Screenwriters: Stanley Kubrick (he either writes or co-writes most of his films) and Frederic Raphael (Far From the Madding Crowd)

Based on: The novel Traumnovelle by Arthur Schnitzler

Cast: Mr and Mrs Tom Cruise

Synopsis: A doctor (Cruise) and his museum curator wife (Kidman) find themselves drawn into a strange sexual underworld, that includes both of them tempted by sexual relations with other people. The resulting trip leads this couple on a dizzying psychological voyage into their own identities and their relationship.

Eyes Wide Shut starts with scenes of married couple Dr. Bill Harford (Cruise) and wife Alice (Kidman) as they prepare for a swank New York party held by one of Bill's clients (Pollack), where they each meet someone who makes the other suspicious. This plants seeds of doubt that eventually send Dr. Bill out into the night. Starting with a scene in front of a mirror, like Alice through the Looking Glass, Dr. Bill meets a series of people who seem to inhabit a different reality than the coziness of his married life. Out there in the real world, he has only his memory of his marriage to cling to, and even that is clouded by doubt and imagined suspicion.

My Say

If Titanic gathered much buzz for being one of the most expensive films ever made, Eyes Wide Shut is gaining similar notoriety for being one of the longest-filmed movies ever, as the shoot lasted nearly two years, including a near total re-shoot after director extraordinaire Stanley Kubrick decided to recast the two main supporting parts.

Dr. Bill does end up in a cult-like sexual orgy where all of the participants wear dream-like masks (and most wear cloaks). The English translation of Traumnovelle is "dream story", and like many of Kubrick's trademark scenes, this sequence does have an off-kilter dreamlike tension.  It is also during this sequence that the publicized 60 seconds of computer-cloaked sex scenes (in the US) appear, and though I was impressed with how seamless the obscurity is, I do think that this technique was unnecessary. For all of you who wanted to have a full view of the orgy scene, it would be extremely disappointing to know that Singapore strict and as usual censors( read: senseless) chose to remove the scene from the movie. So, in Singapore, just like in the States, we're left with a scene of voyeurism in which we don't see what Cruise sees, and as such the audience doesn't share in the experience as Kubrick must've intended.

As Dr. Bill, Tom Cruise is like an alien from another world or time witnessing things which fascinate and confuse him. It's easy to see why this film took so long to film, as each dramatic moment is timed and phrased with such exactitude. The set design, costuming, cinematography, and music are all lushly and finely detailed, and each are among the best we've seen in years. I was especially entranced by the piano-key pouncing used to highlight confusion or danger... they feel like springs in Dr. Bill's mind about to burst. Those looking for trademark Kubrickian symbolism (rainbows, doormen, masks) will certainly find plenty to reflect upon.

In casting Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman for these roles, a strange mixture was concocted which brings the artistic vision of one of our greatest directors together with our brightest star power. Combined with a publicity assault, this means that many people are going to attend this film who normally would never see what is at its heart an "arthouse film". This has both positive and negative side effects... while it's nice to see this film playing in places it might not have otherwise, it also means that some people unused to being challenged or even offended by cinema are going to attend this film and some of them might not "get it". I would suggest however, that it would be great if this film does very well as it might open the door to more "arthouse" films with star power reaching wide audiences.

As the credits roll past and finally, the words "The End" appear, and we know it's the last time we're going to see a Kubrick film on the big screen. Fortunately, Eyes Wide Shut is a powerful and effective film, with his vision painted on the screen with care and in lush detail. It's a challenging trip into a strange land... and worth it.

In a world that is increasingly publicly obsessed with sexuality and the darker sides of humanity, can the old-fashioned model of a monogamous married couple persist? This is just one interpretation of this final haunting masterpiece, but is a good place to start. For a film which has attracted so much attention for its sexuality, at its heart, it is essentially a rather moral tale. 

    (One tick off because of the overly artistic content which failed to convince many other viewers)

"B"                  Bua Pai!! 

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Nicole: "Tom, I have forgotten to do the laundry"