Then there’s Barry Lyndon, which isn’t so much a movie as it is an 18th-century oil painting brought violently to life. Live action Caravaggio? The costumes were sewn with such historical accuracy that the actors could barely move in them. The lighting was provided exclusively by candles because Kubrick didn’t want just historical accuracy, he wanted historical physics! Other directors “capture” light. Kubrick refracted it to his will.

And Eyes Wide Shut, his swan song — and perhaps most underrated film — was soaked in operatic decadence. The colors! The shadows! The way he designed New York City entirely on soundstages because he had a fear of flying and wasn't well enough to make it back from his countryside mansion just outside of London. And yet he somehow made New York feel more like New York than most directors who actually shoot there. Again, Kubrick didn’t document reality, he imposed it.

If he were coming of age in today’s world, would he merely be a director? Doubtful. The market’s too bloated, the audience too distracted, the industry too infested with jittery execs who’d demand he cut a TikTok trailer and cast a Marvel reject in the lead.

And — go forbid — anyone called him a creative director, he’d roll his eyes, blast a cig, and wordlessly walk away.

Exactly! A designer at heart!