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Eyes Wide Shut
DVD Review by Yanman |
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"No dream is ever just a dream." To be honest I have to admit that, with rare exceptions, (The Shining comes to mind), I am not much of a Stanley Kubrick fan. No other review on this web site has generated as much controversy as my 2001: A Space Odyssey DVD review. Unlike 2001 however, I do understand the plot and story of Eyes Wide Shut, so it is for a different reason that I don't really like this film. Just like a slasher film that overuses violence and blood, when it is possible to tell the same story without it (or at least with less), Eyes Wide Shut overuses sex beyond its need. Moreover, this is the US censored version, at that. Now, don't get me wrong, I like sex-- in movies that is (O.K. not just in movies). I just get the feeling that some of the scenes are here to add to the controversy, not to add to the movie. If this was the goal that Kubrick set out to achieve however, well then, mission accomplished. Dr. William Harford (Tom Cruise) and his wife Alice (Nicole Kidman) spend an evening together at an upscale Christmas party. When they get separated, they each spend time in the company of beautiful strangers. When the party is later discussed while "smoking a little weed," Alice reveals that she has in the past had impure thoughts of other men. Although she has never acted on them, old Dr. Bill still feels the need to get revenge (I guess he has never had any impure thoughts?). First stop, a lonely friend, then a hooker, but to no avail. When Bill runs into the piano player from the first party, who happens to be an old acquaintance, he gives Bill the opportunity he thinks he is looking for, an exclusive "sex party". If the good Dr. is not ready for what he sees, then he is really not ready for what comes next… The video is very grainy here; rumor is that "That's the way that Stanley wanted it." Video is presented in "the full aspect ratio of the original camera negative, as Stanley Kubrick intended" better known as open mat. The layer change of this RSDL disc happens at 1:25:25-- right in the middle of a scene, but is not really distracting. The 5.1 Dolby Digital soundtrack is understated through most of the film, with music being the exception. The music does fill the room with haunting chants and off key piano music. As with most dialog intense movies, it is the center speaker that will get the greatest workout here. Interviews with Cruise, Kidman, and Steven Spielberg talking about Kubrick mark the only real extras on board. Due to the untimely death of the director of Eyes Wide Shut, we will never truly know if the commercial US release, its editing, or this DVD version would have lived up to his true vision. Of this we can be sure, my lack of appreciation of this film is just as Stanley Kubrick intended.
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Eyes Wide Shut Eyes Wide Shut overuses sex beyond its need. Staring: Tom Cruise Directed By: Stanley Kubrick Running time: 159 Min Bonus Materials
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