Interview
by Pat Black.
Booksquawk: “Supertoys Last
All Summer Long” drew the attention of Stanley Kubrick, before the project was
passed onto Steven Spielberg. I understand that your relationship with Kubrick
was strained during the writing process for the movie – were you happy with the
finished version? How did your experiences with Spielberg compare with those
involving Kubrick?
Brian Aldiss: Here's an attempt at a response.
A limousine with a Spanish chauffeur would arrive early every morning at
my house on Boars Hill, to take me to Kubrick's rambling palace north of St
Alban's.
We would
work all day, smoking heavily [eughhh], and Stanley would cook us a
snack of mainly string beans.
Progress
was difficult. Stanley rejected the psychological aspect I suggested.
In an evening,
the car would take me home. I would then write up the day's notes and
send them to Stanley via - what was that primitive instrument called? I
have forgotten.
Stanley
seemed to be unwell. He remained witty. But one morning he said, 'We're getting
nowhere. I'm letting you go'. He turned his back on me. But Stanley had a
pleasant family, his wife being an artist; only his manners were not first
class.
Steven
Spielberg was already a friend of Stanley's. It was natural for him - the
ingenious producer of so many movies - to take over and finish 'A.I.'
after Stanley's death. Somehow, New York had become flooded.
Stanley
had consulted Arthur C Clarke, living in what was then Ceylon, for a
script writer: this resulted in contradictions in the little boy's
behaviour and the alarming dampness of the American city.
I wrote a
letter to Steven, suggesting a way in which the tangled tale might end.
Steve wrote
back by return, offering me a generous sum of money for just one sentence of
the letter.
He also
suggested we should meet when he was next in London, staying at the Ritz.
Steven was
always pleasant to deal with.
Eventually
'A.I,' appeared on our screens. I returned to my habitual amusement of
novel and short story writing.
Readers can
ask themselves which they consider the more seductive a title, 'A.I.' or
'Supertoys Last All Summer Long'.
Probably my
title would not have fitted on the billboards...
Read the
review of Supertoys Last all Summer Long here.
Read the
excerpt here.
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