Lesser Kubrick is still high above most pictures

Rating: 9/10 (17 February 2000)

"Eyes Wide Shut" is not Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece. However, while it suffers by comparison to Kubrick's past works, it is still one of the most intriguing, challenging pictures of the year.
I can understand how many viewers might not have the patience to contemplate Kubrick's ambiguous tale, and might dismiss it as a disjointed assemblage of chance encounters and unconnected events. However, if you're in the mood for a movie you need to interpret for yourself, rather than having the message spelled out for you, you should give it a try.
My personal interpretation of William Harford's enigmatic night on the town stems from the title of the Schnitzler story it's based on, "Traumnovelle" ("Dream Novel"). I think of Harford's journey as being like a dream, with all of the occurrences influenced by his own subconscious mind. He is led into numerous encounters with temptation, but something always occurs to prevent him actually following through. This might seem like absurd coincidence, but if you think of it as a "Dream Movie," it can be seen as a manifestation of his own conscience, conjuring up obstacles to prevent him violating his moral code.
Is my interpretation the one Kubrick had in mind? Who knows? But any movie that proves so thought-provoking is one I have to recommend.