Stanley Kubrick: The Invisible Man (1996) Film Review

By Roger Crow

Three years before enigmatic film maker Stanley Kubrick died, director Paul Joyce assembled this tribute to the man who had helmed some of the most acclaimed movies in history.

I’m guessing I saw this doc back then, because like so many film lovers, I’ve been hooked on Stanley’s work since the 1980s. Obviously others had come to his flicks a lot earlier, but watching 2001: A Space Odyssey when it debuted on BBC One was one of those extraordinary experiences.

Naturally there are plenty of talking heads, some who have long since left us, and a soothing voiceover by Jonathan Pryce. And because of the timeline, everyone is giving their opinion on a master who was still alive and rarely gave interviews, and that’s all most Kubrick docs are: others peoples’ opinions.

There have been plenty of other interesting takes on Kubrick since then, including the brilliant doc Filmworker, which examines the life of right-hand man Leon Vitali, who sadly died in August.

There’s also a great doc about Stan’s driver, as well as assorted others; Room 237 is a gloriously bonkers offering examining all the hidden meanings in The Shining. But if you are a hardcore Kubrick fan, chances are you’ve seen this already. If not, The Invisible Man feels very dated, like an extra you find on an old DVD, but there are still a few gems in there.

Apparently there is a much longer version from 2019, but I saw the 50-minute original, so if you are a newcomer to Stanley’s work, it’s not a bad introduction. However, if you’ve watched a truckload of Kubrick docs, this might disappoint, purely based on its age rather than the content.