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Eyes Wide Shut

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(ENG/SPA) Eyes Wide Shut We all have Masks Classic Review@promete0sz575d
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5 more reviews

  1. Eyes Wide Shut (1999) review: just a dream?@richardalexis915d

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    All the screenshots in this post were taken directly from the movie by me.

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    ENGLISH

    I'd been putting off my first viewing of "Eyes Wide Shut" for an absurd amount of time, something I'm totally grateful for considering my past self was probably not ready for it.

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    And even if Kubrick managed to give us a large number of timeless classics throughout his brilliant career (which by the way concluded with this film), it is undeniable that although his style is visually beautiful, the substance of his works almost always generates very divisive opinions, even when it comes to those considered among the best films in the world.

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    If I had to find a common point within his filmography, I would say that most of his films manage to be simultaneously simple and complex, depending on how deeply the viewer wants to unravel what is in front of their eyes, an idea that is not foreign. to Eyes Wide Shut.

    Starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman (in what, by the way, we could easily classify as the best performances of their respective careers), in Eyes Wide Shut we follow the story of a fairly successful doctor, who, after arguing with his wife, decides to go out the street in search of pleasure, this will eventually lead to an unexpected contact with a hidden society, something that will put his integrity and that of his family at risk.

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    Although in terms of premise we could not say that there is much more, Eyes Wide Shut is composed of a series of almost random events in which both its protagonists and the viewer themselves question what is real and what is not, a feeling that is transmitted with a surprising level of effectiveness thanks to the brilliant performance of Cruise and all the primary and secondary characters that surround him, as well as a direction and photography committed to almost obsessively replicating the vibe of dreams. There are no definitive answers and far from being a celebration (or criticism) of the hedonistic nature of the elites, it feels more like a forced invitation to a nightmare where paranoia will always reign.

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    While Eyes Wide Shut is a film that depicts many events of a sexual and twisted nature, I greatly appreciate Kubrick's ability to bring them to life without falling into unnecessary vulgarity, a very wise decision considering the source of these displays of hedonism.

    It is inevitable to be curious about its crudeness, especially if we decide to recognize the possible existence of "groups" or "sects" of this type in real life, something that since 1999 has drenched its premiere in controversy and that has probably contributed to the lack of recognition in popular culture and the mainstream media that he has, much less than his other films such as The Shinning or The Clockwork Orange.

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    Obviously, beyond this there are hundreds of theories and conspiracies, something logical considering the content of the film and the coincidental death of Kubrick before its release, factors that, regardless of whether we decide to believe or not, undoubtedly make viewing more interesting.

    IMG_20231226_232428.jpg Score taken from my Letterboxd Account.

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    Todas las capturas de pantalla en este post fueron tomadas directamente desde la película por mi.

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    ESPAÑOL

    Llevaba una cantidad absurda de tiempo postergando mi primer visionado de "Eyes Wide Shut", algo con lo que me siento totalmente agradecido considerando que mi versión del pasado probablemente no estuviese preparado para ella.

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    Y es que si bien Kubrick nos logró entregar una gran cantidad de clásicos atemporales a lo largo de su brillante carrera (Que por cierto concluyó con este filme), es innegable que a pesar de que su estilo es visualmente hermoso, la sustancia de sus obras casi siempre genera opiniones muy divisivas, incluso cuando se trata de aquellas consideradas dentro de las mejores películas del mundo.

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    Si tuviese que encontrar un punto en común dentro de su filmografía, diría que la mayoría de sus películas logran ser simultáneamente simples y complejas, dependiendo de que tan profundo el espectador quiera desentrañar lo que está frente a sus ojos, una idea que no es ajena a Eyes Wide Shut.

    Protagonizada por Tom Cruise y Nicole Kidman (En lo que por cierto fácilmente podríamos catalogar como los mejores performances de sus respectivas carreras) en Eyes Wide Shut seguimos la historia de un doctor bastante exitoso, que, luego de discutir con su esposa, decide salir a la calle en busca de placer, esto eventualmente desembocará un contacto inesperado con una sociedad oculta, algo que pondrá en riesgo su integridad y la de su familia.

