Eyes Wide Shut
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Stanley Kubrick
Produced by	Stanley Kubrick
Written by	Arthur Schnitzler Stanley Kubrick Frederic Raphael
Starring	Tom Cruise Nicole Kidman
Music by	Jocelyn Pook
Cinematography	Larry Smith
Editing by	Nigel Galt
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date(s)	July 16, 1999
Running time	159 min.
Country	United Kingdom, United States
Language	English
Budget	$65 million
Gross revenue	$160,637,680
Official website
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Eyes Wide Shut is a 1999 drama-mystery-thriller film directed, produced, and co-written by Stanley Kubrick, based on the novella Traumnovelle (in English Dream Story) by Arthur Schnitzler. It was the last film Kubrick directed before his death. The story, set in and around New York City, follows the surreal, sexually charged adventures of Dr. William "Bill" Harford (Tom Cruise), who is shocked after his wife, Alice (Nicole Kidman), reveals that she had contemplated having an affair a year earlier. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (440x716, 22 KB)Nicole Kidman in Eyes Wide Shut This work is copyrighted. ... Kubrick redirects here. ... Arthur Schnitzler Arthur Schnitzler (May 15, 1862 - October 21, 1931) was an Austrian writer and doctor. ... Kubrick redirects here. ... Frederic Michael Raphael (born Chicago, 1931) is an American-born, British-educated screenwriter, as well as a prolific novelist and journalist. ... Tom Cruise (born Thomas Cruise Mapother IV on July 3, 1962) is an Academy Award-nominated, Golden Globe Award-winning American actor and film producer. ... Nicole Mary Kidman, Order of Australia (born 20 June 1967 in Honolulu) is an Academy Award-winning Australian/American[1] actress. ... Jocelyn Pook is an English viola player. ... Larry Smith (born 1951 in Hudson, Quebec) is a Canadian athlete and businessperson. ... “WB” redirects here. ... is the 197th day of the year (198th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events of 2008: (EMILY) Me Lesley and MIley are going to China! This article is about the year. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... The year 1999 in film involved some significant events. ... A drama film is a film that depends mostly on in-depth character development, interaction, and highly emotional themes. ... Mystery film is a film genre which uses mystery as an element to the plot. ... Thriller films are movies that primarily use action and suspense to engage the audience. ... Kubrick redirects here. ... A novella is a narrative work of prose fiction somewhat longer than a short story but shorter than a novel. ... Traumnovelle (Dream Story) is a novella by the Austrian writer Arthur Schnitzler. ... Arthur Schnitzler Arthur Schnitzler (May 15, 1862 - October 21, 1931) was an Austrian writer and doctor. ... Tom Cruise (born Thomas Cruise Mapother IV on July 3, 1962) is an Academy Award-nominated, Golden Globe Award-winning American actor and film producer. ... Nicole Mary Kidman, Order of Australia (born 20 June 1967 in Honolulu) is an Academy Award-winning Australian/American[1] actress. ...

The film, which made the cover of Time Magazine, was released on July 16, 1999 to a mixed critical reaction.^[1] TIME redirects here. ... is the 197th day of the year (198th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events of 2008: (EMILY) Me Lesley and MIley are going to China! This article is about the year. ...

Plot

The film begins in the apartment of a wealthy, married couple, Dr. William "Bill" Harford and Alice Harford (Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman), who are preparing for a Christmas party at the home of Victor Ziegler (Sydney Pollack), a friend and patient of Bill's. During the party, an older Hungarian man (Sky du Mont) tries to seduce Alice, while two younger models try to seduce Bill. Alice and Bill both resist their respective temptations. During the party, Bill is summoned by Ziegler to his private bathroom where he finds a naked woman, Mandy (Julienne Davis), who has over-dosed from a speedball. Bill helps her regain consciousness and promises Victor that he will not speak of the event. Bill also meets an old friend, Nick Nightingale (Todd Field), a former medical student who is now a pianist with the band at the party. Nick informs Bill that he is currently playing at the Sonata Café. Tom Cruise (born Thomas Cruise Mapother IV on July 3, 1962) is an Academy Award-nominated, Golden Globe Award-winning American actor and film producer. ... Nicole Mary Kidman, Order of Australia (born 20 June 1967 in Honolulu) is an Academy Award-winning Australian/American[1] actress. ... For other uses, see Christmas (disambiguation). ... Sydney Pollack (July 1, 1934 – May 26, 2008[1]) was an Academy Award-winning American film director, producer and actor. ... Sky du Mont (b. ... Speedballing is a term commonly referring to the intravenous use of heroin (or morphine) and cocaine together in the same needle. ... Todd Field (born William Todd Field) February 24, 1964, in Pomona, California; is an American actor and Academy Award-nominated writer/director. ...

