Vol.6, No 130, July 22, 1999
	'Eyes Wide Shut' has crossed opinions
	PRO By Maya Yamane Summer Forty-Niner Some things are better left unsaid.  Ignorance is bliss.  These may be the lessons learned from “Eyes Wide Shut,” the haunting, disturbing and morose study of sex and jealousy from the late master filmmaker Stanley Kubrick. Those who are attracted to the film for its top-star billing and expect the usual Hollywood fare will be sorely disappointed.  This is Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman as never seen before, as perhaps only Kubrick could have manifested. Set in Manhattan, the film opens as Dr. William Harford (Cruise) and his wife, Alice (Kidman), prepare for a black-tie party given by Victor Ziegler (Sydney Pollack), one of Harford’s patients.  Kubrick is known for his disturbing films (“A Clockwork Orange” being the prime example), and “Eyes Wide Shut” is no exception.  They are more psychological examinations than story-telling movies.  They often produce the feeling of horrific fascination, like watching something awful happening but not being able to turn away, like driving slowly by an accident and feeling bad but at the same time having the perverted desire to see some kind of carnage.  It is the ability to produce such feelings that makes Kubrick such a great filmmaker.  His best work tends to be that which pushes the envelope. “Eyes Wide Shut” may take some patience, but is worth it. The film is visually beautiful, the lighting enhancing the somber mood.  The minimal piano score is equally effective and appropriate. Cruise and Kidman play their parts well — Kidman at her best during the scene in which she confesses. The movie is based on “Traumnovelle,” a 1926 novel by Viennese writer Arthur Schnitzler.  Kubrick had aspired to turn the novel into a film for decades.  CON		.   CON By S. Derek Sullivan Summer Forty-Niner Stanley Kubrick’s last movie, “Eyes Wide Shut,” sadly is best view with your eyes firmly shut. For the man who gave us such masterpieces like “Clockwork Orange” and “Full Metal Jacket,” the movie just does not have it. The main problem was in the casting. Real life husband and wife team, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, play on-screen husband and wife, Manhattan dwelling Dr. Bill and Alice Harford.  Bill Harford, a successful New York doctor and Alice Harford, a bored mother, wife and former art gallery employee. Appropriately, the movie is about nightmares, real and imagined — watching the movie was a nightmare, too. Alice dreams of a sexual encounter with a naval officer at a hotel while on vacation with Bill and is willing to give up everything they have.  Bill tries but never quite has a real sexual encounter with a prostitute. The on-screen relationship is poorly developed and we never really know exactly what is wrong with this couple.  Billed as “psycho-sexual thriller,” the dialogue was hard to keep up with as most of the audience found the Harford’s conversations amusing. In his pursuit of sex, Bill Harford flirts with a cult — again it is not fully explained what the cult is all about except that every one wears a mask and a hooded cloak.  The cult meets at mansion once a month and rampant sex goes on in various rooms. Is this a ‘Satanic’ worshipping group? A senator’s private party? What? We never know.  Tom Cruise’s portrayal of Dr. Harford is weak, he somehow lacks the masculinity required of the role. His counterparts in the movie are all older and tougher. Nicole Kidman’s Alice is excruciatingly painful to listen and watch, especially when the role requires her act as if she is high on drugs or alcohol. The sexual chemistry that is supposed to be there between Kidman and Cruise is non-existent. A brief scene and that is it.  We see what other actors do too — nothing special. Anyone can play that. If you do go to see this approximately two and a half hour long movie, and feel like keeping your eyes shut, maybe the music will be a small consolation. Then again, feel free to laugh, maybe that is where I went wrong.  As a thriller, it falls into the pathetic category — so it is laughable.   PRO Summer road repairs continue Enrollment higher Area code overlay outvoted Old to modern tales entertain youth, parents World in mourning 'Inspector Gadget' go, go, goes to theatres 'Eyes Wide Shut' has crossed opinions Winter in Summer Summer 99 ISSUES DAILY 49ER HOMEPAGE