Directed by:
Stanley KubrickCinematography:
Larry SmithComposer:
Jocelyn PookCast:
Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Jackie Sawiris, Sydney Pollack, Todd Field, Sky du Mont, Marie Richardson, Thomas Gibson, Vinessa Shaw, Rade Serbedzija, Togo Igawa (more)VOD (3)
Plots(1)
Tom Cruise stars as Bill Harford, a doctor who becomes obsessed with a sexual fantasy that his wife, Alice (Nicole Kidman), confesses to him. Although the fantasy (involving a naval officer) occurred only in Alice's mind, Bill can't get it out of his own head; his obsession leads him through a series of potential sexual encounters, each one surrounded by the specter of death. His whole world threatens to unravel as he falls deeper and deeper into a web of mystery, lies, and deceit. (official distributor synopsis)
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Reviews (13)
Finally! I've finally gotten to see this film by my beloved director Stanley Kubrick. I've been avoiding it, perhaps because of the subject matter. But I'm glad I finally watched it. It's not Kubrick's best film, but I just love the visuals and acting. And I'm not talking about naked women. This is about getting into someone's head, and it's not a pretty journey, even though it's bloodless. That makes it all the more depressing.
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The master's wonderful farewell to the world of film and to the world as such... What does he leave behind as a testament? An exciting, erosive and mysteriously poignant essay, a parable of the inconspicuous crisis of a relationship between two people who are pushed apart for a moment by one dream, one feeling. Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman's fascinating duet is primarily a sign of the visual superiority of the former, but better convincingness of the latter. Dr. William Hartford, an inherently happy, contented and confident man, learns one fine evening from his wife about an unrealized love adventure, and this story, rather an unfulfilled dream, gives him the impetus to go on a surreal and unreal journey for temptation, to soothe his painful male ego. During this journey, he slowly ceases to be himself and becomes a man who wears a mask... and, surrounded by pleasure, perversion, and pervasive temptation, he eventually becomes involved in a strange game that is full of dangers and unknowns. And even his mask can't protect him from the inevitable. Kubrick is as disturbing and suggestive as ever, the atmosphere of pre-Christmas New York adds a great inner strength to his film with geysers of gaudy colors, beautiful female nakedness and a story of tremendous inner strength. Every shot is a delight. Sensual, riveting. The acting... fantastic. The music – minimalist, fitting. A masterful parable with one single point...fucking. Fact. Dream. Agitated perception. Deep dreaming. Eyes wide shut.
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I was waiting to watch this movie for an awfully long time. And when it finally happened, I had a hard time to accept its poetics for the first twenty minutes of the movie. The storytelling is slow and intensive but after half an hour it gets faster and it turns into a decent psychological flick with a mysterious atmosphere of 90s thrillers. After all I have to admit it was pretty clear that this is Stanley Kubrick’s film. Sometimes I felt I was not watching Eyes Wide Shut but The Shinning sequel. The camera shots or an intensive piano music confirmed that this film is again a completely unique experience for the audience. The end could have been a bit more daring and it didn’t have to end with simple ‘fuck’ but otherwise it was great. True Kubrick. It’s hard to find similar directors nowadays…
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Heavy calibre. As a wise old saying goes, "It's not art to tame pelican once, but to ride it" (okay, not that old), and I don't know of a better film that could so flawlessly put that into practice. The story, brimming with sexuality, keeps you in check the whole time, and you not only can't let go under the weight of the hypnotic dialogues and atmosphere, but you won’t even want to. What is the story about? About unfulfilled desires in life, about a crisis of sexual identity, about the nature of the universe? I can’t say, and honestly, I don’t care, because when someone can so grandly captivate you with the very tone of the narrative and delight you with the most amazing filmmaking art in history, you don't even want to dig deeper into that captivating splendour. The best imaginable epitaph for a brilliant artist and visionary. The erotic séance sequence is more suspenseful and thrilling than the vast majority of horror films ever made. Bravo!
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The story of an extraordinary marriage set in the night. The Kubrick-Kidman-Cruise trio searched until they found each other. It was last-minute, but they did it. :) I'm inspired to wear a bra the way Nicole does - there are so many ways to wear a bra, and Kubrick was probably the last one to tell her how to do it. In terms of more serious reflection, I’d point out the house full of masks, but that would be overdoing it.
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