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 10 wins & 27 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.

---

Plot Keywords:

orgy | password | masked ball | group sex | secret society | 

---

Taglines:

Cruise. Kidman. Kubrick.

---

Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

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, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$55,691,208

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$162,091,208

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

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).

---

Goofs

When Bill is going to the room where Marion is, we can see two tables in the corridor, with a sculpture on each one. When Carl arrives some minutes later, the sculpture on the first table has disappeared.

---

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.

---

Crazy Credits

Special thanks to the staff of Hamleys of London.

---

Alternate Versions

The original theatrical version included a goof in an early scene (a boom operator was reflected on a steel shower stall post in Victor Ziegler's bathroom): this has been digitally removed on the home video releases.

---

Connections

Referenced in Porn Star: The Legend of Ron Jeremy (2001)

---

Soundtracks

Jazz Suite, Waltz 2
(1924)
Performed by Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest (as Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra)
Conducted by Riccardo Chailly
Courtesy of The Decca Record Company Limited
Under license from Universal Music Special Markets
Written by Dmitri Shostakovich
Published by Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers 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.