The day after the party, Alice and Bill smoke marijuana and talk about their encounters. The conversation escalates and Alice confesses to Bill her feelings concerning a naval officer she saw while they were vacationing in Cape Cod. Because of Bill's self-assurance, out of spite she admits that she was willing to abandon her life and her future for one night with the officer. Shocked by this revelation, Bill suddenly receives a telephone call summoning him to a deceased patient's home. Bill goes to the apartment of the patient and the daughter, Marion (Marie Richardson), says she wants to give up her life to be with Bill. Bill resists her request and departs once Marion's boyfriend Carl arrives. Cannabis, also known as marijuana[1] or ganja (Hindi: गांजा),[2] is a psychoactive product of the plant Cannabis sativa. ... This article is about the area of Massachusetts known as Cape Cod. For other uses, see Cape Cod (disambiguation). ... Marie Richardson (born June 6, 1959 in Ljusdal, Sweden) is a Swedish stage and film actress. ...

While wandering the streets, a group of rowdy men, taking him for a gay man, taunt him and rudely walk into him. Soon afterwards, a female prostitute named Domino (Vinessa Shaw) approaches Bill on the street and solicits him. Bill accepts, but a phone call from Alice cuts their business short. Bill insists on paying anyway. Vinessa Elizabeth Shaw (born 19 July 1976, Los Angeles, California) is an American actress. ...

He happens upon a sign outside the jazz club where Nick is the featured piano player. As the two discuss things, Nick describes a party he played at the night before and at which he is to play again tonight. His interest piqued, Bill coerces Nick into divulging the secret party's requirements: a black robe with a hood, and a mask. He also learns the location and more importantly, the password: Fidelio. For other uses, see Jazz (disambiguation). ... Pianoforte redirects here. ...

Bill goes to the costume shop of an old friend only to find it has a new owner, Mr. Milich (Rade Šerbedžija). He bribes Milich to get him a costume immediately. Another sexually charged situation involving Milich's teenage daughter (Leelee Sobieski) and two Japanese men follows. Yarkand ladies summer fashions. ... Rade Å erbedžija (Serbian Cyrillic: Раде Шербеџија, occasionally credited as Rade Sherbedgia in some English-language productions), born 27 July 1947, is a Croatian actor and director. ... Leelee Sobieski (born Liliane Rudabet Gloria Elsveta Sobieski on June 10, 1983[1]) is an American actress. ...

Afterward, Bill takes a cab to the party in a foreboding mansion on Long Island. What he finds inside is a hierogamy-inspired sexual ritual (orgy) involving beautiful women clad only in masks and G-strings and led by an ominous man dressed and masked in red (Leon Vitali). Men (and women) watch, masked and clad in black robes, reminiscent of a Venetian Carnival. During the ritual, Nick plays the organ blindfolded. As the women rise from a circle surrounding a priest-like figure, they select men from the audience. A mysterious woman who selects Bill informs him that he is in great danger, and urges him to leave immediately, but he refuses. Mentmore in the 1990s Mentmore Towers is a large English country house in the village of Mentmore in Buckinghamshire. ... This article is about the island in New York State. ... Hieros Gamos or Hierogamy means a coupling (sometimes marriage) of a god and a man, often having a symbolic meaning. ... For other senses of this word, see ritual (disambiguation). ... This article is about ancient Greek gathering. ... A woman with a thong-style bathing suit. ... Old Pipe organ in Église Saint-Thomas, Strasbourg, France. ...

