toilets (usurped by P)

Started by mutinyco, July 24, 2003, 03:53:29 PM

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filmcritic

Filmnut121, I like your signature.
"You're too kind."
-Richard Roeper

"You're too cruel."
-Roger Ebert

picolas

Quote from: Pthanks to everybody who read it and got sumthing out of it, as well as those who pretended to read it and then drooled on the keyboard and said sumthing meaningless.

i read the shit out of it, but my apologies for the drool if it was offensive.

Pubrick

Quote from: picolasi read the shit out of it, but my apologies for the drool if it was offensive.
no i meant ppl whose names begin with 'film'.

Quote from: mutinycoMan, guess I picked a good topic for this thread. Too tired to contribute anything though.
and i was too tired to start a thread on it altho i'd already written about it.. i get the credit then.
under the paving stones.

adolfwolfli

Never really thought much about Kubrick and Toilets, but after reading this thread I realize there's a toilet scene in almost every film!!!  Crazy.  While a prior poster's analysis about toilets giving us a view into the "animal" side of man (one of Kubrick's recurring themes) makes much sense, I think a simpler explanation is called for:

Kubrick liked clean, white, shiny surfaces.    

Also, there's something otherwordly about a bathroom...it's the only room in the house that's decorated with sanity and sterility in mind, and not just comfort.  The head in Full Metal Jackat where Private Pyle kills himself is almost an alien landscape, and its sterility brings Pyle's madness into extreme relief.

Staging scenes dealing with insane characters in sterile, sanitary rooms seems to be an ironic concept that Kubrick perhaps subconsciously found intriguing.

OK, I am rambling.  Started off with a simple explanation and now getting more complex!

Pubrick

*update on first page*

added new pics to Lolita, Strangelove, and FMJ.

also rewrote the blurbs.
under the paving stones.

ShanghaiOrange

I like how the thread is now called "Sticky: Toilets" :(
Last five films (theater)
-The Da Vinci Code: *
-Thank You For Smoking: ***
-Silent Hill: ***1/2 (high)
-Happy Together: ***1/2
-Slither: **

Last five films (video)
-Solaris: ***1/2
-Cobra Verde: ***1/2
-My Best Fiend: **1/2
-Days of Heaven: ****
-The Thin Red Line: ***

Pastor Parsley

Great work Pubrick.  

I also want to point out that there are a lot of discussions in psychological literature about what bathrooms represent.  I know Kubrick was a big reader of psychology, so he must have known about the many theories which surround them.

I'm just paraphrasing from memory, but here goes.

 Modern man/woman has always tried to distance themselves from animals.  In fact almost everything of the animal nature has been turned taboo in our modern society.

 Our bodies (we've clothed them and are now embarrassed of them), sex (we do it behind closed doors, in the dark, under the sheets, etc.).  Most of us are also embarrassed about defecating although it's a natural event, which all of us do.  We are embarrassed by the smell of our own shit and bathrooms are really a place where we hide one of the only animal characteristics that we haven't been able to easily avoid.  Murder, by the way, is also something that occurs naturally in the animal kingdom (usually a result of competition for females/mating), but is also taboo in our society.  (BTW, please don't think I'm condoning murder by this comment!)

Another interesting side note is, for animals that have to squat to defecate, thereby putting themselves in a compromising position, often find a protected spot as they are easily susceptible to attack from predators.  We too feel suseptible when pooping so all bathrooms have locks so we feel better protected and at ease.  When people are asked which room in there house they feel the most at ease almost all say the bathroom.

When you put all this together with the ways in which Kubrick has used his bathroom scenes, your mind might explode from all the possibilities.

rustinglass

I couple of weeks ago, i had to use a toilet as disgusting as the one in trainspotting. just to piss out a few beers.
"In Serbia a lot of people hate me because they want to westernise, not understanding that the western world is bipolar, with very good things and very bad things. Since they don't have experience of the west, they even believe that western shit is pie."
-Emir Kusturica

ElPandaRoyal

Quote from: ShanghaiOrangeI like how the thread is now called "Sticky: Toilets" :(

Nothing like a "Sticky: Toilets" thread in the Kubrick forum to bring some sense into this board.  :-D
Si

Pubrick

Quote from: coffeebeetleAnd just to clarify: you believe all uses of bathrooms in Kubrick films are intentional and meant to underline a particular theme (i.e. objectification of women?)
i'll assume u were talking to me.
i'll also assume u meant "eg." instead of "ie.".

if u meant 'ie.', then no.

it was a recurring spatial reference to reflect ongoing themes in his work, not one in particular. it's the room he always came back to, and he let the ideas surrounding each appearance shape what would take place inside it. that's the basic role of the bathroom in his movies, a clear reflection of what's going on in the world of his films, especially post-Clockwork. that isn't to say it's the CORE of each movie, it is just another noticeable pattern that reflects one aspect of the nature of the whole picture.

this fractal theory is repeated here: http://xixax.com/viewtopic.php?p=140887&highlight=#140887

i also believe no one should be skeptical anymore of the evidence that kubrick's films are so deeply detailed. it should be accepted with great enthusiasm like a scholar would amuse himself discovering the intricacies of Joyce. for this reason i envy the virgin eyes, they get to begin the whole process with unblemished amazement. they don't know however that it continues with admiration of its brilliance, and intensifies with the breakdown of its decay.

edit: oh u deleted it, anyway, the response still works as a general post.
under the paving stones.

jonas

It's my belief (Kubrick is my favorite film maker/director/ect...) that he intended to have scenes in bathrooms because before Psycho (which was the first film to show a toilet flushing), bathrooms were a taboo thing to add into films. Maybe he even did it to make the average viewer a little uncomfortable.

I always thought he included them to differentiate his films from others, trying to take the next step as a film maker.
"Mein Führer, I can walk!" - Dr. Strangelove

mogwai

does kubrick's movies "killer's kiss", "the killing", "paths of glory" and "spartacus" include any scenes that may feature toilets or anything related? thanks.

Gamblour.

Spartacus has a great innuendo-filled dialogue between Olivier in a bath, I believe. The killing uses a locker room, but I don't think there are toilets. There's a lot of apartment scenes, so I'd bet yes. Killer's Kiss, hm I can barely remember it. And Paths of Glory I think is a definite no.
WWPTAD?

cine

from ebert's most recent Answer Man column: http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080306/GLOSSARY/563695685/1003/ANSWERMAN

The Kubrick toilet exception

A question for the Glossary:
Q. You pointed out in your Movie Glossary that in the movies nobody uses toilets for their real purpose. But of course you should have referred to Kubrick's "Eyes Wide Shut" as an exception to this rule.

In the opening shots, we see Nicole Kidman, a big movie star, sitting on a toilet and doing those normal things. And of course Kubrick knows that this isn't something we usually see in movies, and that is what makes it so effective an opening.
Sami Poyry, Tampere, Finland

A. True, and I've got another one for you: Kubrick shows a bathroom, toilet or latrine in every single one of his movies. Recall the low-gravity toilet with detailed instructions in "2001: A Space Odyssey." I should have mentioned that, but somehow it got flushed from my mind.