Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Stanley Kubrick

Writers:

Arthur Schnitzler (novel)
Stanley Kubrick (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

16 July 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Cruise. Kidman. Kubrick.

Plot:

A New York City doctor, who is married to an art curator, pushes himself on a harrowing and dangerous night-long odyssey of sexual and moral discovery after his wife admits that she once almost cheated on him.

Plot Keywords:

Sex | Patient | Party | Doctor | Sexual Fantasy

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 4 wins & 15 nominations

Cast

Tom Cruise	...	Dr. William 'Bill' Harford
Nicole Kidman	...	Alice Harford
Madison Eginton	...	Helena Harford
Jackie Sawiris	...	Roz
Sydney Pollack	...	Victor Ziegler
Leslie Lowe	...	Illona Ziegler
Peter Benson	...	Bandleader
Todd Field	...	Nick Nightingale
Michael Doven	...	Ziegler's Secretary
Sky Dumont	...	Sandor Szavost
Louise J. Taylor	...	Gayle (as Louise Taylor)
Stewart Thorndike	...	Nuala
Randall Paul	...	Harris
Julienne Davis	...	Amanda 'Mandy' Curran
Lisa Leone	...	Lisa

Also Known As:

EWS (USA) (promotional abbreviation)
Rhapsody (UK) (working title)
Traumnovelle (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong sexual content, nudity, language and some drug-related material.

Runtime:

159 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Iceland:18 (video rating) | Brazil:18 | Australia:R (TV rating) | Singapore:R21 (re-rating) (cut) | Argentina:18 | Australia:X (original rating) | Belgium:KNT | Canada:18+ (Quebec) | Canada:18A (Alberta/British Columbia) | Canada:18 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:R (Manitoba/Ontario) | Chile:18 | Denmark:16 | Finland:K-16 | France:Unrated (original rating) | Germany:16 (bw) | Hong Kong:III | Ireland:18 | Israel:18 | Italy:VM14 | Japan:R-18 | Malaysia:(Banned) | Netherlands:12 | New Zealand:R18 | Norway:15 | Peru:18 | Philippines:R-18 | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:R(A) (original rating) (cut) | South Korea:(Banned) (original rating) | South Korea:18 (re-rating) (edited version) | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | Taiwan:R-18 | UK:18 | USA:R (cut version) | USA:NC-17 (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Berners Street, Fitzrovia, London, England, UK

Company:

Hobby Films

Trivia:

The 13 and-a-half minute billiard room scene between Tom Cruise and Sydney Pollack took about three weeks of filming. The greeting scene at the party early in the picture took only two hours.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Bill and Alice discuss her near-infidelity, the ashtray they were using when smoking the joint appears and disappears from the bed, the tapes and CDs are in different positions, and Bill's hand jumps off Alice's hip.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Dr. Bill Harford: Honey, have you seen my wallet?
Alice Harford: Isn't it on the bedside table?
Dr. Bill Harford: Now listen, you know we're running a little late.
Alice Harford: I know. How do I look?
Dr. Bill Harford: Perfect.
Alice Harford: Is my hair okay?
Dr. Bill Harford: It's great
Alice Harford: You're not even looking at it.
Dr. Bill Harford: It's beautiful. You always look beautiful.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Indie Sex: Censored (2007) (TV)

Soundtrack:

I'm in the Mood for Love

Like all Kubrick, more than the sum of its parts.

I admire the work of Stanley Kubrick very much. All his films remain in my mind with a vitality far beyond most of the other work I see, even though the details of the films are often boring or inscrutable.

Eyes Wide Shut is no exception - there were many times in the movie where I could find no meaning or interest in an individual moment, but the overall experience is a lingering one with a deep impact - maybe Kubrick works the magic of making the spectator really _feel_ the characters turmoil and inner struggles by including so much of the mundane and seemingly unrelated incidents of "real life".

A fine conclusion to an excellent career.

p.s., being in Canada I had to put up with the "edited" version, which was certainly not subtle in its censorship. Oddly enough the couple beside me walked out from boredom, not sexual squeamishness. Should have digitally added some gunfights.