"Eyes Wide Shut" is Kubrick's last film and the conclusion to my summer Kubrick Marathon. During those days, that the honour to watch these weird and effective stories come alive from maybe the most influensial director of all time and one of my favorites for sure. Eyes Wide Shut is a weird experience and it differs from any other Kubric film. It is a film which can be seen from many angles and in order to be fully understood and appreciated, it has to be viewed multiple times.
In the film, Kubrick grows deep into our very own human desires for sex, truth, connection, consumerism and creates a "universe" where everything is shiny and we get to take a look to how consumerism and money have changed the world and everyone has become more or less a being that gives full attention to what people think about them and how they look. As I see it, the couple of Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman can be seen a mirror to the society that Kubric wants to portray during the whole film. The husband eagerly consumes without giving a second thought, tries to meet new women and engage with them, he cannot stop trying to achieve his sexual goals and money and generally his whole economical and social state is a ticket for completing his desires. Notice that his first line in the film has to do with his wallet or that he does not hesitate to give money even if he does not need do. His consuming nature and desire for more and more are viewed by his long walks from place to place and his whole obsession with that orgy mask party. He goes to gritty extremes and I love those scenes which purely reveal his obsessive nature. Cruise is a blast and let's not forget that 1999 was a blast for him, because he was exceptional is Magnolia too.
The wife is more of a self-lover, a narcissist. She hold the title "of a beautiful lady" and we can see that see always car about her looks and likes it when people call her pretty with flattering words. One of the shots that reveal her nature Is the shot where the couple kisses in front of the mirror naked and the wife looks at her self while she is passionately kissed by her husband. She is also haunted by her dreams of another handsome man having sex with her and the idea of cheat poisons her souls but she actually cannot let it go. The dreams reveal her deep desires for another more free love, an affair out of all this and her inability to escape all this devastates her.
And dreams do play a really important role in this film. I think that in the end this film has an uncertainness to it. A lot of objects and scenes give you the impression that they might be a complete lie, something fake. We are not sure if the crazy and alienating elements are a matter of imagination or a symbolism or even real. Therefore, the film has a dream-like atmosphere.
Kubrick's direction and the style definitely boost this fantasy element. Most of the scenes use colorful lightbulbs hanged in every room and street to provoke that tone (anyways, it is set during Christmas). The slow move of the camera during the walks of Tom Cruise in the night, the blues and reds, the clever choices of switching between steady and shaky cam, the dream sequences...
The technical aspects are great, like every other Kubrick film, though some sequences, especially during the 2nd half feel kind of weirdly shot and this is probably because Kubric's sad loss during the shooting. Leon Vitali, Stanley's loyal sidekick handled the shootings till the end and finished the film, but I think that some sequences felt more of Hitchcock or PTA than actual Kubric. That made the film kind of messy and less captivating
And this is m main bug too. It is not that I hated anything in the film, it is a really interesting film and you can make a lot out of it, but I felt kind of bored and uninterested during some parts , like it lacked a true consistency and core.
Overall, the film is pretty good. Its cinematography, camera and soundtrack are perfect. Great performances. The script is a different thing compared to Kubrick's previous films and I liked that Stanley wanted to talk about humans and the society by using a single couple with a weird relationship. It is about desires, deceit, love, lies and truth, identity and it hinges on the consumeristic and "oriented-by the-looks" society that we are living in. As a fact, I feel that it is a film that I prefer thinking than watching, at least for now. But anyways...every Kubrick film demands multiple watches.
I also want to add that I felt that the story might be a huge reference to Adam and Eve? A man and a woman naked succumbing into cheating and sinnery??? Well that's a bingo. And I appreciate that Kubrick movies are so open to theories and analysis
Kubrick is and will always be one of the most creative and genius filmmakers of all time. His films are crazy and unique and mad and funny and colorful and cool and meaningful and true and "Eyes Wide Shut is no exception.
And I love him
And you know, there is something important that you need to do as soon as possible...
What's that?
Watch this film (or rewatch it )
In the film, Kubrick grows deep into our very own human desires for sex, truth, connection, consumerism and creates a "universe" where everything is shiny and we get to take a look to how consumerism and money have changed the world and everyone has become more or less a being that gives full attention to what people think about them and how they look. As I see it, the couple of Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman can be seen a mirror to the society that Kubric wants to portray during the whole film. The husband eagerly consumes without giving a second thought, tries to meet new women and engage with them, he cannot stop trying to achieve his sexual goals and money and generally his whole economical and social state is a ticket for completing his desires. Notice that his first line in the film has to do with his wallet or that he does not hesitate to give money even if he does not need do. His consuming nature and desire for more and more are viewed by his long walks from place to place and his whole obsession with that orgy mask party. He goes to gritty extremes and I love those scenes which purely reveal his obsessive nature. Cruise is a blast and let's not forget that 1999 was a blast for him, because he was exceptional is Magnolia too.
The wife is more of a self-lover, a narcissist. She hold the title "of a beautiful lady" and we can see that see always car about her looks and likes it when people call her pretty with flattering words. One of the shots that reveal her nature Is the shot where the couple kisses in front of the mirror naked and the wife looks at her self while she is passionately kissed by her husband. She is also haunted by her dreams of another handsome man having sex with her and the idea of cheat poisons her souls but she actually cannot let it go. The dreams reveal her deep desires for another more free love, an affair out of all this and her inability to escape all this devastates her.
And dreams do play a really important role in this film. I think that in the end this film has an uncertainness to it. A lot of objects and scenes give you the impression that they might be a complete lie, something fake. We are not sure if the crazy and alienating elements are a matter of imagination or a symbolism or even real. Therefore, the film has a dream-like atmosphere.
Kubrick's direction and the style definitely boost this fantasy element. Most of the scenes use colorful lightbulbs hanged in every room and street to provoke that tone (anyways, it is set during Christmas). The slow move of the camera during the walks of Tom Cruise in the night, the blues and reds, the clever choices of switching between steady and shaky cam, the dream sequences...
The technical aspects are great, like every other Kubrick film, though some sequences, especially during the 2nd half feel kind of weirdly shot and this is probably because Kubric's sad loss during the shooting. Leon Vitali, Stanley's loyal sidekick handled the shootings till the end and finished the film, but I think that some sequences felt more of Hitchcock or PTA than actual Kubric. That made the film kind of messy and less captivating
And this is m main bug too. It is not that I hated anything in the film, it is a really interesting film and you can make a lot out of it, but I felt kind of bored and uninterested during some parts , like it lacked a true consistency and core.
Overall, the film is pretty good. Its cinematography, camera and soundtrack are perfect. Great performances. The script is a different thing compared to Kubrick's previous films and I liked that Stanley wanted to talk about humans and the society by using a single couple with a weird relationship. It is about desires, deceit, love, lies and truth, identity and it hinges on the consumeristic and "oriented-by the-looks" society that we are living in. As a fact, I feel that it is a film that I prefer thinking than watching, at least for now. But anyways...every Kubrick film demands multiple watches.
I also want to add that I felt that the story might be a huge reference to Adam and Eve? A man and a woman naked succumbing into cheating and sinnery??? Well that's a bingo. And I appreciate that Kubrick movies are so open to theories and analysis
Kubrick is and will always be one of the most creative and genius filmmakers of all time. His films are crazy and unique and mad and funny and colorful and cool and meaningful and true and "Eyes Wide Shut is no exception.
And I love him
And you know, there is something important that you need to do as soon as possible...
What's that?
Watch this film (or rewatch it )