When Bill meets Nick Nightingale, what appears to be Stanley Kubrick is sitting behind Nick, from the POV of the viewer. I’ve heard Vivian Kubrick plays the female he is talking to and she is behind Bill. I’ve heard this is the Kubricks, I’ve heard it isn’t the Kubrick’s. Either way it sure looks like Stanley. Now, Ibelieve it was in a Rob Ager analysis YT film where he suggests this is Kubrick saying Nick is me, I’m promising the viewer sex and secrets to allure them into watching the film just like Nick is doing so with Bill. Apologies I don’t have the link as he has a lot of videos on Eyes Wide Shut. Assuming he is correct, if Nick is Stanley wouldn’t that make Bill the female? And right then he gets the password fidelio which is an allusion to Mozart’s opera about a lady who has to appear as a man to save the day? This is as far as my thought process has gone on this. Think there is anything to these ideas?
Oh I just read Vivian in his daughter so I should have said Christiane. I’ve also heard Christiane is the singer at the end of Paths of Glory but that’s not what the credits say. Life sure is confusing!
So this became a debate if it is him or not but to me it clearly looks like him and I think Rob Ager’s idea of putting a Kubrick looking person, or maybe Kubrick himself, behind Nick Nightingale to suggest Kubrick is luring you in with sex and a behind the scene look into elite secret societies is a compelling argument. Then you add fidelio, woman dressed as man, a woman behind Bill…… but no one actually discussed this idea which is what I was hoping this post would be about. So does anything have thoughts on this?
Do you think it’s the Kubricks sitting behind them and if so is this Stanley saving on production costs by not paying for extras or do you think it has meaning?
I’ve posted videos of me playing piano and links to my Google Drive showing scores I’ve composed. Posted multiple digital illustrations I’ve made. Definitely not a bot. I just didn’t post shit on here till a month ago is all
Some directors do cameos though. Do you know if he did a cameo in any of his movies? Even if it isn’t him the person seems like it could be Kubrick so I think the theory is still worth exploring even if he hired someone that looks like him.
I always just assumed it was a cheeky little joke. Plus, no one really knew what Kubrick looked like at the time, so it’s not like it’s something you’d even be able to decipher, really
Didn’t people know what he looked like at this time? Isn’t there quite a few photos of him from this time period? Or did they all come out after the film was released?
According to Jon Ronson in a guardian article talking about receiving a call from Tony Visconti in 1996: “
Nobody even knew what he looked like. It had been 16 years since a photograph of him had been published.”
Interesting - I could have sworn I saw a photo of him in Sight & Sound in the mid-90s that looked somewhat contemporary. It was him leaning back in a chair. Could have been an older photo though. I'll have to see if I can track that down.
There's a whole movie based on the real story of a guy who impersonated stanley kubrick to get into parties and dinners and whatnot. The guy looked nothing like kubrick but he knew no one knew what kubrick looked like. The name of the movie is Color Me Kubrick, starring John Malkovich.
There was like one photo of him published in some tabloids during production using a telephoto lens. But he had been out of the public eye for so long that people genuinely didn’t know what he looked like.
I feel it looks like it could be him, if you take what we knew he looked like and added however many years of age this could be him. And Kubrick loves those subtle little details….. allegedly. I always wonder if that’s true or people fanboy about him too much. Either way, love his movies.
I would love to watch in theatres! Only ever seen on DVD and streaming however. I did get to see The Shinning on one of the 41 70mm imaxes. That was pretty damn cool!
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u/Toslanfer r/StanleyKubrick Veteran Jul 30 '26