He is soon discovered as an outsider and forced to remove his mask, revealing his identity in the presence of the entire assembly. The red-robed master of ceremonies demands that he disrobe, but his apparently pending "punishment" is "redeemed" by the same mysterious woman (Abigail Good) who had tried to warn him earlier. Bill is threatened to remain quiet about what he saw or suffer dire consequences, then is released and returns home.

When Bill arrives home, he finds Alice laughing in her sleep. After waking her, she tells him of her horrible dream. She was having sex with a number of other men, and she knew that Bill was watching, and so she laughed at him.

The following day, Bill decides to investigate what happened the previous night. He returns to the mansion, but is warned off, then goes to the hotel at which Nick was staying and finds out from the front desk clerk that Nick has apparently been brutalized for telling Bill about the party and password, and is now gone. Bill returns the costume to the shop from which he rented it, and the owner of the costume shop offers his daughter to Bill as a prostitute. Bill goes to Domino's apartment where he learns from her roommate that Domino received results of a blood test, which said she was HIV positive. Additionally, the woman who "redeemed" Bill is dead, ostensibly of a drug overdose behind a locked apartment door. Bill goes to the morgue and learns this woman is Mandy, whom Bill had helped to revive at Ziegler's Christmas party. He is unable to establish definitively that the woman did indeed die simply of a drug overdose. Bill is then called to Victor Ziegler's home, where the millionaire claims that he was one of those present at the ritual the previous night and that nothing further was done. But Ziegler does warn Bill against investigating further, as apparently some of the masked participants were extremely powerful members of society.

Bill returns home later to Alice and finds that the mask he wore to the party is lying on the pillow next to her. He breaks down crying, waking Alice before confessing to her about his journey. While Christmas shopping later that morning, Alice shows that she has come to terms with Bill's actions by accepting that one night does not reflect his entire persona. Finally, Alice suggests that they need to do one very important thing soon: "Fuck."

Cast

• Tom Cruise as Dr. William "Bill" Hartford
• Nicole Kidman as Alice Hartford
• Sydney Pollack as Victor Ziegler
• Todd Field as Nick Nightingale
• Rade Šerbedžija as Mr. Milich
• Vinessa Shaw as Domino
• Leelee Sobieski as Milich's Daughter
• Alan Cumming as Hotel Desk Clerk
• Leon Vitali as Red Cloak

Tom Cruise (born Thomas Cruise Mapother IV on July 3, 1962) is an Academy Award-nominated, Golden Globe Award-winning American actor and film producer. ... Nicole Mary Kidman, Order of Australia (born 20 June 1967 in Honolulu) is an Academy Award-winning Australian/American[1] actress. ... Sydney Pollack (July 1, 1934 – May 26, 2008[1]) was an Academy Award-winning American film director, producer and actor. ... Todd Field (born William Todd Field) February 24, 1964, in Pomona, California; is an American actor and Academy Award-nominated writer/director. ... Rade Šerbedžija (Serbian Cyrillic: Раде Шербеџија, occasionally credited as Rade Sherbedgia in some English-language productions), born 27 July 1947, is a Croatian actor and director. ... Vinessa Elizabeth Shaw (born 19 July 1976, Los Angeles, California) is an American actress. ... Leelee Sobieski (born Liliane Rudabet Gloria Elsveta Sobieski on June 10, 1983[1]) is an American actress. ... Alan Cumming (born 27 January 1965) is a Scottish film and stage actor, perhaps best known for his supporting roles as Boris Grishenko in the James Bond film GoldenEye, Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler in X2: X-Men United and on the stage with his Tony Award-winning lead performance as the...