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    Aunque en términos de premisa no podríamos decir que hay mucho más, Eyes Wide Shut se encuentra compuesto por una serie de eventos casi aleatorios en dónde tanto sus protagonistas como el propio espectador cuestiona que es real y que no, un sentimiento que se transmite con un nivel de efectividad sorprendente gracias a la brillante interpretación de Cruise y todos los personajes primarios y secundarios que le rodean, así como por una dirección y fotografía empeñada en replicar casi obsesivamente la vibra de los sueños. No existen respuestas definitivas y lejos de ser una celebración (o crítica) a la naturaleza hedonista de las élites, se siente más como una invitación forzosa a una pesadilla en dónde la paranoía siempre reinará.

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    Si bien Eyes Wide Shut es una película que representa muchos eventos de naturaleza sexual y retorcida, aprecio mucho la capacidad que tiene Kubrick para darles vida sin caer en la vulgaridad innecesaria, una decisión muy acertada considerando la fuente de estas muestras de hedonismo.

    Es inevitable sentir curiosidad por su crudeza, especialmente si decidimos reconocer la posible existencia de "grupos" o "sectas" de este tipo en la vida real, algo que desde 1999 empapó su estreno de polémica y que probablemente haya contribuido a la falta de reconocimiento en la cultura popular y los medios mainstream que tiene el mismo, mucho menor al de otras de sus películas como The Shinning o The Clockwork Orange.

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    Evidentemente, más allá de esto hay cientos de teorías y conspiraciones, algo lógico considerando el contenido del filme y la muerte coincidental de Kubrick antes de su estreno, factores en los que independientemente de que decidamos creer o no, sin duda hacen más interesante el visionado.

    IMG_20231226_232428.jpg Este puntaje fue sacado de mi cuenta de Letterboxd.

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    Twitter/Instagram/Letterbox: Alxxssss

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  2. Cine TV Contest: Tom Cruise in Eyes Wide Shut [ENG/ESP]@carminasalazarte1054d

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    Hello to everyone in the Cine TV community! Today I'm joining the contest of the week with this my entry. If you wish to participate you can join in at the link I'll leave down here at the end of the article. So let's get started.

    I must say that Tom Cruise is perhaps not my favorite actor of all time but I have been hooked by some of his performances in movies such as "Rain Man", "Interview with the Vampire" and "Lions for Lambs" but I think my favorite movie is and will be "Eyes Wide Shut". Not only because Kubrick is the director of that film (who is one of my favorite film directors) but because I feel that this drama was quite fitting for him.

    ¡Hola a todos en la comunidad de Cine TV! El día de hoy me uno al concurso de la semana con esta que es mí entrada. Sí desean participar pueden unirse en el enlace que dejaré acá abajo al final del artículo. Así que comencemos con ello.

    Debo decir que Tom Cruise no es quizás mi actor favorito de todos los tiempos pero sí que me he quedado enganchada con algunas de sus actuaciones en películas tales cómo "Rain Man", "Entrevista con el Vampiro" y en "Leones por Corderos" pero creo que mí película favorita es y será "Ojos bien cerrados". No solo porque Kubrick es el director de dicha película (quién es uno de mis directores de cine favoritos) sino porque siento que este drama fue bastante adecuado para él y uno de sus interpretaciones más destacables.

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    Tom Cruise is an actor that most of us know for his action movies where he plays a versatile, intelligent, invincible, fast and reckless character. However, in "Eyes Wide Shut" we are introduced to a Tom Cruise who plays a character quite different from the ones he usually plays. For this film, Tom plays Bill, a renowned doctor who lives in New York with his wife Alice and their young daughter Helena.

    In this film, Bill is not only a doctor with a good social and economic status, but he is also good looking. This brings the first conflict in his marriage, because after a Christmas party at a wealthy man's house (whom he knows because they belong to the same social circle), his wife confronts him by telling him that he is not the only one who can have those romantic reaches, that she also has her charm and has wished in some fantasies to be with another man.

    Tom Cruise es un actor que la gran mayoría conocemos por sus películas de acción dónde suele interpretar personajes bastantes versátiles, inteligentes, invencibles, rápidos y temerarios. Casi cómo de la ciencia ficción. Sin embargo, en "Ojos bien cerrados" se nos presenta a un Tom Cruise que interpreta a un personaje bastante diferente a los que él suele hacer. Para esta película, Tom interpreta a Bill, un médico de renombre que vive en Nueva York junto a su esposa Alice y su pequeña hija Helena. Aquí es un hombre común y ordinario.

