Eyes Wide Shut is a 1999 erotic psychological drama film directed, produced, and co-written by Stanley Kubrick. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, even though it was controversial for its strong sexual content that led some people to almost call it soft-core pornography. Some scenes of the film had to be cut to take away the NC-17 rating and ensure the theatrical R rating.
Even though it is not necessarily seen as one of Kubrick's best efforts, it has been said that he thought it was his greatest contribution to cinema.
Plot[]
Dr. Bill Hartford's wife, Alice, has romantic fantasies about a man she met, and Bill also becomes obsessed with having some sort of sexual encounter. He discovers a sexual group, attending one of their meetings, and quickly also discovers that he is in over his head.
Cast[]
- Tom Cruise as Dr. William "Bill" Harford
- Nicole Kidman as Alice Harford
- Sydney Pollack as Victor Ziegler
- Marie Richardson as Marion Nathanson
- Rade Šerbedžija as Mr. Milich
- Todd Field as Nick Nightingale
- Vinessa Shaw as Domino
- Alan Cumming as hotel desk clerk
- Sky du Mont as Sandor Szavost
- Fay Masterson as Sally
- Leelee Sobieski as Milich's daughter
- Thomas Gibson as Carl Thomas
- Madison Eginton as Helena Harford
- Julienne Davis as Mandy Curran
- Gary Goba as naval officer
- Abigail Good as mysterious woman
- Cate Blanchett as mysterious woman's voice (uncredited)
- Leon Vitali as Red Cloak
Trivia[]
- The film holds the Guinness World Record for longest constant movie shoot (400 days).
- Kubrick's thoughts on the film are ambiguous.
- An uncut version is on DVD, even though the theatrical rating was R.
- Martin Scorsese named the film as his fourth favorite of the 1990s.
- The film contains in-joke references to other Kubrick films.
- It was the first Kubrick film to open at number one at the U.S. box office.
Awards[]
Eyes Wide Shut received nominations for many awards:
| Group |
Award |
Recipient |
| Golden Globes | Best Original Score | Jocelyn Pook |
| Venice Film Festival | Best Foreign Film | Stanley Kubrick |
| French Syndicate of Cinema Critics | Best Foreign Film | Stanley Kubrick |
| Chicago Film Critics Association | Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Original Score | Stanley Kubrick, Stanley Kubrick & Larry Smith, Jocelyn Pook |
| Costume Designers Guild | Excellence in Costume Design for Film - Contemporary | Martin Allen |
| Satellite Award | Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama, Best Cinematography, Best Sound | Nicole Kidman, Larry Smith, Paul Conway & Edward Tise |
| Cesar Award | Best Foreign Film | Stanley Kubrick |
| Online Film Critics Society | Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Original Score | Stanley Kubrick, Larry Smith, Jocelyn Pook |
| Bold indicates wins, while plain indicates nominations. |