Kubrick never liked discussing what his movies were about — he also resisted doing interviews — and all the studio, Warner Bros. So what did that mean, exactly? There were rumors that it would be super kinky.
There were stories that Cruise would wear a dress. We all felt like we were born too early or too late for the orgy. And Stanley was curious about that. Most films are shot over a few months — Eyes Wide Shut went more than a year , with Kubrick and his two stars holed up in England, no one for sure knowing when production would be over.
And then just a few months before Eyes Wide Shut hit theaters, Kubrick died suddenly at age The reports were that Cruise and Kidman had just seen the finished product before his passing, and soon the excitement around the movie was laced with melancholy.
The film opened July 16th during the thick of summer movie season, and it was greeted with the kind of buzz you normally see for a special-effects blockbuster, debuting at No. But the reviews were far from ecstatic, with several critics feeling that the deceased master had failed to deliver a convincing portrait of sexual jeaously and obsession.
Later back at home, Bill and Alice get stoned and, while discussing marital temptations, she admits that, years earlier, she had strongly fantasized about having an affair. The revelation unmoors Bill, who heads out into the night to check in on one of his patients. Cerebral and difficult, Eyes Wide Shut quickly shed theaters in subsequent weeks as viewers balked at its metaphors and ambiguities.
On Cinemascore , which polls audiences on their reactions to movies, respondents gave it a D-. The look of Christmas permeates the entirety of Eyes Wide Shut. The film is hazy, glowing red and green, enhanced by the push processing of the 35mm film to intensify the saturation. We see Christmas trees and lights everywhere.
These are not places we associate with the joyous spirit of Christmas. We identify Christmas as a time when family comes together, but in Eyes Wide Shut we watch the Harfords come apart, stricken with thoughts of infidelity. This creates tension within the viewer as the film continuously contrasts the familiar with the unknown, the benevolent with the sinister. Eyes Wide Shut challenges our perception of what defines a Christmas film.
These are films that not only take place during Christmas but probe the season for its deeper emotional resonance — what is the feeling of Christmas? Thematically, they share a preoccupation with the concept of return; reclaiming something that the protagonist is afraid to lose or fears has already lost.
Even a film such as Die Hard is essentially about a man trying to repair his family life in time for Christmas. Although the Christmas film is a genre-hybrid that differs from category to category, they all deal with puritanical themes that are deeply rooted within the Christian view of the holiday.
From the vantage point of religion, Christmas is about birth. But from the lens of cinema, Christmas is about rebirth; the change and transformation within the human condition. Bill is a successful doctor, husband, and father. Cloaked in formal wear, the couple tells their young daughter that she can stay up late to watch The Nutcracker on TV.
They say goodbye to the babysitter before exiting the apartment. So far, so good, right? New York City. A holiday party. We know these things. We understand them. While at the party, Bill and Alice are separated, tempted and seduced from outside parties.
Later that night, the couple confronts each other based on their assumptions of infidelity. My whole fucking future. Is this a Christmas film?
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