Review of Eyes Wide Shut (1999) by Richard N — 24 Jan 2015

Okay, so, I just saw this film, after hearing about its "Illuminati" unveilings for a few years, and being a casual admirer of Kubrick. Usually I have experienced Kubrick's movies as very profound, but with "glacial" pacing and somewhat tiresome to watch. Not with this one. It kept me fully engaged throughout, and I was sad to see it end. Throughout it, I actually felt proud of Kubrick for managing to make a modern-feeling movie.

My one complaint is that I don't identify with the characters. All of them felt pretty stupid to me. Nicole Kidman in particular seemed stupid for getting angry at Tom Cruise for even wanting to bone some other flirtatious women-- as if men don't lust after women even if they're married. What's her problem? Especially after she was flirting with another man at the same damn party. But I guess my complaint is with the conventions of society rather than the film.

I don't really care about whatever statements it's making about extra-marital desires. It was fun and intriguing to watch.

The "orgy" everyone talks about was not really explicit. It was rather just fascinating, and stands alone in the movie like some sort of dream. You see plenty of breasts in this movie, but it's really not sexual. Tom Cruise is just an observer.

So, the main intrigue is that Tom Cruise gets interested in some secret party that his piano-playing friend regularly gets hired to play blind-folded at. He gets the password and address, and decides to just show up in costume.

It's said to resemble an "Illuminati" party. At a later point, a character says that you'd flip if you heard what names were actually attending. This bizarre look into a higher, more pagan form of society is the intrigue of the movie, but unfortunately, it's the only glimpse you get. After that, they're just on Tom Cruise's ass for unlawfully attending it.

It's interesting to think what Stanley Kubrick might have actually witnessed as inspiration for this film. But the film doesn't say anything about it beyond that. Yeah, so maybe there's really high-up people who like spooky parties and rituals and take everything really seriously. So what? With this movie, Kubrick tries to give a glimpse into a higher, more serious class of people, but it doesn't go beyond that. I don't think Kubrick was revealing anything significant with this movie-- though, maybe he thought so.

Nevertheless, it's really fun to watch. I felt like I got a taste of raw NewYork in doing so. Tom Cruise is a likeable character to experience it though. He always gets his way by pulling out his Doctor license. Overall, I'd recommend it for the fun experience, rather than whatever profound statement it's trying to make. I was pleasantly surprised at its sense of realism.

I can't imagine what could have possibly been cut from it. It seems like a very calculated whole, with nothing missing.