    En dicha película, Bill no solo es un médico con un buen estatus social y económico sino que es bien parecido (quizás también por el carisma otorgado al personaje). Esto último trae el primer conflicto en su matrimonio, pues después de una fiesta de Navidad en casa de un adinerado (a quién conoce por pertenecer al mismo círculo social), su esposa lo confronta al decirle que él no es el único que puede tener esos alcances románticos, qué ella también tiene su encanto y a deseado en algunas fantasías íntimas estar con otro hombre.

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    This triggers Bill to feel insecure within his own marriage and has since then the predisposition to be with another woman (something he didn't do before), so he embarks on a midnight trip to New York City to try his luck. At first what seems to be an innocent idea, quickly turns into an event where he will participate in things he has little or no understanding of. The entrance to a clandestine sect, will question the reality of everything he knows and surrounds him, leaving in the background his initial purposes.

    This film where Tom Cruise has the leading role is quite good because of his acting maturity (being able to be more than a "pretty face"), but it is also interesting because who plays Alice is Nicole Kidman, who was his wife at the time. Which raises some questions about whether Kubrick wanted to make a portrait of their own marriage, as they fit the profile. It is also a remarkable performance for the personification of Tom as Bill; a serene man, but insecure and sometimes fearful. Remembering that Bill witnesses situations that make him understand that in spite of "his greatness", he is someone very insignificant (without power) in this world.

    Esto desencadena que Bill se sienta inseguro dentro de su propio matrimonio y tenga desde entonces la predisposición de estar con otra mujer (cosa que antes no hacía), por lo que se embarca en un viaje de media noche en la ciudad de Nueva York para probar suerte con otras mujeres. En primera instancia lo que parece ser una idea inocente, se convierte rápidamente en un suceso dónde el participara en cosas que poco o nada comprenden. La entrada a una secta clandestina, pondrá en duda la realidad de todo lo que conoce y lo rodea, quedando en segundo plano sus propósitos iniciales (las aventuras carnales).

    Esta película donde Tom Cruise tiene el papel protagonico resulta bastante buena por la madurez actoral de él (ser capaz de ser más que una "cara bonita" y al mismo tiempo utilizar esto a favor), pero también resulta interesante pues quién interpreta a Alice es Nicole Kidman, quién era su esposa en aquel momento. Lo cual genera cierta interrogante sobre sí Kubrick quiso hacer un retrato del propio matrimonio de ellos, pues cumplen con el perfil (bellos, buenos y nobles). También resulta una actuación destacable por la personificación de Tom cómo Bill; un hombre sereno, pero inseguro y en ocasiones temeroso. Todo lo contrario a los papeles que él suele encarnar. Recordando también que Bill presencia situaciones que lo hacen entender que a pesar de "su grandeza", es alguien muy insignificante (sin poder) en este mundo. La insuficiencia e imposibilidad de cambiar esta realidad, es algo que Tom Cruise manejo muy bien, dejándonos igual de confundidos/desesperanzados cómo él en su papel de Bill

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    Finally friends, "Eyes Wide Shut" is a gem of a film that you can't miss, not only for its actors but for its cinematography, musical, script and overall cinematic treatment. I think Tom Cruise was also able to shine because he was in "good hands". He is an actor with great potential. End of story, thank you very much for stopping by and reading my post, I send you a big hug and I'll see you next time.

    Finalmente amigos "Ojos bien cerrados" es una joya de película que no se pueden perder, no solo por sus actores sino por su trabajo fotográfico, musical, guión y tratamiento cinematográfico en general. Creo que Tom Cruise también logró brillar bastante gracias a qué se encontraba en "buenas manos". Es un actor con gran potencial. Fin más que decir, muchísimas gracias por pasar por aquí y leer mi publicación, le venció un fuerte abrazo y nos vemos en la próxima oportunidad.

    Source: Cine TV Contest

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  3. Film Review: Eyes Wide Shut (1999)@drax1216d

    (source: tmdb.org)

    The last film in a director’s filmography is seldom the best. That applies even to the greatest among the film makers, and Stanley Kubrick wasn’t an exception. At least that was the general impression among the critics after his 1999 film Eyes Wide Shut, finished days before his death and released few months later. At first, it wasn’t considered to be on the same level as his earlier masterpieces like Lolita, Dr Strangelove, 2001 and A Clockwork Orange. It was even considered to be a major disappointment. Only after some time Eyes White Shut was reevaluated and recognised as a film not only worthy of Kubrick’s filmography, but actually a very fine piece of cinema.

