Review of Eyes Wide Shut (1999) by J-Shap — 24 Aug 2011

Eyes Wide Shut is an amazing tapestry of ideas. But, alas, as a film, it fails. The problem is not solely due to the awkward performances by Cruise and Kidman, but actually due to Kubrick's own direction.

While a master of mis-en-scene, atmosphere, and visuals, Kubrick has always been an emotionally distant director. This is probably due to Kubrick's own personality, but his misanthropic tendencies work in films like Dr.

Strangelove, A Clockwork Orange, and Paths of Glory, due to his understanding of craft and touch for cold feeling that isolates the viewer when it is supposed to. He is emotionally distant in a good way, like a Radiohead song.

But while Kubrick's tactics of isolation worked in films with cold feelings and misanthropy, it fails in Eyes Wide Shut. The film is supposed to be about the inner-workings of the human brain, and specifically, the part that can bring out intense emotions.

The problem is Kubrick seems so disinterested in his own characters, as well as Cruise and Kidman, that to connect emotionally, which a character study needs, fails. It is a vast pool of ideas, but nothing to string them together.