Kubrick riddle fascinated the French.(director Stanley Kubrick)(Brief Article)

PARIS When he was interviewed in the '60s, Orson Welles said of Stanley Kubrick: "Among the directors of his generation he seems to me a giant." For several decades, especially after "2001: A Space Odyssey," Kubrick also has been the director of reference for many French film buffs -- as Welles was after he made "Citizen Kane."

Interestingly enough, neither ever got an Academy Award for film or director. And while there are similarities to be drawn between the two, their professional destinies were diametrically opposed.

Welles worked with carte blanche from RKO, with all the technology and artistry of Hollywood at his disposal, and ended up solitary, …