Critical response

Critics objected chiefly to two features of the film. First, the movie's pacing is slow. While this may have been intended to convey the nature of dreaming, critics objected that it simply made actions and decisions laborious. Second, several reviewers commented on the fact that Kubrick had shot his NYC scenes in a studio and that New York "didn't look like New York." Lee Siegel,^[2] in Harper's, felt that most critics responded mainly to the marketing campaign and were unable to address the film on its own terms. Others feel that the American censorship took an already esoteric film and made it even harder to understand.^[3] Lee Siegel (born December 5, 1957) is a New York writer and cultural critic who has written for Harpers, The New Republic, The Nation, The Atlantic Monthly, The New Yorker, The New York Times, and many other publications. ...

In a special edition of the television show Roger Ebert & the Movies, director Martin Scorsese named Eyes Wide Shut his fourth favorite film of the 1990s.^[4] At the Movies with Ebert & Roeper is a movie review television program featuring film critic Roger Ebert and columnist Richard Roeper, both of the Chicago Sun-Times. ... Martin Marcantonio Luciano Scorsese (IPA: AmE: ; Ita: []) (b. ...

Claims about Kubrick's opinion of the film

R. Lee Ermey, the actor who played the menacing drill instructor in Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket (1987), controversially claimed that Kubrick phoned him two weeks before his death to express his despondency over Eyes Wide Shut. "He told me it was a piece of shit", Ermey said in an interview with the online Radar magazine, "and that he was disgusted with it and that the critics were going to have him for lunch. He said Cruise and Kidman had their way with him -- exactly the words he used". Ermey did not explain what he thought Kubrick may have meant by the expression, except to remark that "he was kind of a shy little timid guy. He wasn't real forceful. That's why he didn't appreciate working with big, high-powered actors. ... he would lose control".^[5] Ronald Lee Ermey (born March 24, 1944) is a former U.S. Marine Corps drill instructor and later Golden Globe-nominated actor, often playing the roles of authority figures, such as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in Full Metal Jacket, Mayor Tilman in the Alan Parker film Mississippi Burning and Sheriff Hoyt... For the type of ammunition, see Full metal jacket bullet. ... This article is about the year 1987. ...

People who knew the director well, however, claim otherwise. Jan Harlan, Kubrick's brother-in-law and executive producer, reported that Kubrick was "very happy" with the film^[6]. According to Todd Field, Kubrick's friend and actor in Eyes Wide Shut, Ermey's claims are slanderous. Field's response appeared in an October 26, 2006 interview with Slashfilm.com:^[7] Jan Harlan is the brother of Christiane Kubrick, Stanley Kubricks widow. ... Todd Field (born William Todd Field) February 24, 1964, in Pomona, California; is an American actor and Academy Award-nominated writer/director. ... is the 299th day of the year (300th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The polite thing would be to say 'No comment'. But the truth is that... let's put it this way, you've never seen two actors more completely subservient and prostrate themselves at the feet of a director. Stanley was absolutely thrilled with the film. He was still working on the film when he died. And he probably died because he finally relaxed. It was one of the happiest weekends of his life, right before he died, after he had shown the first cut to Terry, Tom and Nicole. He would have kept working on it, like he did on all of his films. But I know that from people around him personally, my partner who was his assistant for thirty years. And I thought about R. Lee Ermey for In the Bedroom. And I talked to Stanley a lot about that film, and all I can say is Stanley was adamant that I shouldn't work with him for all kinds of reasons that I won't get into because there is no reason to do that to anyone, even if they are saying slanderous things that I know are completely untrue.

Comparison with Dream Story

• The novella Traumnovelle by Arthur Schnitzler is set in and around Vienna in the 1920s.
• The couple are named Fridolin and Albertine.
• Their home is a typical suburban middle-class home, not the urban apartment seen in the film.
• Albertine's confession about lusting after another man is a scene from her youth in Austria. The other man is not a naval officer.
• The woman who "redeems" Fridolin at the sex party saving him from punishment is costumed like a nun.
• When Fridolin returns home, Albertine's dream is an a elaborate drama which concludes with him getting crucified in a village square after Albertine fails to speak up on his behalf given that she is now occupied with making love with other men. Thus there is a parallelism between the woman dressed like a nun at the orgy saving Fridolin from punishment, and his wife failing to do so in a dream which has disappeared from the film version.

