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.

Music

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.

Set and Costume design

The white waiting rooms:

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.

Human furniture:

On the left- human (mannequin) furniture in A Clockwork Orange, the right- Squid Game human furniture.

The bunk beds:

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!

Dinner scenes:

The candelabras caught my eye here. On the left, Barry Lyndon, on the right, Squid Game finalists dinner.

Masks:

The left, the masks the secret society millionaire elitists wear in Eyes Wide Shut, on the right, Squid Game VIP masks

Death bed:

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?

Specific shots/framing

The Kubrick Stare:

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).

One point perspective:

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

Like the color match is kinda crazy, right? The sheets to the rug, blanket to blanket? It’s making me think about Gihun as the monolith and the what the monolith represents.

I’m one of those people who doesn’t love 2001 the movie. It’s ok, there are parts that I think are really great (HAL singing as he dies, ugh, so eerie and well done). But I LOVED the book. I read it when I was maybe 11 or 12, it was the first grownup book that I read in one sitting (it’s not terribly long) and I was mesmerized. When Dave said “my god it’s full of stars”?????? I got goosebumps.

Anyway. Kubrick referred of the design of the monolith as a “Jungian archetype”, something that is innate in the psyche of all human beings. The “collective unconscious” of humanity. (Note to self: gifset of Gihun embodying the 12 jungian personality archetypes)

At its most basic, the monolith is a “tool”. It basically serves to push humanity forward, a catalyst for evolution. It transforms us.

And down this way there are 4 dead bodies on 4 beds and no empty 5th bed:

Not long now! We’re entering the “oh shit it’s real” portion of the countdown. It’s not time to panic, I promise!! But it is time to prioritize and make future-you’s life easier.

Authors— this is a good time to look at what still needs to happen before your fic is ready to post. Ending? Editing? Beta reading? Formatting? Tags/warnings? Maybe make a list now so it doesn’t overwhelm you at the last minute.

Artists— same goes for art! What still needs doing? Sketching? Coloring? Rendering? Maybe you need updated details from your author, or to pick an image hosting site? Have a tentative plan to make it easier on you when it comes time to post!

Tiny goal for this week: make a “must finish” list and a “nice if I have time” list. Be honest with yourself AND be kind to yourself. Perfection is the enemy of fucking everything creative. Honest, beautiful, moving, thought-provoking, hot, funny, joyful, heart-breaking… all of these beat perfection.

Seong Gi-hun, demon hunter; between two worlds i found your name

He married a stubborn, independent woman who did what she believed in, regardless of anyone else's advice. Then his wife died and he went to Il-nam - another strong, independent person who seemed to believe in him/see something of value in him and offered him guidance that made him feel good about himself - let himself be molded into Il-nam's Front Man, and took Il-nam's philosophy as his own. Then as soon as Il-nam was dying, who should show back up in his life but Jun-ho, the younger brother who looked up to him as a hero and could be a perfect guiding force through Il-nam dying and In-ho fully taking on Il-nam's role at the head of the games.

... except, of course, Jun-ho doesn't take his hand, so In-ho shoots him off a cliff and immediately has about 19 thousand deep personal crises over it

... and then gets obsessed with the winner of that year's games, who caught Il-nam's eye for reasons In-ho cannot figure out, who no one expected to get very far in the games and yet wound up the winner, who was stubborn and clever and kind and believed in impossible things, who refused to kill his best friend only to watch said best friend die in front of him anyway because he couldn't stop someone he loved from making a choice that killed them.

And what I'm saying here is: In-ho desperately wants a big, strong somebody to love him and guide him and tell him who to be so that he'll be valuable and worthy of their admiration.