The Killing, which traces the intricate planning and ill-fated execution of a racetrack heist, is a genre exercise first and foremost, albeit one with the blossoming talent of Stanley Kubrick behind it. The high-contrast lighting, fast-paced patter and callous violence are all here, and it’s amusing to think of Kubrick – whose later films are known for their precise idiosyncrasies – dutifully following the footsteps of a well-worn filmmaking path. Still, there is no hint of derision, and it is Kubrick’s commitment to the story at hand that makes it work. A narrator leads us through the elaborate details, while the fractured time frame marks the movie as a clear influence on Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs. If anything identifies The Killing as a Kubrick picture, it is the movie’s overall sense of fatalism – even as we watch how carefully things are planned, there is a sense of impending doom.
