A SELECTION FROM PRESS REVIEWS
A weird, revealing delight … an irresistible picture of friendship, loyalty and artistic temperament … I enjoyed every word. Lisa Schwarzbaum
The New York Times 01.06.2016
You’d say it’s impossible that an obscure man, allegedly prone to suspicion and untrustworthy of anyone, had let someone like Emilio D’Alessandro become an indispensable figure. Yet, if you look at the pictures of the two men together, and if you read the memoir that D’Alessandro has written with the sober and intelligent help of Filippo Ulivieri, you are struck by the intensity of their relationship. . . . Emilio’s portrayal of Kubrick is heartfelt, yet detached. There is a controlled admiration running through the pages, a need of revealing who Kubrick really was beyond the legend, and above all beyond the usual stories that depict him as someone who was furiously, obsessively and crazily hidden from the world. . . . Emilio was the ideal character in a unique fable, a story he told with devotion, respect and freedom. Here, you won’t find any unnecessary frills and no implausible details that often damage many extraordinary encounters.Antonio Gnoli
Il Venerdì di Repubblica 31.08.2012
Look at those two men: that’s the sheer image of friendship. Here is a perfect match, here are two men who greatly admired each other and are happy to show it. . . . Stanley Kubrick and Emilio D’Alessandro, the visionary genius and the man who drove him anywhere, the imaginative director and his factotum, the art of thinking and the craft of doing, the mind and the body. They look like two happy kids at a birthday party.Filippo Ceccarelli
Il Venerdì di Repubblica 31.08.2012
The director was not an eccentric, after all; he was an indefatigable worker, absolutely focused on his job and his family. . . . This memoir is exquisite, not to be missed.Giuseppe Scaraffia
Il Sole 24 Ore, 23.09.2012
This is a story of genius and sweetness. This is an exciting book because it gives tons of details about how Kubrick’s films were made, but it is also, and surprisingly, a sort of sentimental novel, beautifully written by Filippo Ulivieri, a story of warm feelings – an oblique tale of two souls in which genius and humbleness are knitted and sometimes are changing places.Mario de Santis
Radio Capital 05.09.2012
No great man is great to his butler – they say, with an unhidden malevolent slant, as if the private life of someone extraordinary should always contradict his public image. It is not the case with the beautiful portrait that Emilio D’Alessandro and Filippo Ulivieri paint in Stanley Kubrick and Me. Working with the mythological filmmaker for almost 30 years, from 1971 to 1999, D’Alessandro was at first Kubrick’s driver, then assistant, factotum, confidant, friend. D’Alessandro tells us about a generous man, caring, perfectionist in his work, demanding in every aspect of the daily life. . . . It is a delightful book, indeed: gentle and delicate as the summer that slowly says goodbye and vanishes.Francesco Troiano
La Stampa 01.09.2012
I obviously have read many books about Kubrick, and I’ve always had the impression that almost all of them are inadequate. The books from movie critics are over-intellectual and obscure. Biographies are either boring, like the one written by Vincent LoBrutto, or sensationalist, like that by John Baxter. On the contrary, reports from collaborators are way too idyllic. At last, there is now a new book that for the first time seems to succeed in capturing the real Kubrick, the day-to-day man – who is indivisible from the artist, because thanks to the book you see how Kubrick was always “on”, always working, focused on his job. And it’s even a good book in its own terms: humorous, touching, even moving – something that is indeed a paradox for an artist who kept tears constantly away in his films. . . . The book ultimately confirms many of the legends surrounding Kubrick – the ones about his perfectionism, his absolute knowledge of every field, his curiosity about everything and his vampire-like way of squeezing information out of his collaborators – but every single one of these legends is now reduced to a more human dimension. It also sweeps away the most stupid myths. The result is a portrait of a man who was demanding yet caring, and Emilio talks about him with absolute affection. . . . Stanley Kubrick and Me offers a relaxing read for any Kubrick fan, who I am sure tried for years to find the truth amongst the internet bullshit. At last, now we can do so. After reading the book, I think I love Emilio, and Stanley as well.Alberto Crespi
Globalist 17.09.2012