Traumnovelle (Dream Story) is a novella by the Austrian writer Arthur Schnitzler. ...

American censorship controversy

Citing contractual obligations to deliver an R rating, Warner Bros. digitally altered the orgy scene for the American release of Eyes Wide Shut, blocking out images of graphic sexuality by inserting additional figures into the scene to obscure the view, thus avoiding an adults-only NC-17 rating that might have limited distribution of the film, as some large American theaters and video store operators have a policy that disallows films with that rating. This alteration of Kubrick's vision antagonized many cinephiles, as they argued that Kubrick had never been shy about ratings: A Clockwork Orange was originally given an X-rating. The unrated version of Eyes Wide Shut was finally released in the United States on October 23, 2007 in DVD, HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc formats. The Motion Picture Association of Americas film-rating system is used in the U.S and its territories to rate a films thematic and content suitability for certain audiences. ... “WB” redirects here. ... For other uses, see Censor. ... The MPAA film rating system is a system used in the United States and instituted by the Motion Picture Association of America to rate a movie based on its content. ... This article is about the film. ... X-rated, X certificate, X classification or similar terms are labels for movies implying strong adult content, typically pornography or violence. ... is the 296th day of the year (297th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... DVD (also known as Digital Versatile Disc or Digital Video Disc - see Etymology) is a popular optical disc storage media format. ... HD-DVD disc HD DVD (for High Density Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical media format which is being developed as one standard for high-definition DVD. HD DVD is similar to the competing Blu-ray Disc, which also uses the same CD sized (120 mm diameter) optical data... Blu-ray Disc (also known as Blu-ray or BD) is an optical disc storage media format. ...

The version released in Europe and Australia featured the orgy scene intact (theatrical and DVD release) with ratings mostly for people of 16 (Europe, in Germany) and 18+ (Australia) years of age. In New Zealand and in Europe, the uncensored version has been shown on public television without controversy. In Australia, it was broadcast on public television (on Network Ten) with the alterations in the American version for people of 15 years of age and older, blurring out, and cutting the images of explicit sexuality. Network Ten, or Channel Ten, is one of Australias three major commercial television networks. ...

Roger Ebert has been widely misquoted as calling the standard North American R-rated version the "Austin Powers" version of "Eyes Wide Shut". This is presumably in reference to the two scenes in the first Austin Powers movie Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery in which through clever camera angles and unbelievable coincidences body parts are blocked from view in a comical way. In fact, Roger Ebert saw a very rough early draft of the altered orgy scene which was ultimately not used. It is this never-released version that he called the "Austin Powers" version, not the final R-rated version released in North America. Nonetheless many other discussions of the film have misquoted Ebert as saying the latter. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, directed by Jay Roach, is the first film of the Austin Powers series. ...

DVD Release

The DVD release of Eyes Wide Shut corrects a few technical gaffes in the theatrical release including a reflected crewperson, and altering a piece of Nicole Kidman's dialogue. Most home video prints have removed the recitation of a passage from the Bhagavad-Gita. The scene in which Kidman dances naked in front of a mirror has been zoomed in on DVD copies after Tom Cruise enters the room.

The earliest American DVD release of the uncut version states on the box cover that it includes both the R-rated and unrated editions, however only the unrated edition is actually on the DVD.

Controversy regarding the chanting of Hindu prayers

While American censorship attempted to control the level of sexuality in the film, complaints came from offended members of the Hindu community. The American Hindus Against Defamation sent a formal letter to Warner Brothers requesting they change the voice-over chant that plays as Bill Harford wanders from room to room at the mansion. According to the letter from the AHAD, during the offending scene "the background music subsides and the shloka (scriptural recitation) from the Bhagavad Gita, one of the most revered Hindu scripture is played out." This article discusses the adherents of Hinduism. ... A Sanskrit term shloka (श्लोक; also spelt sloka) specifically denotes a metered and often rhymed poetic verse or phrase. ... Bhagavad Gīta भगवद्गीता, composed ca the fifth - second centuries BC, is part of the epic poem Mahabharata, located in the Bhisma-Parva chapters 23–40. ... Many religions and spiritual movements hold certain written texts (or series of spoken legends not traditionally written down) to be sacred. ...

