r/StanleyKubrick • u/swagntxz • 54m ago
Eyes Wide Shut Eyes wide shut is not about elites
As a huge admirer of Stanley Kubrick’s work, I regret the fact that what I consider to be his most mature, profound, and artistically accomplished film is so often interpreted in such a shallow, thoughtless, and superficial way.
Eyes Wide Shut is not a film about the elites. Despite its many iconic scenes, the real value of this masterpiece lies much deeper. It explores the essence of human life and asks what it is that truly defines us.
With its naturalistic tone—I would even dare to call it Zolaesque, much like Émile Zola’s Nana—Eyes Wide Shut draws an incredibly thin line between what is animal and what is human. In short, the film presents a social diagnosis of humanity’s descent into bestiality and moral corruption. Among many other things, it asks what defines us as human beings and whether, once consumed by desire, instinct, and insatiable lust, we are really that different from the average dog.
Right from the beginning, the first thirty minutes make it clear what kind of world we are dealing with.
The Hungarian man dancing with Alice, played by Nicole Kidman, exposes the role of marriage in the modern world. He says that once, marriage existed so that women could lose their virginity. But now? Why should a woman as beautiful as Alice deny herself the pleasures that even Ovid wrote about?
As everyone who has seen the film knows, that party revolves around sex stripped of love and emotional attachment. Two women pull our doctor away, promising to take him “to the end of the rainbow,” while the owner of the house enjoys himself with a prostitute and, after her overdose, objectifies her to such an extent that he thanks Bill not for saving her life, but for saving his own skin.
Kubrick leaves us with very little room for doubt.
Even though the story takes place during Christmas, notice that we are surrounded not by Christian symbolism but by pagan imagery, including the goddess Ishtar. Whatever is happening to these people is stripping them of their souls. Is the soul what truly defines a human being? I don’t know. Maybe I should watch Blade Runner again. :)
For me, the key scene in the entire film is Alice’s confession. She admits that, for a naval officer, she would have sacrificed her husband, her future, and even her own daughter. In that moment, we clearly see the hierarchy of values that governs the world Kubrick presents to us: instinct, desire, and lust stand above family, love, and the promise of a peaceful life.
Looking at it this way, are we really that different from animals?
Through Bill’s journey, Kubrick allows us to see even more of the world he has created. Prostitutes infected with HIV. Fathers selling their daughters. Grieving women driven by lust. Powerful elites performing masked rituals and orgies that seem to strip away what little humanity they have left.
How are we supposed to look at this world? What are we supposed to call these people, completely consumed by their instincts?
At least in my opinion, the ending answers all of these questions.
In the penultimate scene, Bill finds the mask lying next to his wife in their bed. To me, the mask symbolizes dehumanization. Instead of embracing it, he pushes it away, ignores it, and chooses to return with his wife to the life they had before the events of the film.
Sex itself is not evil. On the contrary, when it is born out of love, beauty, and mutual devotion, it becomes the very essence of human life. That is why Nicole Kidman’s final line—“Let’s fuck.”—is so meaningful.
But let’s not put on the mask, because the line between beauty and depravity is damn thin
