Despite being released in one of the greatest years for contemporary cinema, 1999, Eyes Wide Shut seemed, at the time, unable to break free of the weighty expectations surrounding its release.
This was Stanley Kubrick’s final film, with a final cut delivered only six days before his passing. It had a notorious fifteen-month-long shoot. Then ushered into cinemas with a marketing campaign promising an erotic thriller starring the then-married A-List couple Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman.
That is why its 4K remastered re-release is the perfect time to revisit and re-evaluate this misunderstood and underrated classic.
Eyes Wide Shut really feels like a divergent moment for its actors. Not only did they go their separate ways personally shortly after, but it was also a major turning point for them professionally. After a double bill of this and an Oscar-nominated turn in Magnolia, Cruise would spend the majority of the next twenty-six years with his leading roles coming in the form of Mission Impossible sequels. Kidman, however, built a career leaning into more challenging lead roles in diverse films such as Moulin Rouge, The Others, Dogville, Birth, Babygirl, and winning an Oscar for The Hours.
Kidman steals every scene she is in. Delivering not only an alluring screen presence, but one of the greatest final lines in cinema history. However, this is Cruise’s cinematic odyssey. Kubrick was well-documented for putting his leading men, and the rest of the cast, through the wringer during filming, but it bore some excellent fruit.
Like Bill, Cruise was pushed out of his comfort zone. Outside of films like Collateral and The Last Samurai, it arguably took until Digger for him to return to playing against type, or teaming with an iconic director with a unique style. Thus allowing the actor to come before the movie star. The result is one of his greatest performances. One full of fear, paranoia, and, rarely for Cruise, vulnerability. He is not in control of his own story.
Despite seemingly having it all (a beautiful wife and daughter, a great job, an amazing Manhattan apartment), Harper is a deeply insecure individual. He is jealous of his wife’s only-imagined infidelity, and wishes that he were more involved in the high society that he skirts around the periphery of. His misguided attempts to work through both problems lead to a dark, dangerous descent into a world that he neither understands nor belongs in.
The infamous orgy sequence at the masked ball is purposefully not erotic, despite what the marketing led you to believe. It is eerie, unnerving, and uncomfortable to watch. The audience experiences the same emotions that Bill does.
Eyes Wide Shut feels like Kubrick’s twisted version of Scorsese’s After Hours, following a man as he navigates an unforgettable and eventful evening while encountering a rogues’ gallery of crazy characters. The director conjures up a dream-like state in which the characters float through at a slow, steady, somewhat methodical pace. The protagonist is not in control. The story’s rhythm is dictated by external forces, including the director himself. Kubrick even gave New York City a rare otherworldly feel, perhaps not that surprising given the fact that the entire film was shot in England and Pinewood Studios.
Just as Cruise’s character is told to stop looking for answers, this is a film where it is best to let the weirdness wash over you and give yourself over to this masked Manhattan masterpiece, even if the mystery is not wrapped up in a pretty bow by the end.
Speaking of bows, it would be remiss not to mention how Eyes Wide Shut has become an alternative Christmas classic. After all, what is more Christmassy than fighting with your family and escaping the madhouse for a different type of madness?
4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Special Features
- The Last Movie: Stanley Kubrick and Eyes Wide Shut
- Lost Kubrick: The Unfinished Films of Stanley Kubrick
- DGA D.W. Griffith Award Acceptance Speech, 1998
- Interviews with Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, and Steven Spielberg
- Theatrical Trailers and TV Spots
Eyes Wide Shut is available on 4K from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment now.
