“The film is not just about sex”: Nicole Kidman reveals what Stanley Kubrick wanted ‘Eyes Wide Shut’ to be
One of the many wonderful things about cinema is that any movie can mean different things to different people, not that Stanley Kubrick was anything other than single-minded. He knew what he wanted Eyes Wide Shut to be, information he didn’t waste any time passing on to star Nicole Kidman.
Not that Kubrick was a filmmaker who’d let his cast walk onto the set on the first day on little more than a wing and a prayer; such was his meticulous nature. However, there was plenty of creative collaboration during the mammoth shoot, even if the end goal was always to service the vision of its creator.
As tends to be the case with all of the auteur’s masterworks, there was no consensus on how to categorise Eyes Wide Shut. The marketing made it look like an erotic thriller, but it wasn’t. Well, it was to a certain extent, but not quite. It was inspired by Arthur Schnitzler’s Traumnovelle, of that there’s no doubt, but it was hardly a slavish literary adaptation.
It’s a psychosexual drama, a mystery, and a reflection on marriage and sexuality at various points, but never puts all of its eggs in a single basket. It probably wasn’t Kubrick’s intention, but it’s even become an alternative Christmas favourite thanks to its festive setting. Even at that, the doors were opened for critics and scholars to try and unpack the religious and spiritual symbolism.
There are shades of occultism, nods to the art world, and the double-edged sort of innocence, whether it’s being preserved or taken away. There’s no concrete answer on what Eyes Wide Shut is supposed to mean, and even if he hadn’t passed away months before its release, Kubrick more than likely would have refused to be drawn on specifics to leave it entirely in the eye of the beholder instead.
Kidman knew, though, telling Rolling Stone that “he wanted to make a personal film about a stage in a relationship, sexual obsession, and guilt.” When asked if that was something he managed to achieve, the star responded by saying, “Stanley made a very, very fine film, and I’m so proud to be in it.”
One thing she definitely disagreed with was the steamy trailers, which led Kidman to believe people would get the wrong idea. “To me, those are characters up there; everyone else interprets it as Tom and Nicole,” she offered. “And it is revealing.” However, she made a point of clarifying that “the film is not just about sex,” not that casual viewers would have gotten that impression from the titillating promotional spots alone.
There’s no right or wrong assessment of what Eyes Wide Shut is about or what it means, but when it’s coming from Kubrick’s mouth and into the ears of Kidman, then it would be fair to say it’s a perspective worth taking into account.
