This is part 12 of 12 of my retrospective of Stanley Kubrick’s career.
It is too easy to be "meta" with Eyes Wide Shut, be it because it was finished days before Kubrick's death, the two lead actors (Cruise, Kidman) being a real-life couple back then, or Schnitzer's (who also wrote La Ronde) Rome moved to a fully artificial modern New York.
What we have though is easily the most "modern" of Kubrick's movies. His sets are much more subtle, yet the illusions of an ordinary apartment in New York in the early hours of the morning are impeccable. There is great care in directing the actors, with both leads doing some of their best performances. The story is simple, yet the tension is there throughout.
This is maybe why it feels like this was a good finale. This is a relatively simple story about sex and jealousy, but masterfully told. Things like the custom font used for the titles, the excellent but not overbearing music selection, the beautiful lights at the party, the contrast of New York at night and at day, the subtle but very twisted humor, I could go on. The excesses of the director's attention to detail and immense exterior sets are absolutely second to the storytelling and acting.
Like no other director his movies never ceased to affect me if odd ways, with images never seen before or after, subjects that would normally be taboo, and a strange discomfort that makes your eyes glued to the screen. Maybe that discomfort is because those stories remind us so much about ourselves.
Published on September 2, 2012 at 22:51 EDT
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