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Thursday, April 23, 2020

Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

When his wife (Nicole Kidman) confesses an erotic fantasy about a naval officer she briefly met, a society doctor (Tom Cruise) becomes deeply disturbed by her confession. He embarks on a long night's journey that culminates at the orgy of a secret society. Loosely based on the 1926 novel TRAUMNOVELLE by Arthur Schnitzler and directed by Stanley Kubrick in his final film. Not surprisingly, Kubrick uses the Schnitzler novel as a jumping off point for his vision and thematically, there's not much resemblance. Curiously, the film is frequently described as erotic but the film is anything but. The orgy sequence is very formal and somber, not erotic. The film's pacing is slack which is problematic when a film pushes the three hour mark. Outside of Cruise and Kidman, the characters are sketchy and peripheral. Kidman is excellent here, her monologue about the naval officer a high point of the film. Cruise is good enough. I kept waiting for a significant payoff but the conclusion was banal. Still, this is a Kubrick film and flaws and all, I much prefer it to some of his acclaimed work like CLOCKWORK ORANGE and DR. STRANGELOVE. With Sydney Pollack, Marie Richardson, Leelee Sobieski, Todd Field, Thomas Gibson, Rade Serbedzija, Alan Cumming and Vinessa Shaw.
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2 comments:

  1. rcoceanApril 26, 2020 at 3:06 PM

    Great review! Frankly was shocked at how small Kidman's role was. I hope she was well paid, since Kubrick downsized her role (from the story so much). I always have a problem with Kubrick because he seems to have had "issues" with women in film. I can't think of another major director who had so few good parts for women. All his women are either sex objects, irrelevant, or given minor roles. The only ones with major roles, that I can recall, are Sue Lyons in Lolita (a 16 y/o girl) and Marie Windsor - a backstabbing floozie!

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    1. The CinemaScope CatApril 26, 2020 at 8:05 PM

      I agree that Kubrick's female characters are often problematic and in some of his films like Dr. Strangelove, Clockwork Orange, 2001 A Space Odyseey, Paths Of Glory, they're irrelevant. Other than Sue Lyon (and Shelley Winters) and Marie Windsor, I thought Jean Simmons (Spartacus) and Shelley Duvall (The Shining) were very good in substantial roles. Martin Scorsese is another director who seems to lack good female roles in his films.

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