Love, Death And Sex: 'Eyes Wide Shut'

In Stanley Kubrick's cinematic universe reality, dreams, order and insanity progress on distinct, intersecting planes. Whether he was depicting an absurd, chillingly real war room in Dr. Strangelove, the disturbing but oddly sexy ultra violence of an Orwellian future in A Clockwork Orange, the siren call of insanity in The Shining, or the hyper fantastical yet authentic Vietnam War in Full Metal Jacket, life was a surreal work in progress – nearly an ambiguous joke that veered from hilarious to sexy to terrifying, sometimes within seconds. Attempting to understand order, or how any system designed to make our universe more rational or safe seemed fruitless. With this in mind, I love how Sterling Hayden approaches such a predicament at the end of Kubrick's The Killing. He watches his life literally fly away on an airport tarmac and bitterly spits one of cinema’s greatest last lines: “Eh, what’s the difference?”

Which brings me to the final line of Kubrick’s frequently misunderstood Eyes Wide Shut in which Nicole Kidman states rather flatly, “Fuck”—as in, that’s the answer, that’s what we need to do. A movie I’ve defended since its release, I’m pleased that within Kubrick’s newest box set, the unrated version of Eyes is now easily available (with more appreciation to follow, I think...). It’s a picture that deserves closer inspection and a worthy finale for the enigmatic auteur.

The controversial movie (some thought it silly, some, un-erotic) Eyes Wide Shut found the director once again studying the perplexing nature of dreams and reality, this time exploring them in a more personal and private arena: sexuality. As he did with Lolita, Kubrick created more than a film about sexual desire; he created a film about bitter romance, troublesome marital bonds, societal contradictions and, significantly, the fear of death.

An updating of the 1927 Traumnovelle (Dream Novel) by Arthur Schnitzler, an Austrian writer whose deeply psychological work resembled Freud's, the picture remains an unsettling blend of antiquated garishness and modern transgression—an alternate sexual universe haunted by ghouls of the past, present and future.

In this universe “live” the healthy, handsome walking dead— Dr. Bill Harford (an impressive Tom Cruise) and his wife, Alice (a slinky, wonderfully creepy Nicole Kidman), a glamorous, rich couple who appear the picture of storybook perfection. But like most supposed perfection, there are cracks in that portrait, and in their case, it’s the usual: they want to screw other people (or at least they think they do). At a sumptuous party given by Bill's obscenely wealthy friend Victor (Sydney Pollack), Bill almost strays upstairs with two models and Alice flirts with a bizarre Hungarian man who looks like one of the cadaverous partygoers from The Shining. The next evening, in a fit of jealousy over Bill's near indiscretion (he ended up contending with a naked drug overdose), Alice confesses that she’s had thoughts of cheating and, even worse, reveals that if things had been different, she would have thrown her entire life away for one flight of sexual fancy.

Unmasking something that usually remains one of those deep, dark secrets you don’t tell your significant other, Alice deftly rattles Bill's perception of her fidelity and the strength of their marriage in a speech that makes his mind spin out of control (Kidman's performance here is superb.) After this confession, Bill is abruptly called away to confirm the death of a patient during which the daughter of the deceased makes a pass at him. The grief stricken but, considering the circumstances, kinky gesture helps Bill’s decision to not immediately return home. Instead, he wanders the streets of New York and embarks on a sequence of actions that, though not as outwardly comic, somewhat resemble those in the Scorsese movie After Hours: He discovers a surreal sexual underworld that he’s both attracted to and repelled by.

A prostitute, a piano player, a bizarre costume-store owner and his slutty Lolita-esque 14-year-old daughter lead Bill to the film's infamous ritualistic orgy sequence, during which participants are cloaked and masked, and naked women are used as sacrificial sex lambs. The gothic, terrifying yet titillating feel of this sequence walks a fine line between horror and parody and true to Kubrick’s genius, manages to cross into both camps. The magnificent, exacting camera work and unrelenting music compel us to look, no matter what happens, and though I was actually a little scared the first time I saw this moment, I found myself highly amused—laughing even. If ever a person was out of place in a Bohemian Grove-like orgy, it is Tom Cruise’s Dr. Bill. And yet, I was absolutely hypnotized, watching these moments like a waking dream and investing it with multiple meanings. What the hell is going on here besides a bunch of silly old rich men getting their jollies with beautifully breasted, long legged Helmut Newton models? And further, what do all of Bill’s adventures mean? Are Bill's encounters simply nightmares that will damage his marriage beyond repair, or are they mere titillating fantasy—fodder for a closer relationship and better sex with his spouse?

