In 1926, Austrian author Arthur Schnitzler, a champion of Viennese Modernism, published one of the boldest novels of his time. Rhapsody: A Dream Novel, alternatively known as Dream Story (or Traumnovelle in German), tells the story of Doctor Fridolin, who wanders across town and finds himself in a masked orgy for the elite after his wife confesses to having had sexual fantasies about another man. Despite its explicit nature, the book has been adapted seven times. Best known of these adaptations is Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut, starring Tom Cruise.
Eyes Wide Shut was Kubrick’s final movie. The erotic psychological mystery thriller was a major success, winning a César Award and grossing $162 million at the box office. However, unlike other Kubrick movies, it isn’t remembered for directorial artistry. It’s remembered more for Tom Cruise’s performance and the fact that it took a whopping 400 days to shoot. Why such a long and tedious production window?
Stanley Kubrick’s Perfectionism Resulted In ‘Eyes Wide Shut’s Grueling 400-Day Shoot
With Eyes Wide Shut, Kubrick chose not just to bring Schnitzler’s story to the big screen but also to illuminate the essential differences between love and lust. In the process, he cast a spell on audiences with a 159-minute crusade about curiosity and secrecy. The protagonist is still the same guy – bored with his life and embarking on a decadent, salacious attempt at self-destruction, but the setting is now New York.
Eyes Wide Shut premiered in the summer of 1999 after the director’s death, but according to Vanity Fair, principal photography had begun in November 1996. Kubrick’s perfectionism resulted in several pages of the script being rewritten on the set and the cast being overworked. Apparently, he deliberately shot many scenes dozens of times to break down the cast members and encourage them to channel their frustration on screen. A simple scene involving Tom Cruise walking through a door was allegedly filmed 95 times. Additionally, Vinessa Shaw was meant to be on set for a day,for one scene, but ended up staying for two months because Kubrick called for repeated takes.
Consequently, the shoot lasted way longer than intended, with the crew members almost losing their minds. The New York Times disclosed that Tom Cruise developed an ulcer but never told Kubrick. When filming ended in June 1998, the people in charge of Guinness World Records took notice, recognizing Eyes Wide Shut as the movie with the longest continuous shooting schedule. Also acknowledged was that the critically acclaimed ‘90s erotic thriller had an uninterrupted 400-day (46-week) shoot.
The average director would have shot the movie in New York (as per the script’s location). Kubrick’s fear of flying meant all cast members were required to stay in England, where the director lived. The Full Metal Jacket filmmaker reportedly sent several workmen to Manhattan to measure street lengths to the centimeter and to note all iconic locations so that no detail would be left out. Thanks to meticulousness, we got a near-flawless movie.
A Realistic Look At Love And A Perfect Tom Cruise Performance Protects ‘Eyes Wide Shut’ From Becoming Dated
According to the book A Critical Companion to Stanley Kubrick by Elsa Colombani, Kubrick died of a heart attack only six days after showing his final cut of Eyes Wide Shut to Warner Bros. executives. The celebrated filmmaker considered it his “greatest contribution to the art of cinema,” and the execs must have been shocked by the direction he chose. But he was right to go that route. For a long time, people who longed to see intellectual eroticism in American cinema often wondered: Where are the equivalents to Body Heat and Basic Instinct? Well, Kubrick gave them one.
But this wasn’t just about eroticism. Kubrick was also fusing counterculture values with the sophisticated poetry of American art cinema in a way no one else had. The acclaim wasn’t universal, and Eyes Wide Shut is now his second-lowest-ranked movie on Rotten Tomatoes, but everyone agreed about the acting. The erotic thriller is distinguished by superlative performances from both Cruise and Kidman. Their on-screen chemistry (or is it hostility?) can be attributed to the fact that they were married in real life at the time.
Cruise, in particular, is very comfortable in star mode as the taciturn doc who discovers a new side of elite living. It helps that he was given the best lines, creating in proper detail the profile of a family man who combines a streak of decency with a night of unforgettable discoveries. The movie’s spoken language, colloquial in the structure of diction but formal-sounding to the ear, is wrought with extreme care. Who knew Cruise could entertain by just talking endlessly? He truly owns this cinematic puzzle that expertly channels regret, memory, self-identity, and the psychological effects of knowing something you shouldn’t.
As each half of the married couple wrestles privately with their demons, the relationship takes an unpredictable turn. But such turns are familiar to anyone who has ever dated or been married. That’s why Eyes Wide Shut still feels relevant today. Most of us might not have been in high-society orgies, but we’ve been through those tough moments in relationships when the language descends from the loving to the oracular, making us wonder whether to quit.
Eyes Wide Shut is neither Kubrick nor Cruise’s greatest movie, but it’s arguably the easiest to identify with.
- Release Date
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July 16, 1999
- Runtime
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159 minutes
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
