Very, very exciting news is being circulated at Empire (via ScreenRant). During the early 90′s, director Stanley Kubrick was working on a Holocaust film to be titled Aryan Papers, based on the non-fiction book Wartime Lies by Louis Begley, about a Polish Jew who flees the country with her nephew during the Holocaust. Kubrick reportedly spent twenty years in pre-production, and when he finally was past that stage, spent around eight months writing the script, scouting shooting locations, and apparently even cast Johanna ter Steege in the lead role, and photographed her in period costume. But with the release of Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List in 1993, and with Kubrick’s own doubts about the projects viability, he ultimately abandoned the project, most likely in favor of what would become his last film, Eyes Wide Shut.
But at the Edinburgh Festival Exhibition, Kubrick’s research documents for the movie are on display, and has sparked an interest in reviving the project. If I’m not mistaken, a script was completed at some stage, and the movie could very well be made with what exists. Jan Harlan, Kubrick’s brother-in-law and producer of his last four films, feels that now is a good time to resurrect the project, and possibly with director Ang Lee at the helm. However, this is more of a suggestion than an actual director for the project, as at this stage the biggest development is more of interest than anything else.
Oh my yes. Some stories I read about this news have suggested as if this would be a bad thing, but seriously, when is more Stanley Kubrick a bad thing? The last project that was made from his ideas was Spielberg’s A.I., and while that film isn’t without it’s problems, it’s a solid movie that feels the effects of his legacy, and in a good way. I would really, really, really like to see this movie get made. Kubrick was one of the greatest directors, well, ever, and in the clout of multiplex muck we’re experiencing right now, a project from a potentially full screenplay written by him, and possibly with an Oscar winning director at the helm, seems like a pretty great thing.
Would you want to see Aryan Papers made into a movie based off of a Kubrick script?
