,207 --> 01:24:58,038
León had every right to say: "That exhibition sucks,

1549
01:24:58,208 --> 01:25:00,901
and I don't want anything to do with it."

1550
01:25:01,075 --> 01:25:04,371
Quite the opposite. He said, "Do you want to go? I'll take you."

1551
01:25:04,542 --> 01:25:09,099
When another friend of mine wanted to go, León said, "I'll be happy to take you again."

1552
01:25:14,842 --> 01:25:19,138
Walking through these worlds with a guy who knows them intimately is simply amazing.

1553
01:25:19,309 --> 01:25:21,138
And he is very generous about it.

1554
01:25:21,309 --> 01:25:26,139
When I asked Leon to take a group of high school film and visual arts students,

1555
01:25:26,309 --> 01:25:27,968
He said yes like that.

1556
01:25:28,143 --> 01:25:31,405
I was shocked. It was so amazing.

1557
01:25:31,777 --> 01:25:34,800
It lifted his spirits to be able to share.

1558
01:25:34,977 --> 01:25:37,499
I remember a recent Academy meeting.

1559
01:25:37,877 --> 01:25:42,503
And they were talking about people they needed to have an oral history with.

1560
01:25:42,877 --> 01:25:46,833
I told him: "I don't understand why they haven't done an oral history about León Vitali."

1561
01:25:47,010 --> 01:25:49,875
And I said, "You should have done this a long time ago."

1562
01:25:50,044 --> 01:25:53,306
when you were preparing the Stanley Kubrick exhibition.

1563
01:25:53,477 --> 01:25:57,001
I found out that it was 25 or 30 times with people.

1564
01:25:57,178 --> 01:26:00,303
as favors to people, just to give them that same gift.

1565
01:26:00,478 --> 01:26:04,035
There was a kind of emotional attachment to a lot of that material.

1566
01:26:04,211 --> 01:26:08,110
In fact, you might say, "Well, remember when I was doing that, working on that."

1567
01:26:08,278 --> 01:26:10,471
There was a story about almost everything.

1568
01:26:10,845 --> 01:26:13,936
I spent hours just looking at the lenses.

1569
01:26:14,112 --> 01:26:18,340
This time I felt more like I was saying goodbye to him than when he died.

1570
01:26:21,412 --> 01:26:23,503
You know, some places are like people.

1571
01:26:25,013 --> 01:26:27,808
Some shine and some don't.

1572
01:26:29,113 --> 01:26:30,942
Is there something wrong here?

1573
01:26:31,113 --> 01:26:36,341
And for León, not only did he have to face life without his mentor,

1574
01:26:36,514 --> 01:26:41,969
He also moved to Los Angeles, initially to work for the property in restoration.

1575
01:26:42,147 --> 01:26:44,409
He then made the decision to stay in Los Angeles.

1576
01:26:44,781 --> 01:26:48,372
And suddenly he discovered that the doors do not open easily.

1577
01:26:48,547 --> 01:26:51,275
- Do you understand? Stay out.

1578
01:26:51,447 --> 01:26:54,107
I had to help him financially for a while.

1579
01:26:54,281 --> 01:26:58,737
Um, I guess that's a little sad.

1580
01:26:58,914 --> 01:27:00,881
because he has worked a lot.

1581
01:27:01,047 --> 01:27:03,377
You would hope that...

1582
01:27:03,548 --> 01:27:09,243
that you'd have enough to survive the fairly simple lifestyle he leads, you know?

1583
01:27:09,414 --> 01:27:11,347
Good. Finally, the last three. We're going well.

1584
01:27:11,516 --> 01:27:13,072
I think the last two were better than the previous ones.

1585
01:27:13,249 --> 01:27:15,374
Stanley had an amazing vital energy.

1586
01:27:15,549 --> 01:27:19,379
He was licensed to enter any area on the operations side.

1587
01:27:19,549 --> 01:27:23,811
But of course you can't do that here because it's so demarcated.

1588
01:27:26,449 --> 01:27:28,813
Are you still working for Stanley?

1589
01:27:28,983 --> 01:27:30,472
Of course.

1590
01:27:30,849 --> 01:27:32,838
So this is all voluntary at that point?

1591
01:27:33,016 --> 01:27:34,914
This is because I love Stanley.

1592
01:27:35,083 --> 01:27:38,072
That's why I do it. Because I love him.

1593
01:27:38,250 --> 01:27:39,773
They don't even pay you?

1594
01:27:39,950 --> 01:27:41,472
No. And then?

1595
01:27:41,850 --> 01:27:46,078
León is one person among many who are like him in the business.

1596
01:27:46,251 --> 01:27:48,183
I think it's an extraordinary example of that.

1597
01:27:48,351 --> 01:27:51,340
And I think he represents the best of that group of people.

1598
01:27:51,518 --> 01:27:54,416
that they are not recognized for doing what they are doing.

1599
01:27:54,785 --> 01:27:58,013
You give your assistant a gift at Christmas and that is their recognition.

1600
01:27:58,184 --> 01:28:01,344
But that person was crushing you for 25 years.

1601
01:28:01,518 --> 01:28:05,212
How do you recognize them in a way that celebrates what they've done?

1602
01:28:05,385 --> 01:28:07,748
Cinema is something fascinating.

1603
01:28:07,918 --> 01:28:09,781
It requires tireless effort.

