The next night, he goes to her place, remorseful that he has missed out on his opportunity, only to find out (from her roommate) that she was diagnosed with HIV that very morning. Both Bill and Red Cloak are also bathed in a overhead blue light at the mansion. Some viewers have speculated that he invited Bill and Alice to his party because Zeigler desired Alice.There are several hints that Zeigler himself is Red Cloak, however, Red Cloak speaks with an English accent. The second, and more terrifying suggestion, is the mask is a final warning from the secret society for Bill to drop any further investigation or the fate that befell the woman who saved him could be visited upon Alice. He intended to sleep with Domino, and if not caught at the party, he might have indulged in the orgy too. Just four months after Stanley Kubrick's very sudden death, Eyes Wide Shut entered American movie theaters in the middle of 1999's summer blockbuster season - alongside Wild, Wild West, Disney's Tarzan, Star Wars, Episode 1: The Phantom Menace, and, most intriguingly, The Blair Witch Project - with posters and trailers boasting a formidable trio Ghost Sonata: Eyes Wide Shut - Film Comment I have seen Eyes Wide Shut countless times (obviously, as a Kubrick fanatic). What are your thoughts on the plot and ending of Eyes Wide Shut and its themes? The first half is as it was shown in theaters, with rear nudity from Kidman, but seconds before Cruise enters the frame, the image starts to zoom up and in rapidly, so that when Cruise enters, only a section from his elbow up is visible. Virgil is also a six-letter anagram of Victor Ziegler. Consequently, Marions motivation is unknown, and its uncertain if she behaved wittingly or unwittingly. Actress Leelee Sobieski was aged 16 at the time of the film's release. Citing contractual obligations to deliver an R rating during the theatrical release, Warner Bros. digitally altered the orgy scene for the American release of Eyes Wide Shut, blocking out images of extremely graphic sexuality by inserting additional figures into the scene to obscure the view, thus avoiding an adults-only NC-17 rating that might have limited distribution of the film, as some large American theaters and video store operators have a policy that disallows films with that rating. Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut celebrated its 15th anniversary this week. An examination of Alice's dream in the screenplay and how it relates to the film. In the last few scenes, the couple seems to be traumatized but strongly determined to. Zeigler's Christmas party is a tinsel wrapped illusion of sophistication disguising the presence of "models" (hookers), drugs, and people flirting with each others partners. Well, despite his curiosity, it seems that, by the end of the movie, Bill voluntarily chooses to, return to the state of blissful ignorance, How do we know that Alices infidelity never happened in the physical world? As many would have figured out, there is an infamous orgy Harford attends. A trivium was a crossroads where three highways met. I believe it was her at the party, and I think that is the reason the mask is on his bed at the end. Masks - both literal and figurative - are a major motif, and one of the most important sequences is when Bill infiltrates a masked sex party at a remote mansion, which is being held by members of high society. Realizing something was up, she left it on his pillow so that he'd find it. It is brilliant! As an illustration, when you conjoin the rainbow sisters with Alice, as well as the occult symbol that appears over her head in the background as she dances with the Mephistopheles-like character Sandor Szavost (Sky du Mont), you get a vaguely related conjuring of Hecate. , to begin with. The film stars Tom Cruise as a restless doctor, Bill Harford, whose curiosity takes him on a nightlong sexual odyssey . and our Bill does confess. To her son these words conveyed an extraordinary joy, as if it were settled, the expedition were bound to take place, and the wonder to which he had looked forward, for years and years it seemed, was, after a night's darkness and a day's sail, within touch . It is implied that the masked man with the three-cornered hat might be Victor Ziegler and the masked woman with him might be his wife or maybe another one of his mistresses/escorts greeting the new arrival to the gathering; both of them unaware of who it really is until Bill is forced to take off his mask for the red-cloaked cult leader. The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network. Eyes Wide Shut Explained: What did it all mean? | This is Barry The Somerton Mansion sequences are a symbolic revisit to the Ziegler party, minus the Christmas decorations, false smiles, fake personas, and "social graces" of high society. XXX PORN. In the theatrical version and the original unrated trailer, when Cruise enters, the frame goes well below his navel. Cruise and Kidman were married, and Tom had left the church temporarily (from 1992-2000), because Nicole would . I believe in part that these events that they experience is kind of like the Jungian dream of the shadow- what you suppress inside and deny as part of yourself manifests and confronts you from the outside. There is an overdosed hooker upstairs. but where are you willing to draw the line of blissful ignorance for the sake of your happiness? simulation), both of which are part of the films motifs. They go. The daughter of Mr Milich whispers that Bill should get a cloak lined with ermine. So, is ignorance bliss? Pay close attention to Sydney Pollack's hands. While the final movie was greeted with somewhat mixed reviews at the time, the appreciation for Eyes Wide Shut has only grown since its 1999 debut. We weave our lives and then move through them. EYES WIDE SHUT A Take on Women's Sexuality Kubrick's masterpiece, a critique on moral codes that are imposed on women by society and depiction of man's insecurities with her sexuality Photo by. However, their calling him gay may have encouraged him even more so to have an affair as being called gay was a likely blow to his manhood and to heighten his sense of self-deprecation and self-consciousness because Bill is heartbroken of his wife's adulterous feelings. After the opening ceremony is over, the masked man would probably then check on who this newcomer is which leads to Bill being tracked down and ultimately being led before the cult leader. Name already in use - Github Kubrick has updated the story to present-day New York City, with Cruise and Kidman playing Dr. William and Alice Harford, the two principals. Disclosing that she dreamt about having an affair and fantasized about it so much that she pondered leaving Bill and their daughter. There is obviously a lot of other shit going on in this movie, so while I think you are right picking up on that idea, I wouldn't say that