This intimate portrait by his former personal assistant and confidante
reveals the man behind the legendary filmmaker - for the first time.
Stanley Kubrick, the director of a string of timeless movies from
Lolita and Dr. Strangelove to A Clockwork Orange, 2001: A Space
Odyssey, Full Metal Jacket, and others, has always been depicted by
the media as the Howard Hughes of filmmakers, a weird artist obsessed
with his work and privacy to the point of madness. But who was he
really? Emilio D'Alessandro lets us see. A former Formula Ford driver
who was a minicab chauffeur in London during the Swinging Sixties, he
took a job driving a giant phallus through the city that became his
introduction to the director. Honest, reliable, and ready to take on any
task, Emilio found his way into Kubrick's neurotic, obsessive heart. He
became his personal assistant, his right-hand man and confidant, working
for him from A Clockwork Orange until Kubrick's death in 1999.
Emilio was the silent guy in the room when the script for The Shining
was discussed. He still has the coat Jack Nicholson used in the movie.
He was an extra on the set of Eyes Wide Shut, Kubrick's last movie. He
knew all the actors and producers Kubrick worked with; he observed
firsthand Kubrick's working methods, down to the smallest detail. Making
no claim of expertise in cinematography, but with plenty of anecdotes,
he offers a completely fresh perspective on the artist and a warm,
affecting portrait of a generous, kind, caring man who was a
perfectionist in work and life.
