Bioenergeia

Stanley Kubrick’s final film Eyes Wide Shut is described as a surrealist commentary on fidelity and marriage. The surrealist style stays true to the Austrian novella on which the film is based, Traumnovelle,or “Dream Story”. Many viewers and movie essayists identify the primary theme as the malaise of the marriage between Bill and Alice Harford played by Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, as Bill wanders through the streets of New York City looking for an extramarital affair. I believe Kubrick intended his film to generalize the theme far beyond the question of marriage.

There is constant tension in the movie on the distinction of reality and fantasy, and this extends not only to the characters through dramatic irony, but also to the audience itself. A prime example is the two main characters, a wealthy couple with marital issues, are played by Cruise and Kidman themselves, a real-life couple that faced similar issues. Kubrick uses surrealism to keep the audience suspended between fantasy and reality. Perhaps just like Bill and Alice are living through their lives with “eyes wide shut”, so too do we as the audience.

There is a discrepancy between the chosen interpretation of the film by video essayists and the actual viewing experience of the film. The film’s most prominent scenes, especially those near the climax, focus more on ritual initiation than on marriage or fidelity. Some have interpreted this as a dramatic continuation of the story’s theme of fidelity, but viewing the movie through a more generalized metacommentary about the state of elite society and the cinematic medium itself harmonizes the theme of marriage, surrealism, and ritual initiation.

In the years since its release Eyes Wide Shut has generated speculation that the masked ball scene is inspired by real-world elite gatherings, such as Bohemian Grove, a retreat for business and political leaders who are rumored to participate in ritual effigy and hedonistic expressions. This is supported by Victor Ziegler’s line to Bill: “If I told you their names, I don’t think you’d sleep so well.”

While Kubrick never explicitly confirmed this connection, the visual and thematic parallels are difficult to ignore. The film portrays occult practices shrouded in extreme wealth and influence, suggesting a world where those who rule live dramatically different lives than the average middle-class family, or even a wealthy doctor such as Bill.

Kubrick’s final film was one that received acclaim for its style but also confusion and sometimes criticism for the explicit nature of the events depicted. The missing pieces of the puzzle to understand the film lie in the hindsight gathered over the last 30 years since its release, that perhaps we have no idea the degree of secrecy and occultism being practiced by our ruling elite. Kubrick may have been privy to knowledge of certain groups given his connection to American intelligentsia, and Hollywood. Now that some of what happens behind closed doors or behind masks has been revealed, we understand that we are in fact the ones who now must struggle identifying fantasy or reality, not only Bill and Alice.