And to cap off both the class of ’99 and this year in reviews, I take a look at the final film of a director whose influence across the latter half of the 20th century stretched far. Stanley Kubrick died after only showing a cut of this one, with some ideas of his never to be realized, or realized by others—and while his final piece had somewhat mixed reception 25 years ago, it certainly seems to be gaining more of a following as time goes on, not unlike some of his others in fact. And with this one taking place in late December no less, it’s no better time to discuss Eyes Wide Shut.
Based on a 1920s Austrian novel, Kubrick as he often did merely used source material to do his very own specific spin on something. Here instead of Vienna we go to New York City on the turn of the millennium (a NYC that’s a few London streets dressed up, though with meticulous detail as you may expect) with Tom Cruise here playing a doctor mingling with high society and all the things that come with that, like party drug overdoses.
Cruise…well, this was the one time were a director actually managed to bend an actor to his own will, for not even the powers of Scientology could seemingly overcome the Kubrick Glare. Originally Harrison Ford was slated for this one, but while he does come off ever so slightly awkward here, that does work somewhat for Cruise in this case, as someone who ends up way in over his head.
Alongside Cruise we have Nicole Kidman, his wife—the plot getting started when while high one evening she confides to him that, shock, she in fact once fantasized about another man. This is intercut with slightly hilarious sex scenes beforehand, and that revelation seemingly shocks Cruise enough to send him on a dazed stroll through the streets. Truthfully, the first half isn’t necessarily Kubrick’s best—lots of rambling about the stereotypes of sex and all that, and Cruise often being hit on out of nowhere. And, as often with the Hubbard Messiah sometimes, being a bit awkward about it.
That being said I do like the atmosphere of just wondering around wintery city streets, with all the oddballs and unpleasant sorts you might bump into—and the plot does finally get into gear when Cruise meets a musician friend of his (Todd Field) that sends him to a rather mysterious gathering in a fancy estate somewhere. Now this is the part that everyone talks about—a masquerade meets orgy drenched in unsettling atmosphere, between distorted orthodox chanting and a paranoid sense of dread hanging over it all. We’re only given hints at to what it all is until the very end, and between certain revelations in the 25 years since, it does feel unnervingly all the more possible than it did back in ’99. This sort of bleak strangeness is oh so exactly what you want from Kubrick in a thing like this.
The remainder of the film deals with the fallout from this, as our lead tries to scramble out the truth of what’s going on—and we do get some curveballs as to this. Indeed, we get some ambiguity as to the reality of any of it—and that did seem to be a recurring theme in films from around this time. That surreal atmosphere is finally what lets you get into this film after a slow start, and it’s done well that you can imagine yourself in it all too well.
And then it ends on that note of ambiguity…undercut I guess by a very blunt reminder of the seeming theme at play here. That leaves Eyes Wide Shut as a somewhat mixed bag that takes a while to kick off, oscillating between awkwardness and actually being very atmospheric—but as always with Kubrick, there’s certainly stuff to unpack for it all. It’s not his best, but its highlights are quite something.
Following his death, Kubrick’s project AI: Artificial Intelligence was adapted by Spielberg—with mixed results, as both directors seemed to be trying for one another’s style with that one ironically. But his legacy lives on, with a lot of his projects just as pertinent or moreso in the 21st century.
And that goes for other films from the end of the last one—as eyes drew out to the new millennium for what may come. There’s still plenty from 1999 I didn’t get to and may cover in the future, but for next year, there’s plenty others I also intend to look at. Happy 2025, and stay tuned for more nattering…
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