My Favorite Movie of All Time!

Rating: 10/10 (15 July 2009)

Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut is one of those that can be analyzed in every way shape and form. Even though the film wasn't a big success back when it was released (Exactly ten years ago today!!), the film has since grown and has found new fans with every viewing. I don't care what anyone says, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman are perfectly cast as the wealthy secretive couple. I know a lot of people feel their pacing was very slow, but, when you think about it, Eyes Wide Shut is a very theatrical film. Basically, the film could be adapted to the stage with no problem. Cruise and Kidman took their time with each word to show the distinct emotion Bill or Alice would feel. Especially Kidman. Her lengthy monologues are beautifully seductive in the way she truthfully presents them to Bill and the audience. She is probably the most ambiguous character in the whole movie, often compared to the Hal 9000 from 2001. Both take their time to get their point across, which causes an uneasy feeling for the audience, and both have feminine attributes that control the other characters around them. Bill, on the other hand, is the type of character that you aren't sure if you want to like him or not. I know many people that understand him and feel him and yet I know others that feel he is too emotionally stiff. Both are correct. When Bill enters New York City around the witching hour, he witnesses a vain world that he would never see in the daylight. He tries to go with the flow and ends up being too voyeuristic and sticking his nose in places he shouldn't even dream of. Unlike Alice and her comparison to the Hal 9000, Bill is easily comparable to Barry Lyndon. Both Barry and Bill are too shallow for the upper society they try to take a part of. They aren't ready and both characters try to grow faster than they already are. Like The Shining, we don't root for Bill or Alice. In Fact, if any of the characters encountered a fatal attack, the audience wouldn't show sympathy. The characters in this film are sympathetic at all. I think this brings a new barrier to the way we look at character developments in other films. Kubrick took a risk and I believed it worked. Kubrick created yet another masterpiece and ended on the best note. I don't think there could have been another film that would have fit the end of the century like Kubrick's EWS. This was Kubrick's own personal favorite and I can see why! 10/10 ****/4