Stanley Kubrick made only 13 feature films in a career that started with 1955’s ‘Killers Kiss’ and would end in 1999 with ‘Eyes Wide Shut’. By that time the intervals between his films were getting longer and longer and when he made Eyes Wide Shut it would be 12 years since his penultimate film ‘Full Metal Jacket’. Not only was the interval between films getting longer but the shoot themselves were getting longer and at over 400 days ‘Eyes Wide Shut’ was the longest.
As had become the norm for Kubrick he was laborious in his search for material to film and projects had come and gone often with a huge amount of research having been done but it was the book, Traumnovelle by Arthur Schnitzler that had caught his attention.
Eyes Wide Shut….
Kubrick along with Frederic Raphael wrote the screenplay that saw a married couple entangled in an intricate web of jealousy and sexual obsession that starts at a Christmas party hosted by wealthy, unconventional Victor Ziegler (played by Sydney Pollack who purportedly replaced Harvey Keitel), provocative advances and innocent flirtations arouse suspicion as high-society physician Dr. William Harford (Tom Cruise) and his sexy wife, Alice (Nicole Kidman) watch each other from a distance. Alone later, this seemingly perfect couple confront their intimate sexual fantasies – which don’t include each other. Caught between reality and illusion, jealousy and obsession, William struggles with his inner urges. Will he act on his erotic fantasies or keep them hidden deep inside? Sometimes a man can see more clearly with his Eyes Wide Shut.
With a supporting cast that included Vinessa Shaw (3:10 to Yuma) and Rade Serbedgia (Batman Begins) along with appearances by Leelee Sobieski and our own Alan Cumming as well as a remarkable, hypnotic score by Jocelyn Pook, the dreamlike visuals and sumptuous set pieces look absolutely marvellous in this new 4K UHD release and Kubrick fans will be able to savour his breath taking attention.
Behind the scenes….
Kubrick had wrestled over his casting of the couple and initially had considered Steve Martin and his wife Victoria Tennant but by the time the film was approaching production the pair had already divorced. And so the role fell to Tom Cruise and his then wife Nicole Kidman albeit their marriage would also end within two years of the film being released.
Anticipation for the film was huge powered both by it being Kubrick’s first film in over a decade but also the rumoured sexually explicit nature of the film (which was actually tame for a pre internet age). A lengthy edit processing saw Kubrick deliver the film to Warners on the 3rd March. Tragically, four days later he unexpectedly died aged just 70 years old never to see the public’s reaction to what was now his last film
Released first in the US o16th July 1999 before it rolled out international reaction to the film was mixed but the directors name combined with the power couple that starred saw the film earn $162m.
Bonus features….
Released for the first time on 4K UHD Eyes Wide Shut Blu-ray Disc contains the following new special features:
– Channel Four Documentary The Last Movie: Stanley Kubrick and Eyes Wide Shut
– New Featurette Lost Kubrick: The Unfinished Films of Stanley Kubrick
– Interview Gallery Featuring Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman and Steven Spielberg
– Kubrick’s 1998 Directors Guild of America D.W. Griffith Award Acceptance Speech
– Theatrical Trailer & TV Spots
The film looks as sumptuous as might be expected with the directors usual fastidious attention to detail and the bonus features are fine the best being the Channel Four documentary but in common with all of the recent releases of Kubrick’s films it misses input from cast and crew on a commentary track. It seems a missed opportunity to have had input from the films key departments whether it be DoP Larry Smith (in what was his first film in that position), co-writer Frederic Raphael or perhaps best of all Kubrick’s right had man Leon Vitali though he regrettably passed away in 2022 and having interviewed him some years ago we can vouch for him and his incredible wealth of behind the scenes stories. Of course best of all would be Cruise and Kidman but that would be both unlikely and hugely expensive.
Eyes Wide Shut though never being in the same league as Kubrick’s masterpiece 2001 or crowd pleasers like The Shining is nonetheless well worth a look in what was typically for the director like nothing he had done before.
related feature : Kubrick’s assistant Leon Vitali and the deleted Shining & Dr Strangelove scenes | Where are they?
related feature : Stanley Kubrick rules for Tom Cruise & Nicole Kidman
Here’s the trailer…..
