On The Aesthetic Significance Of Kubrick’s "Future Trilogy"

In the history of film,Stanley· Kubrick can be described as a very maverick author.This is not only reflected in his insistence on production of independent films and absolute dominance of his own film works,but also showed in his creation and revolution in the field of art.The "Future Trilogy" which are "Dr.Strange Love"(1964),"2001 A Space Odyssey"(1968)and "A Clockwork Orange"(1971),were created during the Cold War and Kubrick’s personal golden age.These are the magnum opus of Kubrick’s mature filming technology,which involve his analysis of the social issues and human destiny at that time.Putting Kubrick into the historical context to discuss the "future" he imagined,including the rise of artificial intelligence,the threat of nuclear weapons,and individual free will under the modern social system,and to analyze his predictions and reflections on the future destiny of mankind,essentially,is an examination of the present and an outline of the future.By reinterpreting the "Future Trilogy",this essay intends to illustrate Kubrick’s innovation in the aesthetic of film,insights of epochal topic and enlightenment on the future of humanity.It could be divided by three aspects: the situational shaping and characteristics of these three films in form;the alienation of the body and mind of people in the technological society and the world in their content in terms of content;and the innovation and significance of the aesthetics of film form in the historical context.In the "Future Trilogy",we can feel that Kubrick got rid of the constraint of the language-centrism and challenged the limitations of film as medium.He used his unique audio-visual language which was full of black humor,with a grotesque aesthetic style and fatalistic fable form,to dynamically project the human society and life situation after the qualitative change of scientific and technological progress.In the retrospect of human history and the expectation of the innovation in human civilization and future,he expressed his worries about the cause of mankind and the fate of mankind.So that the public could reflect on the modern civilization and human nature under the scale of time and space in the film,understand the greatness and sadness of mankind along with the classical music which had perfect form.One can be immersed in the sensory stimulation of the image in the intense conflict between the two sides,and think about the alienation of one’s body and mind under the effect of defamiliarization at the same time.It is the unique innovation in the form and deep contemplation of the content of science fiction movies that make Kubrick’s works have a long and profound vitality.Nowadays,Chinese science fiction movies are booming under the circumstance which is better with digital technology updated and iterated,and good science fiction novels frequently published.In order to create more remarkable science fiction movies of Chinese style,it is necessary to learn from Kubrick’s original spirit and talented imagination.