Lucid Dreaming

Rating: Null/10 (21 November 2000)

Kubrick is hard for me to get, and this film in particular. From my research, it seems as if he is one of those filmmakers who sees himself as a storyteller, with little desire to explore the limits of film as film. That's common enough and at root not very interesting. But Kubrick tries to be an innovator within that relatively narrow context by examining novel ways of telling his story.
Here we have a relatively simple device. A married couple both dream of infidelities. In both cases, their unconsummated fantasies turn into highly threatening situations. Kubrick's trick is to have the husband's dream presented as if it were `real.' What follows is an experiment in inserting surreal dream dynamics into seemingly solid time. Kubrick employs a few otherwise inexplicable elements, like the title and the mask on the pillow.
It works, but the result produces no great dramatic effect, no exciting narrative perspective.
A side note. I continue to be amazed at the extra content of DVDs, Why would actors agree to be interviewed in such a way that it makes them appear so incredibly dumb?