December 19: Eyes Wide Shut

Eyes Wide Shut

In what would prove to be the coda to Stanley Kubrick’s masterful career, Eyes Wide Shut demanded an immersive level of commitment and trust from the director’s stars – Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman – during the film’s grueling 15-month shoot in England. The two stars moved beyond their big screen charisma in order to inhabit their characters, peeling away at the psychological layers of trust and loyalty that protects the heart of a marriage. Set in Greenwich Village (recreated at Pinewood Studios in London) and beautifully captured by Larry Smith (Kubrick’s gaffer on Barry Lyndon and The Shining), Cruise plays Dr. Bill Harford, who feels betrayed after his wife Alice (Nicole Kidman) confesses that she fantasized about having sex with another man, sending Bill into a dream-like excursion of sexual enticement and mystery, including masquerading into a secret society where sex is treated with a cult like indulgence – putting himself and his marriage in danger. A film that Martin Scorsese called “misunderstood,” Eyes Wide Shut creates a slow burn of discomfort that plays foil to the eroticism, sexual tension, and temptation that Kubrick explores.

“Eyes Wide Shut is above all a masterpiece of sustained tone, a tightrope act that pays off in rich and unexpected ways.” – Nathan Rabin, AV Club

“Mr. Kubrick left one more brilliantly provocative tour de force as his epitaph.” – Janet Maslin, The New York Times

Kim Morgan discusses Eyes Wide Shut on the New Beverly blog.