    Genre of the film was often matter of intense debate among critics and film scholars, but it would be most appropriate to describe it as combination of erotic drama, conspiracy thriller and black comedy. It was based on Traumnovelle or Dream Story, 1926 novella by Austrian writer Arthur Schnitzler. The plot setting, originally Vienna at the beginning of 20th Century, is changed to modern New York City. Protagonist, played by Tom Cruise, is Dr. William “Will” Harford, physician who appears to have everything most of people would want – successful practice with plenty of rich and influential patients, gorgeous wife Alice (played by Nicole Kidman) and 7-year old daughter Helena (played by Madison Eginton). Everything changes after he and Alice are invited to Christmas party held by Will’s rich and influential friend Victor Ziegler (played by Sydney Pollack). He begins to flirt with two models, while Alice is being pursued by charming Hungarian art collector Sandor Szavost (played by Sky Du Mont). Although nothing actually happens, both spouses discuss marital fidelity after returning home. Alice surprises William by admitting that she fantasised about sex with another man. When Will is called to home of his one patients who just died, his distraught daughter (played by Marie Richardson) admits that she loves him. Affected by unusual experience, Will begins to wander around city streets with vague idea that he could indulge in sex with other women. When Nick Nightingale (played by Todd Field), jazz pianist and his old friend, tells him about bizarre sex orgies under masks being held at remote mansion, Will decides to smuggle himself in. That decision leads to series of bizarre and frightening events that would turn his life upside down.

    Initial negative reactions to Eyes Wide Shut can be explained by Kubrick’s trademark perfectionism. By that time Kubrick was known for taking extensive time to prepare his film production, and in the case of this film process took more a decade after his penultimate film Full Metal Jacket. Such long wait resulted in increasingly and unrealistically high expectations by critics and audience, which weren’t likely to be met. To make things even worse, Kubrick’s film was supposed to explicitly deal with the subject of sex. And, as such, sensationalist media and PR machine used that to hype the film even further. There were rumours about Eyes Wide Shut containing large amounts of sex scenes and that it was actually conceived as pornographic film, and there were even rumours about actual sexual activity on the set. Anyone familiar with neo-puritan standards of 1990s Hollywood and its PG-13 ethos knew that nothing groundbreaking in terms of film erotica could come from this film. With Kubrick dead, Warner Bros. studio was free to edit it via CGI to hide “naughty” bits in order to get R-rating and even the unrated version proved to be nothing special, at best/worst with the standards of nudity and sex you can expect today from average episode of Game of Thrones or similar series on streaming services. Nevertheless, many critics still felt cheated when the film turned out to be as less erotic than expected.

    Some critics expressed their disappointment by claiming that Eyes Wide Shut was nothing more than a joke the old cinema master played on his most devout worshipper. According to them, he deliberately made a film that runs for two hours and half and in which “nothing happens”. Such extensive length is, however, something quite normal for Kubrick’s films and, furthermore, unlike many of his less talented colleagues, Kubrick was always able to match quantity with quality. Kubrick with his meticulous perfectionist direction allows audience to get fully immersed into unusual, cold and often frightening world in which his protagonists live – in this case milieu of upper-class New Yorkers. Known for his misanthropy, Kubrick delights in showing the dark side of American elite. Long dolly shots are used to show spacious interiors of luxury apartments as source of agoraphobia and tension. Cinematography by Larry Smith is excellent, especially in emphasising colours and sharp contrast in order to express emotional state of protagonist. Kubrick again shows himself as expert of using music to enhance films – original soundtrack by Jocelyn Pollock is well-complemented by clever choice of pop soundtrack and classics like Shostakovich’s Waltz. No 2 from Suite for Variety Orchestra, used well to convey atmosphere of decadence in early 20th Century Europe, not that different from decadence in late 20th Century America.

    Eyes Wide Shut also benefits from the script Kubrick co-wrote with Frederic Raphael. It plays on sharp contrast between facade and reality. Good doctor owes his good life to having to face death and misery during his line of work. His seemingly happy marriage is in danger of being destroyed through few innocent flirts and fantasies. Seemingly responsible father and husband, motivated mostly by boredom, engages in adventures like someone in puberty. And the very same palace paraded by pillars of New York society is also a place where naked women are to be treated for drug overdose. The same effect is underlined with perfect casting. Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, who were still married during the production and functioned as Hollywood’s supercouple, puts their celebrity to good use. Cruise, known as one the actors with greatest ego in Hollywood, simply shines as a man with irresistible charm who has women (and, apparently, even some men) throwing themselves at his feet, but ultimately reveals himself to be a weak, shallow and not particularly intelligent. Nicole Kidman is even better as stunning beauty torn between her life of domestic duty and her own wild sexual fantasies.

