Stanley Kubrick and Me ─ Thirty Years at His Side

Stanley Kubrick, the director of a string of timeless movies from Lolita andDr. Strangelove to A Clockwork Orange, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Full Metal Jacket, and others, has always been depicted by the media as the Howard Hughes of filmmakers, a weird artist obsessed with his work and privacy to the point of madness. But who was he really? Emilio D'Alessandro lets us see. A former Formula One driver who was a minicab chauffer in London during the Swinging Sixties, he took a job driving a giant phallus through the city with a devilish-looking, black-bearded man in the backseat. Honest, reliable, ready to take on any work, Emilio found his way into Kubrick's neurotic, obsessive heart. He became his personal assistant, his right-hand man and confidante, living with him fromA Clockwork Orange until his death in 1999.

Emilio was the silent guy in the room when the script for The Shining was discussed. He still has the coat Jack Nicholson used in the movie. He was an extra on the set ofEyes Wide Shut, Kubrick's last movie. He knew all the actors and producers Kubrick worked with; he observed firsthand Kubrick's working methods down to the smallest detail. Making no claim of expertise in cinematography but with plenty of anecdotes, he offers a completely fresh perspective on the artist and a warm, affecting portrait of a generous, kind, caring man who was a perfectionist in work and life.

Emilio D'Alessandro left Italy at eighteen to become a racecar driver but turned to driving a minicab after the economic crisis in the late sixties ended his career. He worked closely with Stanley Kubrick for thirty years while raising a family with his wife, Janette. After Kubrick's death, he returned to his native land. He lives in Cassino, Italy.

Filippo Ulivieri was born in 1977. He is a writer and teacher of film theory. The leading expert on Stanley Kubrick in Italy, he has published articles on the director's life and films in several newspapers and magazines, and created the site ArchivioKubrick. He lives in Tuscany and Plymouth, UK.