Stanley Kubrick died just six days after showing his final cut of the film to Warner Bros. executives. That’s a heavy way to start, but you can't talk about the eyes wide shut christmas connection without acknowledging the sheer weight of the film's production. It was a shoot that lasted 400 days. Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman were essentially held captive in Kubrick’s meticulous vision of New York City, which was actually filmed on backlots and streets in London.
Why Christmas?
Most people see the trees, the multicolored lights, and the tinsel and think it’s just a seasonal backdrop. It isn’t. In this movie, the holiday is a character. It’s a voyeur. Honestly, the festive setting is exactly what makes the story feel so repulsive and lonely. You’ve got Bill and Alice Harford living this high-society life, but every single frame is drenched in a cold, artificial glow that suggests something is rotting underneath the wrapping paper.
The Grimy Reality of an Eyes Wide Shut Christmas
Kubrick didn’t just put up a few wreaths. He obsessed over the placement of Christmas trees. If you watch closely, almost every single room Bill Harford enters—from his own apartment to the creepy Rainbow Fashions costume shop—has a tree with glowing lights. They’re everywhere. It’s overwhelming.
The lighting is the key. Larry Smith, the cinematographer, worked with Kubrick to use "available light" from the Christmas decorations themselves to illuminate the actors. This creates a specific, hazy bokeh effect. It makes the world feel dreamlike, or maybe more like a nightmare you can't quite wake up from. In most holiday movies, these lights represent warmth and family. Here, they feel like surveillance. They are bright, unblinking eyes watching Bill as he wanders through his sexual odyssey.
There is a theory, often discussed by film scholars like Michel Ciment, that Kubrick chose the holiday setting to highlight the "commercialization of the soul." Everything in the film is for sale. Sex is a transaction. Loyalty is a transaction. Even the Christmas gifts Alice is seen wrapping at the beginning represent the transactional nature of their marriage. It’s a holiday about "giving," but everyone in the movie is desperately trying to take.
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A New York That Doesn’t Exist
It’s kinda funny that one of the most iconic "New York" Christmas movies wasn't even shot in New York. Kubrick’s fear of flying meant he recreated Greenwich Village in the UK. This adds to the uncanny valley feeling of the eyes wide shut christmas atmosphere. The streets look just a little too narrow. The storefronts feel a bit too staged.
- The use of blue and yellow filters creates a jarring contrast between the "safe" home life and the "dangerous" outside world.
- The recurring presence of the "Star of Bethlehem" motif in the lights is arguably a nod to Bill’s search for some kind of truth, though he mostly finds lies.
- Every party scene is anchored by massive, imposing trees that dwarf the human characters, making them look small and insignificant.
Why the Orgy and the Holidays Mix So Poorly (and Perfectly)
The "Somerton" sequence is what everyone remembers. It’s the masked ball, the secret society, the ritual. But remember: Bill gets the password "Fidelio" to enter this world of masked elites during the Christmas season. The juxtaposition is intentional. You have the "wholesome" family holiday on one side and this ritualistic, dark underbelly on the other.
Kubrick is poking at the hypocrisy of the elite. These are the same people Bill sees at the Ziegler party at the start of the film. They stand by the Christmas tree with champagne, then put on masks to indulge in things that would destroy their public reputations. It’s about the masks we all wear during the holidays. You put on a smile for the relatives, you buy the presents, you perform the "joy," but what’s actually happening behind closed doors?
Honestly, it’s a cynical take. But Kubrick was never known for being an optimist.
The Ziegler Party vs. The Orgy
At the Ziegler party, the Christmas tree is massive. It’s the centerpiece of wealth. When Bill is called upstairs to help with the overdosing woman (Mandy), the festive music is still playing downstairs. The holiday cheer is literally a thin veil over a potential tragedy. This mirrors the ending of the film, where Bill and Alice take their daughter shopping at a toy store.
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The toy store scene is arguably the most depressing "Christmas" ending in cinema history. They are surrounded by toys—symbols of childhood innocence—while discussing the near-collapse of their marriage and the reality of death. Alice’s final line, which I won't type out but everyone knows, is the ultimate "bah humbug" to the festive spirit. It’s a reminder that no amount of tinsel can cover up the basic, messy reality of human desire.
Practical Ways to Analyze the Film This Season
If you’re planning a rewatch this December, don’t just look at the plot. The plot is actually pretty simple. It’s a guy getting FOMO about an orgy he wasn't invited to. The real meat is in the production design.
- Count the trees. Seriously. Try to find a scene in the first hour that doesn't have a Christmas light in it. It’s almost impossible.
- Listen to the soundscape. Jocelyn Pook’s score is haunting. It uses liturgical chants played backwards. Mixing that with "The Christmas Waltz" creates a cognitive dissonance that is purely intentional.
- Watch the colors. Notice how the warm yellow of the indoor lights competes with the harsh, cold blue of the New York (London) night.
The Legacy of the Holiday Setting
Critics initially hated it. When it came out in 1999, people wanted a sexy thriller with the world’s biggest power couple. What they got was a slow, meditative, furniture-chewing exploration of jealousy set against a backdrop of department store decorations.
But over the last two decades, its reputation has shifted. It’s now a "Christmas classic" for people who find Love Actually unbearable. It captures the specific anxiety of the end of the year—the pressure to be happy, the reflection on your failures, and the realization that another year has passed while you’re still the same flawed person.
Actionable Insights for Cinephiles
If you want to dive deeper into the eyes wide shut christmas rabbit hole, start with the source material. The movie is based on Traumnovelle (Dream Story) by Arthur Schnitzler. In the book, it’s set during Carnival in Vienna.
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Kubrick moved it to Christmas in New York because he understood that in modern America, Christmas is our Carnival. It’s the time of year when the rules are slightly different, when we spend more than we have, and when we pretend the world is more magical than it actually is.
To truly appreciate the film's mastery:
- Read Stanley Kubrick: A Biography by Vincent LoBrutto to understand the lighting setups used for the New York street scenes.
- Look up the "rainbow" symbolism in the film. From the shop "Rainbow Fashions" to the literal colors of the lights, it’s a coded path Bill follows.
- Compare the film to It's a Wonderful Life. Both are about a man questioning his entire existence during Christmas, but while George Bailey finds hope, Bill Harford just finds out that he’s out of his depth.
Stop looking for a "hidden message" about secret societies and start looking at what’s right in front of you: the decorations. The movie tells you everything you need to know through the tinsel. The holidays aren't a time of peace in this world; they’re a time of reckoning.
Next time you see a string of multicolored lights, you might just think of Bill Harford wandering the streets of a fake Manhattan, looking for something that was never really there to begin with. The film ends, the lights go out, and all you’re left with is the truth. That's the real Kubrick Christmas gift.