The missed crossover

In the Seventies, the dialogue between film and rock grew ever closer, through purpose-built scores, iconic songs, or even full-blown movies built entirely around music, such as the two films based on the Who's concept albums ("Tommy" and "Quadrophenia"). Not every collaboration, though, made it to the finish line.

A telling case involves Pink Floyd, whom Stanley Kubrick reportedly wanted to bring on board for the soundtrack of his 1971 masterpiece "A Clockwork Orange". The project, however, never came together.

The story was told by the very people involved. In a 2018 interview with Uncut, drummer Nick Mason recalled the affair with a touch of irony, speculating on the possible reasons behind that resounding rejection: "It was probably because Kubrick wouldn't let us do anything for '2001: A Space Odyssey'! It sounds a bit petulant, but that's maybe how it went! I can't remember if he actually asked us for something from 'Atom Heart Mother'. We would have loved to be involved in 2001 - we thought it was exactly the kind of film we should have been scoring."

As far back as 1973, Roger Waters had given a more straightforward account of events in a conversation with Great Lake that same year, as reported by Far Out Magazine. According to the bassist, Kubrick simply asked to use "Atom Heart Mother" without specifying the context, insisting on total freedom of use. "He phoned up and just said he wanted it," the former Pink Floyd leader recalled. "We said: 'Well, what do you want to do with it?' And he didn't know. He said he wanted to use it 'however I want, whenever I want'... and we immediately replied: 'Right, then you can't use it'." Later on, though, Waters would admit he regretted that decision, acknowledging the English director's genius and the impact of his work on the history of cinema.

Kubrick, however, held a grudge, as confirmed by another episode some twenty years later. By 1991, Pink Floyd were a different beast altogether: Waters had long since left, while Gilmour, Mason and Wright were trying to keep the band going by finding a new balance. Roger, for his part, was already deep into a well-established solo career, and that year he was working on "Amused To Death", his third album. For the record, he was determined to include the metallic voice of HAL 9000, the computer from "2001: A Space Odyssey". So he approached Kubrick and, in turn, received a scornful refusal, with the excuse that "if he'd given Waters the green light, he'd have had to give it to everyone." All hell broke loose. Waters took that refusal as an insult, especially given the implicit comparison to "just any old singer". And his response took shape precisely within the context meant to honor the director: on "Perfect Sense - Part 1" there's a backwards message that is anything but conciliatory.

The relationship between Pink Floyd and Stanley Kubrick remains marked, then, by failed attempts and repeated refusals: an encounter pursued for a long time, but never truly meant to be.

The fact remains that the 1971 episode stands as one of the most curious missed crossings between music and film: on one side a director renowned for his absolute control over his own work, on the other a band always careful about the artistic management of its material. A balance that, in this case, was never struck. It's also worth remembering that Kubrick considered Ennio Morricone for the film's soundtrack, but the collaboration never materialised, undermined - according to the composer's own account - by a misleading intervention from Sergio Leone. Four years later, another famous rejection from the rock world befell Dario Argento, who tried every possible way to bring Deep Purple on board for the soundtrack of one of his most famous films, whose very title referenced the English band: "Profondo Rosso". When the band turned him down, he fell back on Goblin, who, luckily for him, made history with a memorable soundtrack.

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06/04/2026