    Supporting cast is wonderful, especially in the scenes which the characters interact with protagonist in unexpected ways. Swedish actress Marie Richardson is wonderful as woman who goes through emotional roller coaster between grief and long-suppressed lust. Todd Field, who would later make a great career as director, is also effective as an old friend who gets protagonist into trouble. Croatian actor Rade Šerbedžija, one of the big stars of Yugoslav cinema who would later be typecast in the roles of Russian gangsters, makes great entry into Hollywood with small but darkly humorous role of eccentric costume owner who uses his nubile daughter (played by Leelee Sobieski) for some dark business arrangements. Surprisingly good performance is also provided by Sydney Pollack, famed producer and director who replaced legendary Harvey Keitel during the production.

    At the end of the day, Eyes Wide Shut is a superbly directed, brilliantly written and excellently acted film that represents quality cinema at its best. Just as it stood over many other film makers with general quality of his films, Kubrick proved that he could make swan song better than almost anyone else.

    RATING: 9/10 (++++)

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  4. Kubrick's 'Eyes Wide Shut' (1999): The Redheads and What They Mean@janenightshade2523d
    *Nicole Kidman isn't the only redhead in **Eyes Wide Shut**, Stanley Kubrick's last film.*

    Second in a series of articles about this fascinating film. See first article here.

    My recap of the basic premise of Eyes Wide Shut, carried over from the first article, is repeated:

    To summarize briefly, Bill is a well-established Manhattan physician with patients from the .01 percent, including the uber-rich Victor Ziegler (well-played by director and sometime actor Sydney Pollack of Out of Africa fame.) Ziegler invites the Harfords to a Christmas party at his lavish Manhattan townhome, where two gorgeous fashion models hit on Bill and a mysterious Hungarian billionaire tries to seduce Alice. Bill also helps Ziegler out of a tough spot, after a hooker named Mandy overdoses in his private bathroom during sex.

    The day after the party, the couple has an argument that shocks Bill to the core; as a reaction, he goes on a midnight sojourn that eventually lands him at a masquerade party in a huge country mansion on Long Island. The masquerade party is the scene of a bizarre occult ceremony, followed by a mass orgy that takes place throughout the mansion's luxurious rooms.

    Every participant, as required, wears a carved Venetian mask at all times, including Bill, who rented his from a costumer in Greenwich Village. Bill is quickly detected as an outsider, then threatened and unmasked, but is redeemed by a “mystery woman” in a feathered mask, who appears to be offering her life in exchange for his. (This follows the theme from Beethoven’s only opera, Fidelio, about a woman who disguises herself to rescue her husband from prison; "Fidelio" is the password to the orgy, given to Bill by an old friend who plays the piano at the cult's orgies.) The rest of the film follows Bill’s attempts to investigate the death of the woman who “redeemed” him and the impact the experience has on his marriage to Alice.

    There are many recurring themes in EWS. One fascinating aspect is the prevalence of redheaded women, starting of course with Bill’s wife Alice, a tall, skinny redhead with curly hair, and his seven-year-old daughter Helena, who has straight red hair.

    As the story unfolds over a few days, practically every woman whom Bill encounters is a tall skinny redhead: Nuala, one of the fashion models he flirts with at the Zieglers’ Christmas party; Mandy, the hooker who overdoses in Ziegler’s bathroom; even Mrs. Ziegler, an attractive, older redhead who probably looked a lot like Mandy when younger.

    Later, while wandering around Greenwich village, Harford almost has sex with a prostitute named Domino, another tall, skinny redhead. He comes back the next day to bring Domino a gift, only to find she’s not home. Her roommate, Sally, lets Bill into the apartment and comes onto him; not surprisingly, Sally is another redhead.

    At the orgy in the mansion, Bill encounters two redheads: the masked Mystery Woman who “redeems” him from a sinister fate at the hands of the occult/orgy participants; and another tall, skinny masked redhead who propositions him for sex, before the Mystery Woman pulls him away.

