EYES WIDE SHUT

	A film review by Gio Corsi Copyright © 1999 Gio Corsi

The Entertainment world was stunned when a few months ago, legendary director Stanley Kubrick passed away in his UK home. He left behind an incredible legacy of films, from THE SHINING and 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY to A CLOCKWORK ORANGE and FULL METAL JACKET. He was known for his professionalism and his need to be a perfectionist, hence it came as no surprise that it took almost two years to make EYES WIDE SHUT, Kubrick's final film in his illustrious career. Kubrick passed on a few months before the film was to appear to the world, and Hollywood waited with baited breathe to see if studio would tinker with the director's final three-hour vision now that he was "out of the picture", so to speak. They did not, other than a little bit of tinkering from the MPAA, the film remains true to the director's vision and stands as Kubrick's final masterpiece. This past Friday, movie-goers finally got to see what two years, millions and millions of dollars and Kubrick's first film in over 10 years would be like.

Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman play husband and wife, he a doctor, she an art dealer, they go to a Christmas party, casually flirt with other people then go home. They proceed to smoke a joint and bare souls to one another when Tom Cruise's character learns some secrets about his wife and thus over the next few days, goes on a paranoid downward spiral about the stability of their marriage and embarks on a sexual journey.

Now as with all of Kubrick's films, the main story isn't the whole story and it's obvious that he is speaking to the audience on many different levels, mentally, physically and spiritually. It's easy to get confused within the three-hours of film, it's easy to get pissed off at the film and laugh at it like an absurd waste of time, it's also easy to be bored and drown out the activity on screen and mutter to yourself, "this isn't a movie".

Well your right, this isn't a movie, it isn't Hollywood, it's Kubrick and even though he's dead, thank god he didn't change his style. I admit, that I was getting confused and upset at what I was being exposed to onscreen, at times I laughed, at times I huffed and puffed and at times I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. Afterwards, my friends and I talked about it for hours, dissecting it, trying to understand the heart of the film, what was Kubrick trying to say? After a few beers at a buddy's house, I walked home, it was three in the morning and I started to smile.

As with all of his previous films, Stanley Kubrick's success lies in the fact, that his work makes people think, it makes people want to discuss life, science, philosophy, politics and love. Like 2001 made people think about the evolution of man, like FULL METAL JACKET made people relive the true horrors of war, EYES WIDE SHUT makes you think about what it truly means to be in a relationship and in love. Now the best part is... that's what it means to me and it may mean something totally different for you, it may mean utter bullshit to you but the fact that it means something at all to you and you want to talk about it, shows that Stanley Kubrick has ended his colorful career with a successful film.

Both Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman are excellent in the film, in fact this is probably their strongest work to date. Kubrick was smart in casting a married couple as his main characters in this film since the naturalness they convey around each other makes things soothing and believable for the audience. The stoned scene in particular was one of the most realistic and enjoyable in the entire film, I constantly amazed at how in-depth it was. Kudos as well to the supporting cast, characters float in and out of the film in a realistic manner, never over-staying their welcome and never becoming a distraction. And ofcourse, Kubrick's directing is top notch, his style is very in-depth and real, like the camera is catching something that shouldn't be seen but your glad that you are seeing it all the same. He's also not afraid to keep a shot going, 10 seconds, 20 seconds sometimes even longer. In an age where films are edited at a blitzkrieg-MTV-pace, it is nice to see some films that like to keep the cuts minimal. Not only does it give you a greater appreciation for the acting but for the story as well.

Now onto the sex scenes. EYES WIDE SHUT is full of nudity, no kidding, there are naked women all over this film. The MPAA wanted to edit the large orgy scene but instead, they digitally added people and objects to cover up the naughty bits, was it needed? I don't know but you could sure tell what was digitally added. Now I have no problems with nudity and sex on-screen (no jokes please, I'm being honest) and I'd much rather see that than blood, gore and violence.

The morning after seeing EYES WIDE SHUT I watched ALIEN: RESURRECTION. In that film, there's a scene where a man gets repeatedly shot in the chest by a doctor. The man, while being shot at screams and charges the doctor and proceeds to smash his head into a steel bulkhead five times. The screaming man then picks up the bloodied doctor by the head and holds him close to his chest. The camera then goes down the throat of the screaming man and we find that he has an Alien within him. Suddenly we see the alien burst out of the screaming man's chest, into the back of the doctor's head, then out of the doctor's face in a wave of blood. Three other characters who are watching this, covered in the doctors blood, fire their weapons thus killing the alien, the faceless doctor and the bullet-ridden screaming man.

ALIEN: RESURRECTION was not rated R, EYES WIDE SHUT was. Kinda makes you think doesn't it?

	Running Time: 160 Min | Rated R | US Release: July 16th | More >>

Related 'Eyes Wide Shut' Links:

• Official Site
• Up Close With Eyes Wide Shut
• Stanley Kubrick's EYES WIDE SHUT Fan Site