Cruise. Kidman. Kubrick. Watch this movie with your eyes wide open!

Rating: Null/10 (6 March 2003)

Whether you like his movies or not, you have to appreciate how different a director Stanley Kubrick really was. In the final movie he ever made, 'Eyes Wide Shut', he pushes the envelope for how much sexual content can be contained in one movie, in addition to what makes a movie that little bit different. This is a movie that has to be seen, with your 'eyes wide open'.
Consumed by betrayal and jealousy, wealthy Manhattan doctor Bill Harford's comfortable world is turned topsy-turvy when his wife's lascivious sexual fantasies about another man, lead him into a dangerous underworld of sexual ritualistic obsession. This erotic foray threatens to ruin his marriage -and may even ensnare him in a lurid murder mystery.
This movie is a very slow and long experience, and perhaps that is reason why you have to appreciate it so much. In many Hollywood movies, you get a standard formula, that does not do anything that I would call is 'new'. But with this film, you have to take in all of its aspects that it contains, meaning you have to be very patience while watching it.
That being said, Kubrick was another of the world's unique directors, in that he would have wanted every shot to be just the way he wanted. This movie is no different, in that you can see Kubrick's perfectionism really coming to the fore. It is as if he was in love with every shot of the movie, which is like another of Hollywood's directors, Quinton Tarantino. Being the movie fan I am, it was a great shame that Kubrick died during the production of this movie, as I am sure he would have had some interesting movies left to do if he was still alive today.
Eyes wide shut's story comes from the novel 'traumnovelle' by Arthur Schnitzler. The story itself is very confronting, looking at some challenging issues. The movie then takes that a step further, with the screenplay written by Kubrick and Fredrick Raphael, what I would call 'mind-boggling'. The issues of sex, infidelity, marriage and danger are all painted in such a way that the audience needs to ask the same questions of themselves, with some of us I'm sure not able to confront theses issues. Yet Kubrick plays with the audience making some issues so real, seem as if they are just a joke. The story to this movie is as original as you will see.
The stars of the movie are undoubtedly former Hollywood couple Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. They share a weird, but funny chemistry onscreen, as we get to see how frail a marriage they are in. I have no doubts that this project would have placed a great strain on their 'real' marriage, and was in some way responsible for the demise of their relationship. For Cruise, his role is different, as in almost every shot he looks vulnerable and about to breakdown. The pair go off to a party hosted by Victor Zielger (Sydney Pollack) that starts to show them in situations that could jepardise their marriage. However the best part of the movie comes the night after the party when Alice (Kidman) accuses her husband of cheating on her. She is so stoned, that she is being unreasonable, with Bill (Cruise) almost in tears, unable to defend himself. The shocking confession from Alice then rips Bill's world apart. What follows will be debated for alongtime to come, as you are not sure what is real, and what is not.
'Eyes wide shut' has many fascinating elements, which include the sexual content, with Kubrick not holding back on what he wanted the audience to see. The female form becomes something that is not 'arousing', instead it is just normal. The rating that this movie was given, I am sure hurt it, because of the use of digitally animated sexual characters. Although they are hardly noticeable, the vision that Kubrick would have wanted to show us, would have been tainted it a little. Lights are used to great effect in the movie with the colours of the 'rainbow' so apparent. I believe this is to show off the obvious sexual tone of the movie's story. It is clever to see the rainbow effect in a couple of camera shots. While it is subtle, it can be quite noticeable if you look hard enough.
This movie also has an amazing soundtrack. The piano playing in the background for the majority of the movie is so thrilling and chilling that it gives the film great tension and suspense. It builds the story up to be more than what it would have been without music. The standout song from 'Eyes Wide Shut' has to be Chris Issak's hit 'Baby did a bad bad thing', which is one of the highlights of the entire movie for mine.
The majority of the film has a 'dreamlike' effect to it, and it is difficult to tell what is in reality and what is not. It asks many questions that I am sure we have to work the answers to ourself (such as did Alice have an affair with the naval officer or was it only ever a fantasy? What actually happened the night Bill went on his sexual exploration? Was it only a dream Bill was having after all? If it was not, can the Harford's marriage really survive, after such turbulent events?) That being said, it has taken three viewings of this film for me to actually like it. It is a film that people will either 'love or hate'. Someone said that Kubrick might have had an incite into the main stars immanent marriage problems, and perhaps he did. Then again we all have problems, but it has how we handle these problems, that predetermines what sort of life we end up having, whether we are a husband, a wife or a child.
CMRS gives 'Eyes Wide Shut': 3.5 (Good - Very Good Film)