Definitely A Sexual Odyssey

Rating: 4/10 (20 December 2004)

This film was described as a sexual odyssey and that much is true. It's also director Stanley Kubrick's last film (I think I might actually be happy about that). I know countless people have debated what this film really meant and probably over-analyzed it to the point they injected their own creativity into it. My viewpoint is much more practical and simple I think, albeit I still don't know why Stanley was so fascinated by sexuality to choose a final film about it. I got the impression the film was more for effect and remembrance than anything else. Given the it's lack of taste and gratuitousness, I would agree.
"Eyes Wide Shut" starts out in unveiling the life of a well-to-do couple. It gives particular attention to Alice Harford (Nicole Kidman) on an emotional and physical level to show a woman in all her sexuality. I think it attempts to show the physical desires a woman has with her maternal nature and her sincere affections. This schism in a woman's feelings is flip-flopped back and forth throughout the film and almost appears as if Kubrick might be showing some satirical misogyny...? Alice quickly becomes an over-the-top bimbo at a social event with her doctor husband, Bill Harford (then, real-life husband Tom Cruise). I think Kubrick thought the display of a real-life couple (especially stars) would not only draw public attention but would also allow for a better film due to the established chemistry. But this was my first disappointment. For two real-life lovers, I felt their encounters were sometimes forced or awkward and unconvincing. Their interaction with the daughter felt very unnatural, especially with Cruise's part.
I mentioned misogyny earlier and I'll elaborate. Alice is intoxicated and soon begins flirting with an older man who is trying to seduce her. She acts (as I said) like a complete bimbo. But the encounter serves the purpose of creating a debate between Alice and her husband about attraction and trust. She verbally attacks her husband to try and find some sort infidelity in his at least having sexual thoughts about another person. This brings to the surface Alice's own hidden sexual thoughts she has kept from her husband. She confesses having entertained sexual thoughts about someone other than her husband. She goes on to say that she would have sacrificed everything (husband, marriage, child, etc.) for a one-night stand with a man she saw at a hotel. Bill Harford is portrayed as a real gentleman and very devoted to his wife and child. He is loosely-cohesive after receiving the shocking confessional from his wife. But he still believes women aren't as sexual and willing to do the things men do.
Reinforcing the meaning of Alice's confession, a women tells Bill she loves him and wants him. This comes as a shock since he hardly knows her. Her sincerity scares him as it shows how women can have thoughts for other men without giving the slightest intimation. What generates a negative view of women is in the subsequent collapse of Bill's fidelity. His wife's mental cheating acts as the impetus for his own destruction. Man destruction appears to be the fault of a woman's sexual uncontrollability. Alice's confession and the thought of infidelity (on any level) torment Bill into attempting to commit the reality of her thoughts.
You could also look at the plot for this film as removing gender from sex and showing both males and females as having the same desires, drives, and secrets. It still shows Bill as a horse put into motion by his wife's secret eroticism. Bill ends up with a whore as a way to get back at his wife and indulge himself. Luckily, he is saved by a phone call which keeps him from making a marital mistake. That's still strike one on the close-call scale. Next he calls the woman's house that confessed her attraction to him. The phone is answered by her boyfriend and Bill hangs up. That's strike two. Bill then ends up going back to see the whore, Domino, but finds out she is not home. After trying to put the moves on her roommate, he is given the news that Domino was diagnosed with AIDS. That's strike three on the close-call scale! Well, you know what they say after three strikes.
And out goes Bill (*SPOILERS BELOW*). He still can't stop himself as if on some sexual adventure. He finds out about a private costume party that hosts orgies. This fuels Bill's fire as he gets the secret password (ironically it's Fidelio) and a costume. In probably the most memorable scene of the film, Bill is shown at an occult hedonistic masquerade. An intentionally jarring set of piano keys follow throughout and into the rest of the film - more Kubrick signature bizarrity. Without going into all the details, Bill witnesses some pretty raunchy and shocking things. But just as he's been warned by some mysterious hooker to leave, he is discovered as an interloper. The negative consequences of Bill's departure from fidelity soon become apparent as it appears as if his life might be in jeopardy. His inquiries into the events from the party yield a dead body and a kidnapped friend. The party and its darkness envelope the remainder of the film. Two other scenes show a dark sexual perspective - the costume owner becoming a pimp for his daughter and the revelation of Bill's close friend as one of the orgy's members.
All of this appears as the dirty foam of some wave that just crashed on the beach. It is the deluge from a intense storm brought about by sex. In one of the more controversial parts of the film, Bill returns home late after hearing his friend's revelation. He finds the mask from the orgy masquerade on the pillow next to his wife. He lost the mask somehow before returning it the store. Some people have suggested his wife found the mask and put it there. I am more apt to believe, since she did not know of the mask's significance, that someone from the party broke into his house and put it there as a warning. That is why Bill breaks down and confesses everything to his wife.
The ending is just as strange as the rest of the film, so I guess it's no surprise. True to his intended depiction of women, Kubrick has Kidman deliver a speech with a surprising sexually-expletive ending. I don't know what Stanley thinks he's accomplished here. And what makes him the authority on women and their sexuality? "Eyes Wide Shut" was just too creepy and awkwardly "Basic Instinct" to be very credible. Especially the whole orgy thing, although I doubt I will forget it anytime soon. It scares me that those kind of things probably go on. Some sick insanely-rich people. 4/10