    By my count, that’s eight redheads, excluding Helena. It’s interesting to note that all of the eight redheads (except possibly Mrs. Ziegler) are sexually available to Harford. There are only two women he reacts with in a prominent way who aren’t redheads -- and significantly, Harford does not consider them sexually available: Marion, a middle-aged blonde who’s the daughter of a recently deceased patient, and the brown-haired teen-age daughter of Millich, the costumer who rents Bill a mask and costume for the orgy party. He sees Marion as off limits because of professional ethics. (Although he later reconsiders the rejection of her sexual advances.) He also considers Millich’s daughter unavailable because she’s underage.

    What exactly do all the redheads mean here? My first thought is the traditional depiction of red-haired women in Western culture as “scarlet women,” or often, as witches in fairy tales. This fits with the sexual and occult themes of the film. My second thought is that Kubrick wanted to show the sexually available women in Harford’s life as interchangeable — and disposable — commodities.

    This theme is repeated at the orgy, as all the sexually available women are white, young, thin, and tall, with nearly the same type of bodies, and all are wearing identical black g-strings — only their masks are different. Consider, also, the way red-haired Domino is later replaced by her red-haired roommate Sally, with no real explanation of where Domino went.

    Of all the redheads (after Alice), Mandy, the hooker in the bathroom at the Christmas party, is the most important. Later on, she’s possibly the red-haired Mystery Woman who “redeems” Harford at the orgy and then dies mysteriously the next day. I say “possibly” because we only know that the Mystery Woman is Mandy on Ziegler’s account, and Ziegler is not a reliable source. Secondly, Mandy and the Mystery Woman are played by two different actresses (or three, of you want to count the dubbing of the Mystery Woman’s dialogue by Cate Blanchett.) Did the original Mandy actress suddenly become unavailable due to the lengthy shoot (more than a year?) Or is this a deliberate switcheroo to make audiences question the storyline and look into deeper meanings? Whose body is on the slab at the morgue after Mandy dies? The actress who plays Mandy or the one who plays the Mystery Woman? In the end, it doesn’t matter, because in Ziegler’s world, all women are Mandy — even his own wife.

    NOTE: Interestingly, in the German television movie Traumnouvelle (1969), which is based on the same 1929 novella by Arthur Schnitzler that Kubrick based EWS on, most of the women are red-haired as well, including the main character's wife and the Mystery Woman who redeems him. There's a decent copy of Traumnouvelle on YouTube if you want to compare it with EWS. It is virtually the same story, shorn of all of Kubrick's bells and whistles, and set in a different era and country.

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  5. Kubrick's 'Eyes Wide Shut (1999)': The Symbolic Masks@janenightshade2527d

    Note: all photos are either in the public domain (publicity stills) or have been altered to meet "fair use" standards. Also, spoiler alert! First of a series of commentary on this film.

    With the recent headlines about the Nxivm and Jeffrey Epstein child sex trafficking cases, Stanley Kubrick’s last film, Eyes Wide Shut-- which focuses on a secret cult of elite, murderous sex abusers -- is once again in the public’s eye. This month and year also marks the 20th anniversary of the release of Eyes Wide Shut, resulting in many retrospective articles and commentary. Sadly, 2019 additionally marks two decades on from Kubrick's death; he passed away from a sudden heart attack only a few days after he delivered his final cut to the distributor, Warner Brothers.

    You could write a book about the symbology of Eyes Wide Shut; it’s packed with occult symbols, Easter Eggs, and obscure references of all kinds. (In fact, several people have written books about it.) You could also write a book about the film’s impact on hordes of Internet armchair analysts who believe that every pencil cup and lampshade is a coded Message From Stanley warning about the Illuminati, the Freemasons, the Tri-Lateral Commission, the Bilderbergers, or other usual magnets of conspiracy theories. Of course, the great director's untimely death--in conjuction with the completion of this film--has been a heated subject for the EWS conspiracy analysts from the start.

    On the surface, EWS is a film about an affluent, social-climbing Manhattan professional couple, Bill and Alice Harford (Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, then married) and their crumbling marriage. As usual with Kubrick films, however, there’s a lot going on in the background behind the slim, surface plot.

