Todd M Reviews

Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

A fitting farewell to the master

[9/10 · 18 July 1999]

To all of you out there who are eager to discover the closely guarded plot of Eyes Wide Shut, fear not, for I won't ruin any of it for you. Rather, I will say that you will be seeing a brilliant film, the final work of history's finest film director, Stanley Kubrick. In an age where so many films are over the top and far-fetched, Eyes Wide Shut takes a long hard look at the taboo of extramarital sexual attraction. In this film, Stanley Kubrick bravely delves into the realm of the taboo as we follow Bill Harford (Tom Cruise) on a journey to discover the part of himself he was afraid to admit existed, his own capacity to fantasize about women other than his wife (Nicole Kidman). This is not a B-rate T&A film and it's not pornography. Rather, Eyes Wide Shut is a captivating, and at times deeply troubling, look at human emotions. The script dynamically juxtaposes the sacred with the taboo, mixing Christian symbols with raw sexuality. The result is a film which cannot help but make the viewer feel the strength of Cruise's moral conflict. More than anything, Eyes Wide Shut is brutally honest. Kubrick takes a journey into a man's soul and forces you to join him. Technically, the film is superb with a score that accentuates the emotion of every frame of film and lighting that creates the ambiance necessary to pull off some of Eyes Wide Shut's most etherial scenes. Finally, praise to Stanley Kubrick, whose final film, and first in twelve years, shows that he never lost a step in 40 years as a filmmaker. In the hands of almost any other director, the complex story of Eyes Wide Shut would stand the risk of becoming a pretentious and raunchy diatribe. But the brilliantly subtle style of Kubrick, it is a masterpiece.

Sirens (1994)

A Provocative Moral Statement

[20 April 1999]

While this film is often not taken seriously because of its explicit nudity, it is in fact one of the most thought-provoking commentaries on religious values I have ever seen on the screen. This film provides us with the stark contrast of the repressed preacher from London and the artist's three models in rural Australia, a throwback to Shakespeare's "Green World." The fulcrum of this contrast is the preacher's wife, being pulled in both the oppressive, "moral" direction by her upbringing and her husband and the free and expressive direction of the artist. The breathtaking cinematography and stunning visual symbolism of this film contribute to make it into a powerful attack on the Christian moral code that dominates western thinking. I have been scoffed at on more than one occasion for praising Sirens, but I left the theater questioning my own views about what is and is not moral. The fact that this film's sexual content seems to invalidate it as art in many people's eyes merely underscores the value of its message. Along with Sling Blade, Sirens to me stands as the most provocative film about morality made in the 1990's. A solid 8 on a scale of 1 to 10.