MOVIE OF THE (HALF) MONTH - MAY 2017 - EYES WIDE SHUT (1999)

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No. Secret societies are necessarily paranoid and careful.

Also, the movie obviously exists in some kind of heightened reality. You accept that heightened reality by watching it. It can still be plausible or implausible, but that plausibility cannot be measured by comparing it to the real world. This is a broad rule across filmmaking that I think preemptively addresses most of these kinds of questions.



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Oh okay thanks, but what about it though makes it a heightened reality, aside from the secret society? Is that the only element?



The entire movie is dreamlike and stylized. It doesn't feel like reality at any point. It feels like a dream, like a fog. The lighting is extreme and varied. The characters are mysterious and fickle.

Contrast that with something like When Harry Met Sally, which is clearly meant to feel like ordinary people going through real situations. It's shot in a much simpler, more realistic style. It shows them having lunch, at batting cages, chatting. Most of it's well-lit and clear. The characters have clearly defined personality traits and desires, and are relatable.

Both films are telling you how to watch them, and priming you for which kinds of liberties with reality they may or may not take.



@ironpony, yes, they would really feel threatened by Bill. He wasn’t invited, yet he persuaded the unlucky Nick Nightingale to get him in. They don’t know if he figured out who any them were. Careers & lives would be ruined through exposure. He already has something on the Sidney Pollack character.
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The entire movie is dreamlike and stylized.
And it’s not even the real streets of Manhattan, which had me completely fooled. All done on a set in England.



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@ironpony, yes, they would really feel threatened by Bill. He wasn’t invited, yet he persuaded the unlucky Nick Nightingale to get him in. They don’t know if he figured out who any them were. Careers & lives would be ruined through exposure. He already has something on the Sidney Pollack character.
What did he have on the Sydney Pollack character though? The Pollack character told him he was there. So he gave himself away voluntarily, rather than feeling threatened that the guy had something on him.



And it’s not even the real streets of Manhattan, which had me completely fooled. All done on a set in England.

It was so freaking obvious that movie was not filmed in Manahattan



What did he have on the Sydney Pollack character though? The Pollack character told him he was there. So he gave himself away voluntarily, rather than feeling threatened that the guy had something on him.
Bill the doctor treated the young girl when she overdosed upstairs at Pollack’s party. She later died.



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But if Pollack has a girl overdose at his party, than doesn't it just look worse for him of he tells the doctor, oh by the way, I am a member of that sex orgy group too? Isn't he just giving more away then?



⬆️ I think he was just calling Bill’s bluff. Showing he wasn’t scared of anything Bill could reveal.



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Yeah okay that makes sense. Thanks. As for NYC, not looking like NYC, would it have been better, if they had just set it in an unamed city, like Seven did, or something like that, rather than going for NYC?



It looked totally like Manhattan. Who said it didn’t? Any movie set in Manhattan is fine with me. That’s what at least made some of the movie for me. Their beautiful apartment, for one.



I like the Bal scenes, and the women have amazing bodies , especially the one who loves tom cruise s character in the film



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I watched the movie again and I have to ask, what did the suplot with the prostitute have to do with the rest of the story?

WARNING: "spoiler" spoilers below
The part about having HIV? Was this to put Bill in his place, that you don't have extramarital sex, or was this meant to affect the story in another way?



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Someone bring back the Movie of the Month thread and get people engaged!!!!
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Someone bring back the Movie of the Month thread and get people engaged!!!!
That's a good idea and I nominate @ironpony to go first by picking February's Movie of the Month.

Seriously it's a great idea to re-animate the MotM.



I watched the movie again and I have to ask, what did the suplot with the prostitute have to do with the rest of the story?

WARNING: "spoiler" spoilers below
The part about having HIV? Was this to put Bill in his place, that you don't have extramarital sex, or was this meant to affect the story in another way?
Who knows? The way I saw it was Bill taking risks. Talking to a prostitute, going to her place, returning to her place. Then Bill nagging Nick for the password to his late-night gig, renting a costume, getting a ride there, pretending he was invited, etc. Was he bored? Insecure? Not totally fulfilled in his medical profession?



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Oh okay maybe. I also noticed that in that secret sex club, you see a lot of naked women walking around, but not naked men, unless they are having sex. But when it comes to just walking around and mingling, the women are naked but not the men. I wonder, was Kubrick just more comfortable with female nudity, compared to male, or what would be the reason for being more pro female nudity, compared to male?



LOL, men don’t look that attractive in the nude. Genitals are not the most attractive look on a man.

Also, IIRC, weren’t the women bare-breasted, but also wore thongs for the most part? Didn’t the woman who warned him wear a thong?



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But it's not about looking attractive though. This is suppose to be a dark and depraved sexual society, so having naked men as well, would have just added to that. By making it naked women only, they are trying to create a 'safer' dark and and depraved world, and who wants safer in a movie like this?