Iakobos
Orthodox
As someone who could be described as a Kubrick scholar in previous years, I think there's a decent chance he was growing a conscience near the end with EWS. Too little too late though, he knew was was going on in Hollywood, there's a reason why he moved to the English countryside right after hitting it big circa Lolita. Not to mention the moon landing and the atheist transhumanist agenda he pushed consistently. Ironically I used to love his films for their themes but now imo his best film has pretty much no deep themes other than being a quirky period piece (Barry Lyndon). FMJ has some decent anti-war material I suppose.
This point is actually heavily disputed, there were diametrically opposed testimonies at the time of his death that Kubrick either was finished and happy with the film, or that he was still wrestling with how to finish and publish the film as he envisaged it. I find the latter more credible, while I share your skepticism about 40 minutes and all that I'd bet dollars to donuts there were significant edits done other than covering up some nudity, most likely material leaning more heavily into the sacrifice ritual angle. The film was released as R fwiw not PG-13. It's all a bit academic but a very interesting rabbit hole. Say what you will, the propagandists used to be talented!
This point is actually heavily disputed, there were diametrically opposed testimonies at the time of his death that Kubrick either was finished and happy with the film, or that he was still wrestling with how to finish and publish the film as he envisaged it. I find the latter more credible, while I share your skepticism about 40 minutes and all that I'd bet dollars to donuts there were significant edits done other than covering up some nudity, most likely material leaning more heavily into the sacrifice ritual angle. The film was released as R fwiw not PG-13. It's all a bit academic but a very interesting rabbit hole. Say what you will, the propagandists used to be talented!