If you consider yourself a cinephile, then you likely believe, or at least accept the opinion that Stanley Kubrick is one of the best directors of all time. His films include classics such as The Shining, Full Metal Jacket, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and A Clockwork Orange. Concerning the last film on that list, Kubrick approached Pink Floyd for licensing rights to one of their albums for the film, but Floyd denied the opportunity, as they wanted to be featured in one of Kubrick’s previous films.
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The music of Pink Floyd has a cinematic quality like no other. Over the years, their music has appeared in films such as The Departed, Boyhood, Doctor Strange, and War Dogs. However, the best film that showcases Pink Floyd’s cinematic quality is The Wizard of Oz. This is not an official pairing, but if you know what we’re talking about, then you likely agree with us. If you don’t, then check out this article.
If you’ve seen the film and are a fan of Floyd’s, then you certainly see the potential in this partnership. Well, so did Stanley Kubrick, but given that he didn’t approach the band for 2001: A Space Odyssey, Floyd wanted nothing to do with A Clockwork Orange.
Nick Mason Reveals Why Pink Floyd Turned Down the Legendary Director
Even if you aren’t a fan of his movies, you have to respect the work of Stanley Kubrick. To many cinephiles, he is the greatest director of all time, and in the early 1970s, he was arguably the hottest and biggest arthouse director in Hollywood. That being said, it seems that anyone would want their music to be featured in one of his films. Though that was not the case for Pink Floyd.
For the film, Kubrick wanted to use part of Floyd’s album Atom Heart Mother, but due to the past, they denied his offer. Regarding the reason, Nick Mason stated, “Probably because he wouldn’t let us do anything for ‘2001’.” “It sounds a bit petulant! I don’t remember whether he did ask for something from ‘Atom Heart Mother’. We’d have loved to have got involved with ‘2001’ – we thought it was exactly the sort of thing we should be doing the soundtrack for,” via Uncut.
It is unclear what scene or scenes Kubrick wanted the music for, but regardless, all fans of the movie would likely agree that Floyd’s music just might have made the film better than it already is. Unfortunately, that will always be a “what if” question, and that is thanks to the reason revealed by Nick Mason.
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