you can take that and try to rationalize any kind of infer from it on Alice's part. Pingback: ESOTERIC HOLLYWOOD: Eyes Wide Shut As Ritual WorkingAlternative News Network | Alternative News Network. The difference is that the movie indicates that it might be better that way. It is based on the 1926 novella Traumnovelle ( Dream Story) by Arthur Schnitzler, transferring the story's setting from early twentieth-century Vienna to 1990s New York City. 100 Times. All of them cross the mind, but there are compelling reasons to believe other possibilities, but enough loopholes in all those possibilities, to leave doubts about them all. In the film, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman play Bill and Alice Harford, a couple who have been married for nine years. Here are links to the key aspects of the movie: A day after a lavish upper-class party, doctor William Bill Harford finds out that his spouse Alicefantasized about cheating on himwhile they were on vacation. Found a crazy easter egg in Eyes Wide Shut (links with images in And, like at the Christmas party, he never has an affair, although again, this is also inverted. So, think carefully before letting the cat out of the bag since curiosity is a dangerous thing. This was done to clear up the confusion about whom she actually made love to. Well never know, seeing as howthe road not taken forever remains a mystery. There are echos too in the Christmas party that the same people attended both. A day after a lavish upper-class party, doctor William Bill Harford finds out that his spouse Alice. 3. The Shekinah and the desire to unity. Eyes Wide Shut Cast. To make matters even worse, theres this concept known as. and make up their minds. Had one of the masked girls (a prostitute whose life he saved in one of the opening scenes) not intervened, who knows what the consequences would have been? Edit, It is implied that the two Asian businessmen had paid off Mr. Milich not to report them to the police, and he had decided to pimp his daughter after that. In this scene we clearly see that Harford belongs to a class higher than these "normal" people who harassed him thus illuminating how up the food chain these ultra rich in there castles were. Therefore, it is likely that some kind of unfortunate ordeal awaited the woman from the masked ball.Remember, Bill is actually quite gullible and never questions anything that he is told throughout the movie; he believes his wife, Alice, when she tells him of a fantasy about having a sexual tryst a naval officer; he believes Sally when she tells him that Domino is HIV positive; and he believes Victor in the scene in the billiard room about Mandy's death and Nick Nightingale being sent back to Seattle. Furthermore, there is a wonderful quote that parallels this: The pendulum of the mind oscillates between sense and nonsense, not between right and wrong. Carl Jung wrote in his semi-autobiographical book Memories, Dreams, Reflections. While these are the questions that not a lot of people consider while choosing awedding venue, the reality strikes sooner or later. If the woman in the mask had been the same woman as Mandy, you would. 'Harford' is a condensation of 'Harrison Ford', due to Kubrick stating Harford should 'be like' Ford, the whitest bread guy . Nonetheless, Eyes Wide Shut is a very symbolic and metaphorical film. The same thing goes with the party at the mansion. It's interesting indeed. Eyes Wide Shut is Stanley Kubrick's final movie starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, but what does the mask on the pillow near the end mean? Crossroads, entrances, night, light, magic, and witchcraft are just a few of the things Hecate is linked to. Eyes Wide Shut Fans Also Viewed The Matrix. In the modern world, theres the idea that partners are not indispensable and that there are always other options out there. The same thing goes with the party at the mansion. Kubrick has updated the story to present-day New York City, with Cruise and Kidman playing Dr. William and Alice Harford, the two principals. Edit, In the novella the doctor assumes that his wife found the mask. What if thats exactly how it played out, and she just told him that she never acted upon it? The masked man, Red Cloak, is a leader of the organization/cult whose orgy Bill attends. However, this is simply the two of them agreeing to ignore it all. Also, in another scene, Harford mentions a patient named "Kaminsky", a name given to one of the three men in hibernation aboard Discovery.Barry Lyndon: Bill's mask was modelled after Ryan O'Neal, who played the title character.Full Metal Jacket In the scene where Alice leaves Bill's mask on his pillow, a stack of Kubrick's films can be seen on a table. She is blissfully aware of Bill being at this secret party until he tells her the entire truth about his two days of intended infidelity. Cruise go free. What's with the guys on the street jeering at Bill and calling him gay? Next: The Shining: Why Stanley Kubrick Changed Stephen King's Story. Meanwhile, Bill is quietly summoned upstairs for what appears to be an emergency just as the two bewitching and haunting women are about to demonstrate where the rainbow ends.. A Manhattan doctor embarks on a bizarre, night-long odyssey after his wife's admission of unfulfilled longing. Although it is easy to miss upon a first viewing, note the parallels between Red Cloak's gestures with the incense ball and Ziegler's moves playing with the white cue ball at the billiards table, and later with the chalk how Zeigler hits the pool table twice while talking with Bill about the death of Mandy.Zeigler also points at Bill in a threatening manner when Bill questions him about the death of Mandy, which is very similar in camera angle to Red Cloak's threat to Bill at the mansion.Also, the scene with Bill and Zeigler ends with Bill stepping into a blue light emulating from outside a window. Who knows, he might have spent the rest of his days remorseful about this missed opportunity, never really knowing that it was, This creates another question, what would be the consequences of Alices elopement with the naval officer? Replete with a sobering Were not in Kansas anymore expression on his face, he realizes the true nature of Alices ambiguous disclosure. On the evening of the following day, when Bill returns home, he discovers the rented Venetian mask on his pillow next to his sleeping wife. Parties like this possibly happen all over the world, all the time; the same goes for all sorts of nefarious activities by secret societies. Tom Cruise in the Masked Ball ritual scene from Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece Eyes Wide Shut with Jocelyn Pook's haunting score filling the temple. Its possible that Alice was just frustrated that she refused the advances of a man she was attracted to while Bill was drooled over by two models just across the room.