I've wanted to make this post for ages (thank you to Joanne for giving me the push I needed)-- I mentioned on here ages ago that I was sure HDH was a huge Kubrick fanboy. These are some of the similarities and reasons I had that thought! In general a lot of Squid Game just vibes Kubrick to me. I'm not a huge Kubrick fan, but I do love The Shining, and recognize what an amazing director he was, so even though I don't really dig most of his movies, I have watched most of them.
Some of these are more along the lines of things Kubrick films and Squid Game have in common because Kubrick has such a wide influence over filmmaking, where others are more I think HDH meant them as an intentional homage.
The Dies Irae: to be fair, it's an incredibly common musical motif! Originally (I believe) from the 13th C Gregorian chant (the Dies Irae poem is much older but this is the melody):
This motif is featured in the iconic Pink Soldiers Theme! if you can read music or are familiar with the Dies Irae melody and have seen Kubrick's The Shining, you'll recognize it from the opening score of movie as well! Fun fact: it also features in the Kpop Demon Hunters Song Your Idol (like. the actual words, lol).
Blue Danube: The piece that plays before each game in Squid Game (and I think during the final dinner scene in s1?) HEAVILY associated with Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. To be fair, if you're saying "huh?", the associated is probably stronger with people over ~35 and film buffs, but HDH is both!
Also Sprach Zarathustra: A reach, perhaps, but the book the musical piece was named for (Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra) is one of the books in In-ho's s1 apartment (I'm 90% sure? although some people have said it's a different Nietzsche book and I haven't had the chance to investigate which one lol). If Blue Danube is heavily associated with 2001, Also Sprach Zarathustra is basically permanently attached to the movie in the cultural zeitgeist.
Also just-- the somewhat out of place use of classical music in general reminded me of A Clockwork Orange.
On the left- moon lobby from 2001, on the right- the all white game lobbies in Squid Game. The pink of the chairs even matches the pink of the guards uniforms.
On the left- human (mannequin) furniture in A Clockwork Orange, the right- Squid Game human furniture.
On the left- bunks in Full Metal Jacket, on the right, bunks in Squid Game. Obviously the Squid Game ones are stacked much higher, but they are very reminiscent of each other in design!
The candelabras caught my eye here. On the left, Barry Lyndon, on the right, Squid Game finalists dinner.
The left, the masks the secret society millionaire elitists wear in Eyes Wide Shut, on the right, Squid Game VIP masks
Saw this one discussed on Reddit and it really pinged something in my brain! On the left, 2001. Dave Bowman as an old man in his death bed, the black monolith appearing before him, then he dies/is reborn. On the right, Squid Game. Oh Il-nam on his death bed, Gihun dressed all in black at the foot of his bed, then he dies (and Gihun is reborn?). The blanket/sheets are also very similar in color?
Very well-known (and the topic that finally motivated me to make this post!). The stare that signals someone is dangerous! In-ho spends half of s2 Kubrick staring at people. Gihun does this a lot at the beginning of s3 (rip Daeho).
Kubrick was really well-known as a director for one-point perspective shots. I'm not an expert in filmmaking or anything so I'm describing this as a layperson, but it's basically what makes those super symmetrical shots- the shot has a single vanishing point which is generally right in the center of the frame.
This shot from Full Metal Jacket has the perspective lines drawn on it, probably explains it better than I did:
A few more examples from Kubrick- The Shining and 2001.
and some similar shots from Squid Game
Anyway! I'm sure there's more. And of course, you could see these things in any show/movie and not immediately believe it's a direct homage to Kubrick. I just think in this case it is.
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