Well, I can’t answer that. Given the picture's ominous tone, however, there is something definitely rotten within its slinky, Christmas-lit loveliness. Like the impeccable environment of The Shining, the aura of Eyes Wide Shut is one of beauty ready to be defiled, sexuality ready to be slaughtered, lovely exteriors that reek of formaldehyde. The pall that hangs over this picture is fear: fear of the unknown; fear of yourself or of others; and fear that if sex can lead to freedom, it can just as easily lead to death.

In fact, the picture can be viewed as a commentary on sexual attitudes in the last few decades –a time when meaningless indiscretions can lead to horrifying blood-test results. It is no surprise, then, that Bill is a doctor and that throughout the film, he flashes his physician's ID as a police detective would his badge. "I'm a doctor," he constantly says, for both reassurance and intimidation. In a profession that requires intimate investigation of flesh that may well be on its way to the morgue, sex is serious. These unsettling references to AIDS, necrophilia and forbidden sex (not to mention Kubrick's own death upon bringing the film to completion, une petite mort of sorts) permeate the picture like one giant prick tease. In today's world, sex is still there for the taking, but at what cost and for what gain? Kubrick's frustrating, brilliant coda neither answers nor ignores its own questions. Rather it leaves us in a mysterious, contradictory mishmash of dream and reality, where not only are our eyes wide shut, but our legs are too.

Comments

[88ArterialSprays]

Actually I think the big controversy of the new dvd is that it DOESN'T contain both versions of the film but only the unrated version, even though it is listed on the back cover.

[Joe Valdez]

I'm a big fan of Eyes Wide Shut as well, Kim. I find it amusing that a lot of the critics who panned this movie on its release didn't even have jobs when Kubrick's previous film was released. Or maybe it just demands multiple viewings for the different layers of the story to really sink in. Kubrick's visual command, as well as his challenge to the integrity of marriage, blow me away.

[Adam Ross]

As a big fan of EWS, I was really pleased with the new Kubrick box set and the great new edition of this movie. Like I said in my review, the new "uncensored" orgy scene makes that mansion sequence even more memorable, and the decision by Kubrick to hide its more graphic moments for American audiences all the more confusing.

I can think of only one "covered up" shot that the MPAA would have really frowned on, but as a whole it didn't seem very obscene. I love how everyone keeps their masks on through the evening -- was that a nod toward America's sexual state, with identity a more important cover-up than, well, anything else?

[Pete Bogs]

I am hoping this is like Kubrick's other films for some - in that after a few years they start to realize how great it is... it took me a full decade to appreciate FMJ, and now I see it as a masterpiece...

[theron]

I've always loved "Eyes Wide Shut." It's a perfect "Kubrick film" in the best sense, and it's a fitting final film for the master, in my opinion.

Kidman's final line is perfect and reveals the film to be one big dark comedy, no matter what we might have thought during the journey on which it led us.

[Katel]

Martin Scorcese said Eyes Wide Shut was one of the 10 best films of the 90's.

[tim quick]

I've always loved the film, too, and considered it underrated. Every scene seems to have more than one meaning. (I loved the "near gay bash" scene.)

And, Kim, I love your blog. Keep up the awesome work.

[Robert Andrade]

Ok so why is Eyes Wide Shut NOT a Kubrick film?? Simple...He died before it was even finished and when he died there were quiet a few rewrites to the film. Having seen both versions from the box set I can say that neither one of them have the Kubrick style or taste.

[Ed Howard]

That's a pretty bold (not to mention absurd) contention, Robert. By all accounts, the work left to be done on the film after Kubrick's death was fairly minimal, and it seems ludicrous to dismiss the film out of hand because of that. In any event, the film certainly feels VERY Kubrickian.

In fact, it's my favorite Kubrick film, and his most complex and intelligent. There's so many layers to it -- celebrity, America, marital infidelity, sex in the age of AIDS, mortality -- and yet it holds together so brilliantly.

[Piper]

Excellent post Kim,

I love the comparison to After Hours for it is the reason I like this film so much. I am hypnotized by storylines that take place within a seemingly 24 hour period because we have all experienced those days that seemed rather unusual at the beginning and then turned extraordinary.

This film took a lot of criticism but it's one of my favorites.

[Gary]

What an interesting article. Keep up the good work.

http://kubrickfilms.tripod.com/

[Ken Seifert]

The movie is a version of Dante's Divine Comedy. Dr. Harford decends into hell, where he meets the devel in the form of the red cloak, is redemed by the Christ woman (who dies for his sins), spends a day in Pergatory, where the woman who hit on him over her dead father is getting married and moving to Michigan, the prostitute has AIDS, the young daughter is being pimped by her fater, Nick Nightengale is beat up and run out of town, or worse, and the Dr Harford is being threatened. Then he enters into heaven, where he sees his own death, in the beautiful blue scene, confesses to his wife, goes to a toy store where his wife proposes that they fuck. What a movie!