1604
01:28:09,951 --> 01:28:13,940
It is a moving train of people getting on and off a process,

1605
01:28:14,118 --> 01:28:18,244
but having the train with enough fuel to continue reaching the destination.

1606
01:28:18,418 --> 01:28:21,316
It is a very special world. It's like the circus.

1607
01:28:21,485 --> 01:28:25,747
Whatever those worlds are, they have an attraction that goes beyond

1608
01:28:25,919 --> 01:28:28,885
how creative your own work is, that you are part of it.

1609
01:28:29,052 --> 01:28:32,143
What skin color did you have, what sexual preferences did you have,

1610
01:28:32,319 --> 01:28:37,115
It's always been a go-to place as long as it works socially.

1611
01:28:37,286 --> 01:28:38,377
Alright, back up, guys.

1612
01:28:38,553 --> 01:28:41,417
Anyone who is self-obsessed or in a bad mood.

1613
01:28:41,787 --> 01:28:45,049
You won't survive in the business unless you're an actor.

1614
01:28:45,220 --> 01:28:47,379
And stay there now. We're ready... getting ready to shoot.

1615
01:28:47,554 --> 01:28:49,815
-Are you OK?

1616
01:28:51,154 --> 01:28:54,348
León spent years of his life,

1617
01:28:54,521 --> 01:28:57,976
almost went into an early grave

1618
01:28:58,155 --> 01:29:02,247
because the impressions had to be the best possible.

1619
01:29:02,421 --> 01:29:06,080
All those other people, if you delete one person,

1620
01:29:06,255 --> 01:29:08,244
There would be something missing from that movie.

1621
01:29:08,421 --> 01:29:11,387
This is like a whole group of Lions.

1622
01:29:11,555 --> 01:29:14,419
All these people below the line

1623
01:29:14,789 --> 01:29:17,880
They are the ones who lift people above the line.

1624
01:29:19,922 --> 01:29:23,286
It was surprising that Leon could stay here.

1625
01:29:23,456 --> 01:29:26,217
and stay with him--with him-- with the teacher, as we called him.

1626
01:29:26,389 --> 01:29:31,083
And they were inseparable for... for a long time.

1627
01:29:31,256 --> 01:29:34,188
I've been dreaming about him more and more.

1628
01:29:34,356 --> 01:29:37,516
It's always in a house I have.

1629
01:29:37,890 --> 01:29:43,084
And it's always full of people, most of whom I don't know.

1630
01:29:43,257 --> 01:29:46,155
And we are starting a film production.

1631
01:29:46,323 --> 01:29:52,813
And it's like there's no kind of feeling that we need to communicate at all.

1632
01:29:52,991 --> 01:29:57,889
It's just looking at each other and nodding our heads and saying, "That's it."

1633
01:30:02,525 --> 01:30:05,286
If you remember your life when you were a child,

1634
01:30:05,458 --> 01:30:09,050
and you had aspirations, and you had ambitions,

1635
01:30:09,224 --> 01:30:12,384
but they never worked the way you thought.

1636
01:30:12,558 --> 01:30:17,355
So there are many things that can make you extremely frustrated and extremely angry.

1637
01:30:17,525 --> 01:30:21,322
But at the same time, it's kind of stimulating.

1638
01:30:21,492 --> 01:30:24,014
In many ways it doesn't really matter

1639
01:30:24,192 --> 01:30:28,318
whether things go exactly the way you wanted or not.

1640
01:30:28,492 --> 01:30:31,458
The most important thing is the journey.

1641
01:30:31,826 --> 01:30:37,020
Because experiences can be very rich and valuable for you.

1642
01:30:37,193 --> 01:30:38,954
León was a spirit.

1643
01:30:39,126 --> 01:30:41,251
You could see, you know, doors opening before he got to a door.

1644
01:30:41,426 --> 01:30:45,358
He has this aura of “Kubrickism” around him.

1645
01:30:45,527 --> 01:30:48,823
The apprentice who suddenly one day

1646
01:30:48,994 --> 01:30:50,425
He became the teacher with all the answers.

1647
01:30:52,327 --> 01:30:54,918
You are proud and happy about your trip.

1648
01:30:55,094 --> 01:30:57,821
Yes. Yes, of course.

1649
01:30:57,994 --> 01:31:02,017
Of course it's me. It's been amazing so far.

1650
01:31:02,194 --> 01:31:05,786
The best way I could think of, you know, to leave this world,

1651
01:31:05,961 --> 01:31:10,018
and it would be, you know, going to sleep and not waking up.

1652
01:31:10,195 --> 01:31:14,889
Or be in the middle of, you know, I don't know.

1653
01:31:15,061 --> 01:31:20,050
I guess dying in a flatbed Steenbeck, I mean, if you could find one nowadays.

1654
01:31:20,228 --> 01:31:26,184
I mean, maybe in a telecine theater doing a new transfer.

1655
01:31:26,362 --> 01:31:31,761
Like... a 4K or 8K transfer from 2001.

1656
01:31:31,929 --> 01:31:36,191
Just when the music plays, I say, "I'm coming."

1657
01:31:36,363 --> 01:31:39,022
"I am with you, Zarathustra."

1658
01:31:39,196 --> 01:31:42,162
You know, maybe something like that, romantic, you know.

1659
01:31:43,496 --> 01:31:45,462
Alright. Hmm.

1660
01:31:45,830 --> 01:31:47,262
So it's a happy ending?

1661
01:31:47,429 --> 01:31:50,328
Sure. Yes. Of course it is.