It has been over twenty-five years since Stanley Kubrick died just six days after showing his final cut of Eyes Wide Shut to Warner Bros. executives. In that time, the movie has morphed from a "disappointing" Tom Cruise erotic thriller into a towering, creepy masterpiece that people still can’t stop dissecting. Honestly? Most of the early reviews were just plain wrong. They expected a steamy romp between Hollywood’s then-golden couple. What they got was a 159-minute nightmare about a guy wandering through a fake version of New York City, getting more emasculated by the hour.
The film follows Dr. Bill Harford, played with a stiff, "alien-learning-to-be-human" energy by Tom Cruise. After his wife, Alice (Nicole Kidman), admits she once had a vivid sexual fantasy about a naval officer, Bill’s ego shatters. He spends the next two nights trying to "get even" by finding an affair of his own. But he fails. Every single time. He’s a guy who thinks his money and his doctor’s badge make him invincible, only to realize he’s a small fish in a very dark, very elite pond.
The 400-Day Shoot and the Guinness World Record
One of the wildest things about the Eyes Wide Shut movie is that it holds the Guinness World Record for the longest continuous film shoot. It took 400 days. To put that in perspective, Peter Jackson shot the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy in about the same amount of time.
Kubrick was a legendary perfectionist, but this was next-level. He famously made Cruise walk through a door 95 times just to get the "right" vibe. He didn't even film in New York. Because Kubrick had a paralyzing fear of flying, he stayed in England and had his crew build a hyper-detailed recreation of Greenwich Village at Pinewood Studios. If you watch closely, the "New York" streets look slightly off—the scale is weird, and the same pizza shop with a green awning keeps appearing on different corners. This wasn't a mistake. Kubrick wanted that "dream logic" where everything feels familiar but fundamentally wrong.
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There are also the casualties of the long production. Harvey Keitel was originally cast as Victor Ziegler, but he either quit or was fired after a blowout with Kubrick. Sydney Pollack stepped in and gave us that chilling, cigar-chomping performance in the pool room. Jennifer Jason Leigh was also replaced by Marie Richardson because she couldn't come back for reshoots months later.
What Actually Happens at the Orgy?
The masked ball at the Somerton estate is the scene everyone remembers. It’s haunting, mostly thanks to Jocelyn Pook’s score—specifically "Masked Ball," which features a reversed recording of a Romanian Orthodox liturgy. It sounds like a demonic incantation because, well, that’s the mood.
There’s a massive misconception that this scene is meant to be "sexy." It’s actually clinical and terrifying. Bill sneaks in using the password "Fidelio" (a nod to Beethoven’s opera about a wife saving her husband), but he sticks out like a sore thumb. He doesn't know the etiquette. He’s just a tourist in a world of ritualized power.
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When the film was released in the U.S., the MPAA threatened an NC-17 rating. To keep it at an R, the studio had to digitally insert CGI cloaked figures to block out the more explicit sexual acts. Even today, the "unrated" version is the one most fans hunt for, though the "censored" version almost adds to the theme of things being hidden right in front of your eyes.
Key Symbols You Might Have Missed
- Rainbows: They are everywhere. From the "Rainbow" costume shop where Bill rents his mask to the colorful Christmas lights in every apartment. In the novella Dream Story, the girl says "at the end of the rainbow," and Kubrick takes this literally. Bill is looking for a pot of gold (sexual liberation) but only finds trouble.
- The Mask on the Pillow: At the end, Bill finds his orgy mask on his own bed. It’s the ultimate "we see you" from the elite. It’s a reminder that his private life isn't private at all.
- Christmas: The movie is set during the holidays, but it’s the least festive Christmas movie ever. The lights are cold, and the trees feel like witnesses to Bill’s breakdown.
Is It a Conspiracy Movie or a Marriage Drama?
People love to claim Eyes Wide Shut is a "confession" about secret societies or the Illuminati. While the film certainly depicts a wealthy, untouchable elite who can make people "disappear," focusing only on the conspiracy misses the heart of the story.
Basically, it’s a movie about how little we know the people we sleep next to. Alice’s monologue about the naval officer is the most violent thing in the movie, and it doesn't involve a single drop of blood. It’s a psychological demolition of Bill’s world. He thought he "owned" her desire, and he was wrong.
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The ending is famously blunt. After all the masks, the deaths, and the threats, the couple ends up in a toy store. Alice says they should be grateful they survived their adventures, whether they were real or just dreams. Her final line—the last word ever spoken in a Kubrick film—is simply: "Fuck." It’s not romantic. It’s practical.
Actionable Insights for Your Next Rewatch:
- Watch the background: Look for how many times a character is framed by a Christmas tree. It usually happens when they are lying or hiding something.
- Listen to the sound: Notice how the street noise in "New York" sounds like a loop. It’s meant to feel claustrophobic.
- Compare to the book: Read Dream Story by Arthur Schnitzler. It’s short, and it reveals how much of the "dream" elements were already in the source material from 1926.
- The "Ziegler" Perspective: On your next viewing, try to see the movie from Victor Ziegler’s point of view. Is he a murderer, or just a very powerful man cleaning up a "stupid" friend’s mess?
The genius of the film is that it doesn't give you the answer. You're left just like Bill—uncertain, a little bit scared, and with your eyes wide shut.
Check out the 4K restoration if you can; the way the grain and those warm "practical" lights hit the screen makes the dreamlike atmosphere even more suffocating.