    To summarize briefly, Bill is a well-established Manhattan physician with patients from the .01 percent, including the uber-rich Victor Ziegler (well-played by director and sometime actor Sydney Pollack of Out of Africa fame.) Ziegler invites the Harfords to a Christmas party at his lavish Manhattan townhome, where two gorgeous fashion models hit on Bill and a mysterious Hungarian billionaire tries to seduce Alice. Bill also helps Ziegler out of a tough spot, after a hooker named Mandy overdoses in his private bathroom during sex.

    The day after the party, the couple has an argument that shocks Bill to the core; as a reaction, he goes on a midnight sojourn that eventually lands him at a masquerade party in a huge country mansion on Long Island. The masquerade party is the scene of a bizarre occult ceremony, followed by a mass orgy that takes place throughout the mansion's luxurious rooms.

    Every participant, as required, wears a carved Venetian mask at all times, including Bill, who rented his from a costumer in Greenwich Village. Bill is quickly detected as an outsider, then threatened and unmasked, but is redeemed by a “mystery woman” in a feathered mask, who appears to be offering her life in exchange for his. (This follows the theme from Beethoven’s only opera, Fidelio, about a woman who disguises herself to rescue her husband from prison; "Fidelio" is the password to the orgy, given to Bill by an old friend who plays the piano at the cult's orgies.) The rest of the film follows Bill’s attempts to investigate the death of the woman who “redeemed” him and the impact the experience has on his marriage to Alice.

    Clocking in at over two-and-a-half hours, Eyes Wide Shut covers a lot of ground, but the centerpiece of the film is the incredibly creepy ceremony/orgy. The Venetian carnival masks worn by the participants comprise a large part of why these scenes are so effective. Since this is a Kubrick film, many of the masks--of course--symbolize various Kubrickian codes, references, and messages. Some of the masks are merely traditional, some are abstract, some look like actual people—but all are creepy and disturbing. Here are some of the major masks and various explanations of what they may represent; some are from my own theories, while other explanations have come from Kubrick fans and pundits around the 'net.

    LorreandRedCloack.jpg Lorremask.jpg

    The “Peter Lorre” mask. The gold mask (top right, above) worn by “Red Cloak” — the sinister Master of Ceremonies at the secret orgy — is arguably the most important mask in the film. Today, replicas of it are sold as popular Halloween masks. I was sure I’d seen those facial features before, but at first I couldn’t place them. Then it finally hit me: the mask startlingly resembles Peter Lorre, the Hungarian-born actor who acted in Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon, and other famous films of the mid-20th Century. Why would Kubrick reference Lorre, a man who died 32 years before Kubrick started shooting this film?

    In my opinion, he's not calling out Lorre as a man, but as a role that the actor played. Film buffs know that Lorre’s most acclaimed performance was in the 1931 Fritz Lang film M, where he portrayed a serial killer who molests and murders children.

    IMHO, by inserting this mask in such a prominent role in the film, Kubrick is calling out elites -- like Epstein -- who rape and abuse children. What’s more, there’s a second Peter Lorre mask at the orgy (above, bottom, right); this one is colored brown and worn by one of the party-goers. It's plain--at least to me--that Kubrick really wanted people to notice those particular masks and make the obvious connection to the child killer in M.

    Of course, this theory may be all wet. Lorre ended his formerly distinguished career as an actor in B-grade horror movies, starring opposite Boris Karloff and Vincent Price. His face could have simply been intended to up the creep factor of the orgy. But I don't think so.

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    The Ryan O’Neal mask. This mask is worn by Bill Harford when he infiltrates the secret orgy. No need for theories on the identity of these features; the mask is on record as modeled from the face of O’Neal, who played the title role in Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon (1975). This is one of Kubrick’s self -referential little Easter Eggs, of which there are many in EWS.

    Barry Lyndon tells the story of an 18th Century Irish social climber who schemes to become an aristocrat, but who eventually falls to ruin. Bill Harford is also a social climber, who uses his status as a successful “society doctor” to access the world of the privileged uber-elite (symbolized by Ziegler, Bill’s patient.) Similar to the character of Barry Lyndon, Harford pays a steep price for trying to socialize with people who are "above his station."

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    The “Donald Trump” mask. As anyone could reasonably imagine, this one has been generating conspiracy theories for years. Some people don’t see a resemblance, but I think it does look quite a lot like The Donald — lol it’s even painted orange! In the film, the reveler who wears this mask is very prominently featured in the front row of the audience members who are watching the occult ceremony just before the orgy. Trump detractors claim this proves that Trump is/was involved in secret, unsavory activities. Trump supporters claim that the mask shows Trump’s horror and disgust at the alleged activities of his fellow billionaires. Notably, this mask is the only one that wears an expression of horror and repulsion — it’s almost shrieking. Interestingly, Kubrick’s daughter, Vivian, is a Trump supporter—at least according to her very active Twitter feed. Surely, Vivian is aware of these theories regarding the alleged “Trump” mask; what on earth does she think about them?

