Mar 17

Mar 17 Stanley Kubrick

‘Eyes Wide Shut’ (1999), Stanley Kubrick’s last film to ever be produced, was originally inspired by the 1926 novel, ‘Traumnovelle’, written by Arthur Schnitzler. This thrilling erotic drama blurs the lines of the fantasies and nightmares stemmed from a human’s subconscious lustful and indulging desires for sex. Kubrick stars Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise as Dr. Bill and Alice Hartford, the young and vibrant married couple living amongst high society New York City. From the beginning, the couple separately encounters multiple situations at company parties where potential sexual fantasies could occur, ironically around Christmas time, a time where lustful desires of sex are known to be at their highest peak.

Years of passionate marriage between Dr. Bill and Alice Hartford were damaged as Alice confesses her sexual fantasy about another man to Bill. Crucified with jealousy, disbelief and resentment, Dr. Hartford flees their home in the middle of the night to seek for his sexual desires.

With a thrilling sequence of events to follow, Dr. Hartford’s midnight ‘sexcapade’ succumbs into an underground masked orgy organized by a sectarian group. After witnessing an unexpected murder of one of the orgy participants, was this late-night adventure of Dr. Hartford’s a dream or a reality, a nightmare or fantasy, or, a mistake?

““Life goes on. It always does, until it doesn’t.””

— Victor Zeigler

““No dream is ever just a dream.””

— Dr. Bill Hartford (Tom Cruise)

As for being the last film of Stanley Kubrick’s, ‘Eyes Wide Shut’ made record for being the longest film shot, which lasted for a period of 15 months in London, falsifying the New York City set.