Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

A New York City doctor embarks on a harrowing, night-long odyssey of sexual and moral discovery after his wife reveals a painful secret to him.

Director:

Stanley Kubrick

Writers:

Stanley Kubrick (screenplay), Frederic Raphael (screenplay)

Stars:

Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Todd Field

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 11 wins & 28 nominations.

Cast

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

Storyline

After his wife, Alice, tells him about her sexual fantasies, William Harford sets out for a night of sexual adventure. After several less than successful encounters, he meets an old friend, Nick Nightingale - now a musician - who tells him of strange sex parties when he is required to play the piano blindfolded. All the men at the party are costumed and wear masks while the women are all young and beautiful. Harford manages to find an appropriate costume and heads out to the party. Once there, however, he is warned by someone who recognizes him, despite the mask, that he is in great danger. He manages to extricate himself but the threats prove to be quite real and sinister.

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Plot Keywords:

orgy | password | prostitute | sex party | sexual fantasy | 

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Taglines:

Cruise. Kidman. Kubrick.

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Did You Know?

Trivia

Stanley Kubrick: [114] The room in the morgue visited by Bill is in wing C, room 114 (C-Rm114, or CRM-114). CRM-114 was the name of the decoding machine in Kubrick's film Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964), as well as the number printed on the medicine that Alex is given in A Clockwork Orange (1971).

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Goofs

When Victor Ziegler (Sydney Pollack) refills his and Dr. Bill Harford's (Tom Cruise) Scotches during their final conversation in the Red Pool Room, Victor switches glasses with Bill. Possibly intentional.

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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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Alternate Versions

In the DVD/Video version, when Nicole Kidman gives her monologue about yearning for the Naval Officer, she mouths the words "We made love." But the words "You and I made love," are heard. This was done to clear up the confusion about whom she actually made love to.

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Connections

Referenced in They Made Me Do It (2011)

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Soundtracks

Masked Ball
(1997)
Performed by Jocelyn Pook and Electra Strings
Courtesy of Virgin Records Ltd
Written by Jocelyn Pook
Published by Chester Music Ltd

User Reviews

A World of Its Own

I remember when Kubrick passed away. I read it in the morning newspaper, and was struck with deep sadness I couldn't explain. Mind you, I was not even 12 years old at the time and had barely seen any of his films.

So I went to see "Eyes Wide Shut" (1999) at the cinema. I credit it, along with Terrence Malick's "The Thin Red Line" (1998), as an experience that ignited my interest in film, since they were both films like I had never seen before. Sure, there's that one reason why a young lad might be interested in this, but I was so struck by its atmosphere and narrative flow that I had to read Schnitzler's "Traumnovelle". And how disappointed I was in how unalike they were. The film was in a world of its own that had a sense of time that was its own, a sense of colour that was its own, a sense of light that was its own. Every movement was languid, every word deliberate.

I never really thought about the connection between this and Malick's film until now, but really, they both move in the realm of dreams and memories and projected, subjective realities – between something that did happen (to someone) and something that might have happened. There's ellipsis, ambiguity, metaphor. Both work their magic in visual terms. I'm soaked in that light from the ball even by recalling the images in my mind as I'm writing this.

Fidelio – enter.

Details

Official Sites:

Warner Bros. [United States]

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 July 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

Traumnovelle

Filming Locations:

UK

Box Office

Budget:

$65,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$21,706,163, 18 July 1999

Gross USA:

$55,691,208

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$162,238,658

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., Stanley Kubrick Productions, Hobby Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

159 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1