Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

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.

Director:

Stanley Kubrick

Writers:

Stanley Kubrick (screenplay), Frederic Raphael (screenplay),

Stars:

Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Todd Field

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 5 wins & 23 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tom Cruise	...	Dr. William Harford
Nicole Kidman	...	Alice Harford
Sydney Pollack	...	Victor Ziegler
Marie Richardson	...	Marion
Rade Serbedzija	...	Milich (as Rade Sherbedgia)
Todd Field	...	Nick Nightingale
Vinessa Shaw	...	Domino
Sky du Mont	...	Sandor Szavost (as Sky Dumont)
Fay Masterson	...	Sally
Leelee Sobieski	...	Milich's Daughter
Thomas Gibson	...	Carl
Madison Eginton	...	Helena Harford
Jackie Sawiris	...	Roz
Leslie Lowe	...	Illona Ziegler
Peter Benson	...	Bandleader

Storyline

Sexual jolts disrupt Manhattan physician Bill Harford's equilibrium. At an elegant Christmas party, two "models" hit on him, he watches a Lothario try to pick up his tipsy wife, he aids a woman sprawled naked in a bathroom after an overdose. The next night, his wife reveals sexual fantasies with a stranger; a dead patient's daughter throws herself at him; as he walks, brooding, six teen boys hurl homophobic insults at him; a streetwalker takes him to her flat; he interrupts men having a sex party with a girl barely in her teens. His odyssey, which next takes him into a world of wealthy sex play at a masked ball of hedonism, threatens his life, his self-respect, and his marriage.

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Plot Keywords:

orgy | sexual fantasy | sex party | star appears nude | female full frontal nudity | 

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Taglines:

Cruise. Kidman. Kubrick.

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Romance | Thriller

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Certificate:

U

Details

Official Sites:

Warner Bros. [United States]

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 September 1999 (France)

Also Known As:

Eyes Wide Shut

Filming Locations:

Berners Street, Fitzrovia, London, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$65,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£1,189,672 (UK) (10 September 1999)

Gross:

£5,065,520 (UK) (22 October 1999)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., Stanley Kubrick Productions, Hobby Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

159 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film is notoriously known for its secrecy during production and the secrecy even divided the two main stars, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. To exaggerate the distrust between their fictional husband and wife, director Stanley Kubrick would direct each actor separately and forbid them to share notes. In one painful example, for just one minute of final footage where Alice makes love to a handsome naval officer-an imaginary affair that haunts Bill over the course of the film-Kubrick demanded that Kidman shoot six days of naked sex scenes with a male model. Not only did he ask the pair to pose in over 50 erotic positions, he banned Cruise from the set and forbade Kidman to assuage her husband's tension by telling him what happened during the shoot.

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Goofs

In the overdose scene in Ziegler's bathroom, crewman with hat distractingly reflected in the shower chrome trim (reports are the video transfer has made this less obvious).

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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.

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Crazy Credits

Special thanks to the staff of Hamleys of London.

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Connections

Referenced in Star Stories: The Church of Scientology Presents... Being Tom Cruise: Why Scientology Isn't in Any Way Mental (2007)

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Soundtracks

Chanson d'Amour
(1961)
Performed by The Victor Silvester Orchestra
Courtesy of Castle Copyrights Ltd
Written by Wayne Shanklin
Administered by Hill & Range Songs, Inc. & Carlin Music Corporation

User Reviews

Kubrick's Gift to us all. "I have seen one or two things in my life but never, never anything like this."

I'm sitting here trying to come up with a clever comment about this movie to make you want to see it. When in reality it doesn't matter what I say. As Stallone would say "I'm at least half a bum." The truth to it is, it kind of makes me sad that I'll probably never see another movie that affects so much. Never experience a film that 6 years after it's release, I still can not forget.

To say the most, it's a powerful film. The directing is world class. The camera work is haunting and the soundtrack gives me chills. It's Cruise at his finest. He is so convincing that one might actually believe that this guy is Doctor Bill Harford and this really did happen to him. And that my friends is the definition of acting. The seriousness of the situation fades away with a stern smile as the plot thickens.

To say the least it is one of those movies you could watch over and over again. To be honest with you, I didn't buy it the first time I saw it. I thought it was good, but not great. Then one day I was bored, so I decided to see it again. And that's when it happened. Kubrick came alive. I became infected by his genius and captivated by Cruise's portrayal. His realization and his detail.

It's hard to pick my favorite scene in the movie. I couldn't pretend if I tried. I particularly love the opening party scene. That leads to a "Baby did a bad bad thing". Cruise being assaulted on the street being so eloquently called a fag. The prostitute. From the piano bar to the costume shop. And finally, the unionized orgy party, that I find hard to believe doesn't really exist. Maybe only guys like Kubrick or Cruise will ever really know if they do or not.

Many people might disagree with me when I say Eyes Wide Shut is one of the greatest films. But how come I think it is every time I watch it? To me, it's more than a beautiful work of art. More than a visceral painted picture or a haunting melody. It's a masterpiece that should be treasured.