Eyes Wide Shut Review
First of all, if you haven't seen this movie and plan on watching it, do not read this review. It contains spoilers. I usually don't do reviews with spoilers, but I assume that most people on this site have seen this movie, and I'd like to give my opinion on the movie and what I thought some of it meant. But, I'd also like to hear about what you thought of the movie. I really want to discuss this movie and what you thought some of it meant, because I feel that there are many ways to interpret this film. So, I would like to hear everyone's opinions on this movie, good or bad, just be honest. So, without further ado, here is my review of Eyes Wide Shut.
I was completely stunned by this film. The first time I watch any Kubrick movie, it always leaves me stunned, thinking about what it all means. This movie was no different. I was completely hypnotized to what was on the screen. Kubrick has always been great at capturing the viewers attention and keeping them immersed in the film they're watching.
Here's just a quick recap on the story. Tom Cruise plays Dr. William Harford, a "happily" married doctor who has women basically hanging off of him all the time. But he resists his urges, for the most part. His wife, Alice Harford,(played by Nicole Kidman) is looking for a job at the time the story takes place, and she basically just looks after their daughter Helena. Alice stays true to her husband also, mostly. One night, Alice tells Bill that at one time she almost cheated on him with a sailor from the navy. She talks about her fantasy with this man and how she would have given up everything to be with him, even if just for one night. At this time, Bill receives a phone call about a friend who just passed away, and has to go attend to the matters. Once he is done there, he goes roaming around the bad neighborhoods of New York. He finds many things, but to save time I'll just mention the main one. He finds his old friend from medical school who now plays piano. His friend tells him about a secret club he plays piano at, and Bill is intrigued. He finds a costume and a mask and he sneaks his way into the club and sees that it is basically a cult. Everyone is gathered around when naked women find "partners" to take and do sexual activities with. Eventually the people in the club find out that Bill is not supposed to be there. A woman chooses to "sacrifice" herself in order to save Bill. Bill is scared, but also still curious as to the mystery of this strange club. He goes on a hunt to find out what happened to the girl, and what happened to his friend the piano player.
That is the main story, but we will discuss certain points in the discussion later. For now, lets talk about acting.
Tom Cruise was pretty good in this movie. You can see his anger, frustration, and jealousy with his wife, and you can see that in a way he wants to get "revenge" by cheating with another woman. Towards the end of the movie, you can really see the obsession his character has with finding out what happened, almost to the point of madness. I thought he gave a great performance.
What I can say about Nicole Kidman is that she was great when she was onscreen. For the first part of the movie she is a very main part of the story and has many long scenes of dialogue that are delivered well. She did a great job of playing a wife who has a lot to hide. But towards the middle of the movie she sort of just becomes another oblivious housewife to what her husband is doing. She showed great emotional scenes and acting at the beginning but by the middle she's sort of just another character.
The camera work in this movie, as is with the rest of Kubrick's movies, is phenomenal. The camera follows the characters around with at one time grace and beauty and then at another time with menacing fright. At the beginning of the movie the camera is up close and personal and follows the characters with a style of happiness and levity. But when things start going wrong, the camera starts following at a further distance, giving us the impression that our characters are being followed or watched. Also, the lighting changes a lot from the beginning. In the beginning of the film the lighting is bright and warm. But towards the middle and end the lighting becomes darker and darker, showing us how the two characters relationship was bright and happy at one point, and is now beginning to take a dark, dreadful turn. The mood of this movie is fantastic. You feel extremely uneasy at certain times and just sort of creeped out. It works really well.
I had a few problems with this movie. I feel that it was a bit over long. The scene at the beginning when Alice is dancing with the older man seemed to go on way too long. And I think that the scene where Bill goes to see the deceased man was unnecessarily too long also. I understand that it was needed to help move the story along, but after the scene is finished there's no expanding upon the woman he met there or just about anything that took place when he was there. It was strictly a scene to move the story along and for that reason I think it should have been shorter. I also thought that the final line in the movie was anticlimactic and strange and didn't really fit in with the rest of the mood of the scene.
Overall, Eyes Wide Shut was extremely interesting and held my attention. The camera work and lighting were great. The performances were good for the most part and of course Kubrick directed it well, even though it's certainly not his best work. But it was overlong and some of the characters lost some of their emotional power as the movie went on. This movie left me with a lot to think about and a lot to analyze. That's why I have made this a discussion also. I want to know more about this movie and I will discuss my views on some of the symbolism and deeper meaning of the movie soon. For now, my overall rating of Eyes Wide Shut is
Feel free to discuss the movie or the review. Any helpful criticism is greatly appreciated.
Reply to Topic
