Love him or hate him, Stanley Kubrick was one of the most well-known directors in the industry. His films, ranging from the horror classic The Shining to the utterly bewildering Eyes Wide Shut, never failed to stir up controversy.

As we speak, the UK’s Channel 4 - not to be confused with BBC4 - is preparing for a Stanley Kubrick marathon to honor the influential director. In order to promote this lineup, they have painstakingly recreated the set of The Shining, complete with cast lookalikes and all the little details, to film a minute-long video.

Reactions have been mixed, with Kubrick fans praising the venture and others criticizing Channel 4 for using public funds in such a frivolous manner. A fitting tribute - Kubrick remains controversial even in death.

One of his most notable controversies surrounded his film Lolita, an adaptation of Vladimir Nabokov’s classic novel. A consensual relationship between a middle-aged man and a twelve-year-old girl would have been unthinkable to film; by changing Lolita’s age from twelve to fourteen and casting the physically developed Sue Lyon, Kubrick was able to bypass some outrage. Even so, the sexual overtones of the book became undertones in the film, so much so that viewers unfamiliar with the story wondered if there was a physical relationship between the two characters at all.

In the novel, Lolita is seductive, chaotic, and deeply troubled. Actress Sue Lyon made sure that life imitated art. She blames the film for her problems, saying of Adrian Lyne’s later adaptation, “I am appalled they should revive the film that caused my destruction as a person.”

Apparently, no one notified her that Lolita was based on a novel, and that a later film of the same story really didn’t have anything to do with her. After marrying a prisoner (for her third marriage) and lobbying for conjugal rights (”God said to procreate. The prison system is going against the Bible”), she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and prescribed lithium, a powerful mood stabilizer.

All in a day’s work for a Kubrick star.

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