    SorosMask.JPG!

    The “George Soros” mask. This may seem like a cheap shot, but I genuinely think that this one looks quite a bit like Ol’ Baggy Eyes, aka the shadowy, controversial global financier at the heart of many conspiracy theories. Notice that this mask is painted green, in addition to having prominent bags beneath the eye sockets. Is the green color a reference to filthy lucre? At the time that EWS was filming, Soros was considered a major architect of the financial crisis known as “the Asian flu,” which caused widespread economic distress in many East Asian nations. Note that the Christmas party scene in EWS also features a sinister, wealthy Hungarian; Soros is Hungarian in origin. In the film, the wearer of this mask isn’t prominent but just silently lurks in the background, as a shadowy global financier might be expected to do.

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    The “Bob Hope” mask. This mask with a receding hairline and a prominent, "ski-jump" nose is worn by a butler at the occult/orgy mansion. He is the servant who ushers Tom Cruise’s character into a kind of courtroom, where the sinister Red Cloak unmasks him and -- it’s implied -- sentences him to death.

    Hope had a reputation as a “player” who slept with numerous women during his 40s heyday as a movie star, but I don’t think that’s what is being referenced here. If this mask really does refer to Hope, I think it’s pointing to the beloved funnyman's long-time role as an official USO entertainer of American troops who are stationed overseas. Kubrick made three very famous anti-war films: Paths of Glory, Dr. Strangelove and Full Metal Jacket. He would have seen Hope as a deceiver who lulls soldiers to forget -- at least for awhile -- their role as cannon fodder for the global elite. Significantly, the servant who wears this mask tricks Bill Harford into following him by telling him a lie.

    Other people have said this ski-jump-nosed mask may be a reference to Richard Nixon and not Hope, but I tend to think not. Nixon, who died two years before EWS started filming, hadn’t been a factor in global power and politics since 1974. And the disgraced ex-President was at the apex of power before his downfall -- not a servant.

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    The “Picasso mask”. This mask depicting a face made of a fractured triangle and a fractured oval does look like a Picasso painting. But as Rob Ager, the self-described “Kubrick decoder,”points out in one of his videos about EWS, the triangle also looks very much like the “Eye of Providence” symbol on the back of the U.S. dollar bill (the pyramid with a glowing eye on top.) Note that the green accents on the mask are painted in the same shade of green that the dollar is printed in, and the squiggly black lines on the mask's left side echo the scrolls of the banner under the Eye of Providence.

    This is another reference to the themes of unlimited wealth and power that pervade EWS. The “Eye of Providence” is also a common Masonic symbol, of which there are many in this film, including the Christmas decorations at Ziegler’s house and the throne that Red Cloak sits on when passing judgement on Harford. (I'll write more about this in a future post.)

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    The Plague Doctor mask. This mask is worn most prominently by the man who grabs and leads away the masked “mystery woman” who “redeems” Harford from an unknown but sinister fate. It’s not spelled out, but the obvious implication is that she’s offering to die in place of Harford, just as the main character in the Beethoven opera Fidelio risks her life to save her husband.

    The plague doctor mask was worn by physicians during the Black Plague; it supposedly protected wearers from plague germs. The “beak” of the mask was usually stuffed with medicinal herbs. In the EWS "redemption" scene, it's undoubtedly a symbol of approaching death. The mask is also an ironic echo of Harford’s status as a real-life doctor, except that this plague-masked "doctor" deals out death instead of life.

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    The Bautta mask. This mask is worn by the party-goer who nods at Harford from a gallery above the floor where the occult ceremony takes place. It’s hinted in a later scene that Victor Ziegler is behind the bautta mask, but it’s never verified. The bautta was a common mask worn in the heyday of the Venetian Carnival. It flares out over the mouth so that a wearer can eat and drink without removing the mask. According to my research, the word bautta comes from either a German word meaning “to protect” or an Italian word for “monster.” Both words fit Ziegler; he “protects” the secret cult by having certain people “eliminated”; he is also a monster.

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