| Overall Grade: |
B |
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| Story: |
B |
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| Acting: |
C |
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| Direction: |
A |
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| Visuals: |
A |
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more than meets the eye
by mark (movies profile)
Mar 17, 2006
6
of
8 people found this review helpful
The thing about Kubrick's work that makes the complexity of Eyes Wide Shut
less accesible is his insistence on communicating on a visceral level. For
myself, I believe Kubrick disliked Cruise and Kidman intensely. He knew
they lacked the intellect to understand what he was trying to achieve; he exploited it perfectly. Marionettes playing marionettes. A psychologist so
helplessly out of touch with the manipulation in his own life as to make a mockery of the notion that it is a profession. On its suface, the film is a very tired, ennervating affair - just the
experience one gets when attempting to peel apart the layers of ritualistic behavior that encase almost everything we do. The exciting part to all of this is that there are people who understand the manipulation and use it to draw power unto themselves. Have you ever looked up the word garmonbozia? Are you familiar with the concept of elite deviance?
The dreamlike state of the movie, the sense of movement through a viscous liquid that permeates every scene is a tribute to Kubrick's ability to
maintain the visceral message while he waits vainly for you to intellectualize it. The commercialized, superficial Christmas rituals are
layered upon the much deeper and more powerful and violent rituals of sexual and physical abuse. The common folk exchange little gifts and string lights while the powerful participate in masked orgies and violent bacchanals - intense stuff not usually covered in modern discourse. However, every culture can find in its roots violent, fearful, orgiastic rituals that confirmed the distribution of power and wealth and its relationship to diety.
Kubrick made a movie about the way the world is indeed run. It was so alien to our sensibilities that we failed to understand his point. As far as I am concerned, one must view Kubrick's work twice: once to let it hit you in the guts, to make you uneasy and full of questions, and once after study, investigation and preparation. With Kubrick, movies require participation.
Unfortunately, most audiences don't want to think or make an effort to understand. He never made mind candy. |
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