When Warner did not immediately concede, the American Hindus Against Defamation threatened to protest. Eventually, Warner Brothers came to an agreement with the Hindu community of Great Britain and edited the recitation of the passage out of the scene, replacing it with a different chant of similar dramatic tone. These changes were not made in the North American version.

In an interview at alt.movies.kubrick, Stanley Kubrick's daughter, Katherina, indicated it was a simple mistake and had Kubrick been notified of the mistake prior to his death, he would have undoubtedly changed it.

Music

• The film's opening title music is "Waltz 2 from Shostakovich's Suite for Variety Stage Orchestra", for years misidentified as the composer's Jazz Suite 2, recorded and released under the latter, incorrect, name by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.
• In the scene with the ritual, the incantations heard in the background are in Romanian, played backwards. The piece, named "Masked Ball", is an adaptation by Jocelyn Pook of her earlier work "Backwards Priests." When first contacting Pook in regard to providing music for the film, Kubrick asked her if she had anything else like Backwards Priests - "you know, weird."^[8]
• One of the recurring pieces of music in the film is the second movement of György Ligeti's piano cycle "Musica ricercata". The fact that the piece uses only three tones, the dissonance created by these tones, and the unyielding performance indication of Mesto, rigido e cerimoniale adds to the unsettling nature of the piece.
• In the morgue scene, Franz Liszt's late solo piano piece, "Nuages Gris" ("Grey Clouds") (1881) is heard.
• "Rex tremendae" from Mozart's Requiem plays as Bill walks into the Viennese cafe and reads of Mandy's death.
• The background score during the orgy scene (where Tom Cruise walks from room to room) is a Tamil song sung by Manickam Yogeshwaran who is a well-known Carnatic singer. (Tamil is a classical Indian language spoken by over 74 million people worldwide today. Carnatic music is one of the two styles of Indian classical music that is popular in South India.)

Dmitri Shostakovich in 1942 Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich   (Russian: ) (September 25 [O.S. September 12] 1906 – August 9, 1975) was a Russian composer of the Soviet period. ... Suite for Variety Stage Orchestra is a suite in eight movements by Dimitri Shostakovich. ... The Suite for Jazz Orchestra No. ... The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (Dutch: Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest, KCO) is the best-known and most respected symphonic orchestra in the Netherlands, and is generally considered to be among the worlds finest orchestras. ... Jocelyn Pook is an English viola player. ... “Ligeti” redirects here. ... In music, a consonance (Latin consonare, sounding together) is a harmony, chord, or interval considered stable, as opposed to a dissonance, which is considered unstable. ... Mortuary, a film directed by Tobe Hooper, see Mortuary (film). ... Liszt redirects here. ... A piano solo by Lizst, composed in 1881. ... “Mozart” redirects here. ... The Requiem Mass in D minor (K. 626) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was composed in 1791. ... Tamil ( ; IPA: ) is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people, originating on the Indian subcontinent. ... languages redirects here. ... Carnatic music, also known as is one of the two styles of Indian classical music, the other being Hindustani music. ... The origins of Indian classical music can be found from the oldest of scriptures, part of the Hindu tradition, the Vedas. ...

References

is the 26th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Era (or Anno Domini), in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 105th day of the year (106th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Official site
• Eyes Wide Shut at the Internet Movie Database
• Eyes Wide Shut at Allmovie
• Review at Rottentomatoes.com
• Reviews at Metacritic.com
• Introducing Sociology: a review of Eyes Wide Shut by Tim Kreider
• ArchivioKubrick's Copies of several articles involving the concerns of the Hindu community of Britain
• An in depth review of Eyes Wide Shut