KUBRICK GOES SLOW ON HIS FINAL PICTURE Eyes Wide Shut ***

The important thing is, we’re awake now, and hopefully for a long time to come Nicole Kidman as Alice Hartford





It explores the sexual ambivalence of a happy marriage, and tries to equate the importance of sexual dreams and might-have-beens with reality Stanley Kubrick





Movies always portray sudden passion and rushes of blood in the elevator, but they never deal with married sex. Kubrick to Friedric Raphael(?)





That just about sums it up. When Stanley Kubrick died in March 1999, Eyes Wide Shut became condemned as a razzie classic. The audience hoped to get some nice Tom and Nick porn and instead got a ridiculously boring epic about a high society couple hiding many romantic and erotic pathologies. Based on Arthur Schnitzler’s Traumnovelle (1926), Eyes Wide Shut examines a New York couple as played by Tom Cruise as Dr. Bill Harford, Nicole Kidman as Alice Harford, and Madison Eginton as Helena Harford.





Ostensibly, the plot is about Kidman admitting to some bizarre sexual desires that sets Bill on an almost endless journey through orgies and hookers bearing even odder sexual tastes. But Kubrick is cleverly haing fun ith the audience and himsel. This movie isn’t really about sex or even love but the illusions about sex and love. Both Bill and Alice seem to have everything but they do? Does any couple?





On one point, Kubrick can be faulted and that is for concentrating too much on Bill’s phobias. He has many. One possible consort, Marion (Marie Richardson), the daughter of the elderly patient, tells him she is madly in love with him. Another, a college-going hooker, Domino looks suspiciously like … his daughter To top all that, he attends a masquerade ball that has a mysterious woman sacrifice herself to save him from the clutches of a secret society led by a masked man, the Red Cloak.





There’s no point to look or a simple narrative logic. The audience is supposed to get lost in Bill’s maze. The conclusion – such as it is – has Bill confront a superb Sydney Pollack revealing that he, too, had been at the party and knows all about Bill’s secrets. But does he?? Or is he bluffing?? Pollack’s Ziegler says to us: “Please, Bill … no games.” But it appears this scene like the others is meant to be maze-like and baffling.





There is no good or right answer. The ending has Bill admit everything (?) to Alice and they travel to a Christmas shop at F.A.O. Schwarz – in another maze-like pattern – to have an interesting but odd conversation. There’s a lot to comment but let me brief. Most commentaries note the only conspiracy messages in the film. Those are plausible but I think this misses the dominant motif here which is humor. Like Lolita, Kubrick sees sexuality as a power game but also something else: downright hilarious. Especially hilarious is conversation Bill has with Alan Cumming as a desk clerk poking not-so-subtle fun at Tom’s (alleged) homosexuality.





The jokes may not work on most since scenes have to look at repeatedly to pick up the subtext. This isn’t to say there isn’t a lot of seriousness at play either. Like The Shining, imperialism and the Holocaust are major running themes as are class difference, prostitution and money.





Aesthetically, the movie has many rich layers including the music and costumes. Perhaps the most interesting aspect is Kubrick’s utilizing light in many scenes like blue lighting to frequently used to convey dread or sorrow. The movie also looks back on Kubrick’s films (Fear and Desire, Killer’s Kiss, The Shining, 2001: A Space Odyssey) and stylistically nods to them. This movie is probably only going to satisfy Kubrick addicts since the scenes are meant to have multiple readings. A first-time viewer is no doubt going to be overwhelmed or underwhelmed but more long-time film buff are going to many unexpected treats here.





Lastly, the film credits Julienne Davis as Mandy, and Abigail Good as the Mysterious Woman. Davis is NOT the girl at the mansion. Many people including professors get this incorrect. Recommended only for mature audiences.