As someone working in film I think that quote is quite good. Director is hugely important, but it really is about the team. Good director picks the players and aligns everyone, but it takes lot of people to come up with the creative decisions and solve all the aspects of the film.
Director is constrained by the input of the team and resources of the budget etc. those are the compromises which make the art.
Maybe what Kubrick did was to make movies that look like big Hollywood productions, with the big budgets and the polished look, but at the same time keeping the type of control and freedom that usually only small independents have. His movies are at the same time beautiful, extremely original, and very approachable- things that rarely go together.