Re: eyes wide shut

Pierrot65@aol.com
Mon, 19 Jul 1999 10:52:18 -0400 (EDT) 

Fishes --

We think Cruise and Kidman were indeed perfect in the roles ... especially 
when you consider the rumor floating around. (Please don't read on if you 
haven't seen the film and plan to -- this message may give away plot points.) 
	It has been said that Kubrick intentionally picked these two 
"megastars" and scientology poster-children in order to belittle them. It 
seemed that way especially in the opening scene, when the two of them were 
getting ready to go to the party and then when they actually were at the 
party: Kubrick, notorious for manipulating actors and squeezing actor egos, 
seemed to be having them act ... badly, almost. Then when Cruise says "look 
at me" and the camera is on his face ... then they grope in front of the 
mirror and both look at themselves, narcissistic "self-voyeurs" in effect.
	So there is that whole scene where Cruise is walking and the frat 
guys call him "faggot," among other things. Sure, in a plot sense, after this 
he feels the need to act sexually aggressive and prove his sexual vitality 
and this sets the events in motion ... but it's hard not to think of the 
persistent rumors of Cruise & Kidman's homosexuality. No one here is arguing 
that it's true, but ...
	Take the scene when Cruise returns home and sees the mask on the bed 
next to his sleeping wife. He starts to cry, hard. Thematically, he thinks 
his wife is again dreaming of the cold, impersonal (i.e. "faceless") sex she 
wanted with the unknown Navy man, an image he can't purge from his thoughts. 
That makes perfectly good sense, that he would cry for just that reason.
	But let's say Kubrick, one of our smartest artists, is showing the 
facade of Cruise's marriage (in real life) laid bare -- it is a mask to cover 
the truth, and when he sees his secret unmasked he breaks down.
	It just seemed like 2 years in London was an awfully long time to 
make this particular movie. If Kubrick really was making a statement on 
stardom (and Scientology), maybe it was just that he could keep them out of 
other films for 2 years. (:
	There's no way to tell how much of this is true. Even if he hadn't 
died, Kubrick would never have spilled the beans on something like that. (We 
heard someone leaving the theater say that it is a shame that the last word 
ever uttered in a Kubrick film is "fuck" -- but seriously, there is no other 
word more appropriate to sum up this mischievous, innovative, brilliant man's 
work.)

Mirjam and Rick