Fear and Desire

Synopsis
Feature film. Kubrick’s first feature film, an allegory about four soldiers trapped behind enemy lines in a nameless war. The film references The Tempest. When Sidney is left to guard the unnamed woman (who is tied to a tree) he relates the story of The Tempest in an attempt to communicate with her. He later shoots her when she tries to escape and says that Prospero has killed the girl.
Language
English
Country
United States
Medium
Film
Technical information
Black-and-white / Sound
Year of release
1953
Duration
68 mins

Credits

Director
Stanley Kubrick
Producer
Stanley Kubrick
Cinematographer
Stanley Kubrick
Screenplay
Howard Sackler (2)
Music
Gerald Fried
Art Direction
Herbert Lebowitz
Cast
David AllenNarrator
Frank SilveraSgt Mac
Kenneth HarpLt Corby
Paul MazurskyPvt Sidney
Stephen CoitPvt Fletcher
Virginia LeithYoung Girl

Additional Details

Production type
Documentary/Educational/News
Plays
Tempest, The
Keywords
Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)

Notes

Notes
Also available on Blu-Ray.
General
Originally shot silent with a budget of $13,000. The budget went up an additional $20,000 when the actors dubbed their lines in a studio. This was thought to be a lost film, and one researcher, Mark Carducci, had suggested that Kubrick destroyed the negative following the death of Joseph Burstyn, the film’s distributor. Bootleg copies abound, however, and there is one (legal) print in all of the Americas. It is located in the Kodak archives in Rochester, New York; the Kubrick estate allows viewing of the film with the provisos that it is screened by individuals (not groups), that the print never leaves the building in which it is housed, and that it cannot be duplicated in whole or in part. [Information taken from IMDb 03/2007].

The film also sees the debut as an actor of Paul Mazursky.

Production Company

Name

Kubrick

Archive

Name

George Eastman House

Email
filmstudycenter@geh.org
Web
http://www,eastmanhouse.org External site opens in new window
Phone
1-585 272 3361
Fax
1-585 272 3970
Address
Motion Picture Department
900 East Avenue
Rochester
NY 14607

Distributor (Sale)

Name

Retail outlets

How to cite this record

Shakespeare, "Fear and Desire". https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/shakespeare/search/index.php/title/av67995 (Accessed 26 Nov 2024)