Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Stanley Kubrick

Writers:

Arthur Schnitzler (novel)
Stanley Kubrick (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

16 July 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Cruise. Kidman. Kubrick.

Plot:

A New York City doctor, who is married to an art curator, pushes himself on a harrowing and dangerous night-long odyssey of sexual and moral discovery after his wife admits that she once almost cheated on him.

Plot Keywords:

Party | Patient | Doctor | Sex | Sexual Fantasy

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 4 wins & 15 nominations

Cast

Tom Cruise	...	Dr. William 'Bill' Harford
Nicole Kidman	...	Alice Harford
Madison Eginton	...	Helena Harford
Jackie Sawiris	...	Roz
Sydney Pollack	...	Victor Ziegler
Leslie Lowe	...	Illona Ziegler
Peter Benson	...	Bandleader
Todd Field	...	Nick Nightingale
Michael Doven	...	Ziegler's Secretary
Sky Dumont	...	Sandor Szavost
Louise J. Taylor	...	Gayle (as Louise Taylor)
Stewart Thorndike	...	Nuala
Randall Paul	...	Harris
Julienne Davis	...	Amanda 'Mandy' Curran
Lisa Leone	...	Lisa

Also Known As:

EWS (USA) (promotional abbreviation)
Rhapsody (UK) (working title)
Traumnovelle (USA) (working title)
Ojos bien cerrados (Argentina) (Mexico) (Peru) (Uruguay) [es]
De Olhos Bem Fechados (Brazil) (Portugal) [pt]
я ьХПНЙН гЮЙПШРШЛХ цКЮГЮЛХ (Russia) [ru]
Eyes Wide Shut (Denmark) [da]
Eyes Wide Shut (Spain) [es]
Eyes Wide Shut (France) [fr]
Eyes Wide Shut (Germany) [de]
Eyes Wide Shut (Portugal) [pt]
Eyes Wide Shut (Finland) [fi]
Gözü tamamen kapali (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Les yeux grands fermés (Canada: French title) [fr]
Matia ermitika kleista (Greece) [el]
Oci sirom zatvorene (Croatia) [hr]
Oczy szeroko zamkniete (Poland) [pl]
S shiroko zakritimi glazami (Armenia) [hy]
Spalující touha (Czech Republic) [cs]
Tágra zárt szemek (Hungary) [hu]

MPAA:

Rated R for strong sexual content, nudity, language and some drug-related material.

Runtime:

159 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:14 | Iceland:16 (video rating) | Brazil:18 | Australia:R (TV rating) | Singapore:R21 (re-rating) (cut) | Argentina:18 | Australia:X (original rating) | Belgium:KNT | Canada:18+ (Quebec) | Canada:18A (Alberta/British Columbia) | Canada:18 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:R (Manitoba/Ontario) | Chile:18 | Denmark:16 | Finland:K-16 | France:Unrated (original rating) | Germany:16 (bw) | Hong Kong:III | Ireland:18 | Israel:18 | Italy:VM14 | Japan:R-18 | Malaysia:(Banned) | Netherlands:12 | New Zealand:R18 | Norway:15 | Peru:18 | Philippines:R-18 | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:R(A) (original rating) (cut) | South Korea:(Banned) (original rating) | South Korea:18 (re-rating) (edited version) | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | Taiwan:R-18 | UK:18 | USA:R (cut version) | USA:NC-17 (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Berners Street, Fitzrovia, London, England, UK

Company:

Hobby Films

Trivia:

Director Trademark: [Stanley Kubrick] [114]The room in the morgue visited by Bill is in wing C, room 114 (C-Rm114, or CRM-114). CRM-114 was the name of the decoding machine in Kubrick's film Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964), as well as the number printed on the medicine that Alex is given in A Clockwork Orange (1971).

Goofs:

Continuity: When Bill walks into the mansion, the satyr-head door knocker vanishes when the camera cuts to the interior.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Dr. Bill Harford: Honey, have you seen my wallet?
Alice Harford: Isn't it on the bedside table?
Dr. Bill Harford: Now listen, you know we're running a little late.
Alice Harford: I know. How do I look?
Dr. Bill Harford: Perfect.
Alice Harford: Is my hair okay?
Dr. Bill Harford: It's great
Alice Harford: You're not even looking at it.
Dr. Bill Harford: It's beautiful. You always look beautiful.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "Saturday Night Live: Jennifer Aniston/Sting (#25.6)" (1999)

Soundtrack:

Musica Ricercata II: Mesto, Rigido e Cerimonale

Kubrick's finest achievement

One of the most under-rated films of the decade, Eyes Wide Shut is a brilliant masterpiece, from the very opening of the film to its very end. Kubrick succeeds in what many good filmmakers failed before him- and conveys a beautiful imagery of our state of dreams, full of sexual symbolism and other dream-like symbols (notice the stop signs in the streets in front of Tom Cruise), and creates a feeling of total wandering; although consistent, due to the fact that every scene and dialogue is vital and neccecary for the film's development.

Moreover, Kubrick's use of music is even more genius than always, and Ligeti's motif from Musica Ricercarta shows us the repetitive nature of dreams, together with a feeling that we don't know where to go next.

And of course there is a note of marriage life, men's sexuality (and the attempt to deny women's sexuality) and the very fine acting of Cruise and Kidman, which was a postlude of there own relationship.

For me, this is the finest, most perfect film of Kubrick, and therefore one of the best films of all. A must see! 10/10