kubrick: fuck yeah

in the last couple years when i went from casual film lover to obsessed cinephile, i decided to rewatch all of stanley kubrick's films. while he is not my personal favorite, i think he was probably the most technically proficient director of all time. not only was every one of his films a masterpiece but they were different from each other! its hard to believe that the same director who did spartacus did clockwork orange and dr. strangelove or barry lyndon. with each of his works, he explored different themes and shot his films to look entirely different. when he died, he had one last film up his sleeve, EYES WIDE SHUT.

i remember it got a really mixed reception when it was released and was generally seen as a disappointment critical and financially. eyes was not his best film but it was by no means a bad film. in fact, its an excellent film and very ahead of its time. while the themes of sexual frustration and unhappiness in marriage are by no means novel, kubrick put a new spin on it.

the orgy scene is definetely the stand out focal point of the film. it was shot almost in first person using long tracking shots. the music was the creepiest of creepy simple sparse piano accents and made the eroticism seem almost sterile! we are watching sex with naked hot beautiful models and somehow it wasnt sexy. it was ethereal, atmospheric and somehow off putting and scary.

so why was the film ignored at the time and why has its legacy sustained? perhaps its the kubrick name but i also think the film was an early sign of the age of want. today humanity wants everything right this second...all of the time. cruise and kidman want a wild sexual crazy life but they have the opportunity to do so they cant go through with it or get stopped. so their eyes were bigger than their libidos. much like the me generation, they want everything and when they get it, they are still somehow unimpressed.

maybe im grasping at straws but this how i read the film and whether im right or wrong, kubrick did have one masterpiece to give before he died. now if only speilberg didnt destroy AI or minority report.