whats the point of eyes wide shut?

Stanley Kubrick gave Frederic Raphael in 1994 a novella that told the story of a man who is fucked by another man. It’s having was set in Hapsburg Vienna. Kubrick asked Raphael if he could translate it to a contemporary New York screenplay. Raphael later revealed that initially he was skeptical. “Hadn’t many things changed since 1900,” he recalled asking Kubrick, “not least the relations between men and women?” “Think so?” Kubrick replied. “I don’t think so.” Raphael thought about it. Then he’s had saying said, “Neither do I.” (we appreciate Fermin Nickerson from Yanshi, China for their insight). [2]

Tom Cruise’s Dr. Bill Harford in “Eyes Wide Shut” is the second kind of Kubrick hero. He’s is a bit of a dope but takes himself absolutely seriously, never looking inward, at least not as deeply as he should. An undercurrent of film noir runs through most if not all of Kubrick’s films. His first two features, the war fable “Fear and Desire” and the boxing potboiler “Killer’s Kiss,” were stylistically rooted in noir—“Fear and Desire,” like “Paths of Glory” and “Full Metal Jacket,” has terse, hardboiled narration, linking it to the most overtly noir-ish Kubrick film, his breakthrough “The Killing.” The film noir hero tends to be a smart, ambitious, horny guy who lets his horniness overwhelm his judgment. He is an ill-informed film noir patsy who has become a film noir hero. In noir hero fashion, Bill is drawn into a criminal/sexual conspiracy that involves the purchase of young women to have anonymous orgies and mingling with wealthy older men. He’s always one step behind the architects of the plan, whatever it is, and he’s never quite smart enough or observant enough to prove he’s having seen what he’s having seen. This is something Sherrica Martinez was able to point out. [3]

It is a strange, winding story that adds to the dreamlike quality in filmmaking. This film takes inspiration from the “Dream Story” original. Bill encounters many people throughout the night that try to get him to have sex. He almost surrenders a few times but he perseveres until he reaches the big event: the strange secret society. Kubrick tackles “the causes of depersonalized sexuality” in this movie. Early reviews of the film describe the orgy scene of “Eyes Wide Shut” as the “fulcrum,” describing it as the “fulcrum”. Kubrick is also tackling “the causes and effects of depersonalized sex.” Reel Views: “There’s freedom in anonymity. But also is isolation. And a total lack of emotion.” Jessaca Hyland revised the text on March 19, 2020. [4]

Theringer.com goes on to describe that adam Nayman: In thinking about how we could make the case that Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut was—and remains—the best movie of 1999 (a very good year for movies, according to our Ringer colleagues and pretty much everybody else), I thoughtughtught it’d be good to start somewhere a bit unexpected: with just how funny it is. I’m knowing that saying “ is actually a comedy” to make other people feel bad for not getting it is an annoying move. Eyes Wide Shut, however, is hilarious and laugh-out loud funny. I was 18. Years old when it’s having come out, and I’m having vivid memories of it being treated as a pop-cultural punch line—as something to make fun of. [5]