Word: schnitzler
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...skeptical of Eyes Wide Shut from the moment I first heard about it. I was one of the lucky few to get my hands on Arthur Schnitzler's Traumnovelle (Dream Story), the novella upon which the movie is based, before Kubrick bought the rights and blocked its sales. It's a small, 110-page book; I read it six times...
...work back through Schnitzler's convoluted narrative, one thing becomes very, very clear. Kubrick made a dreadful, almost impossible mistake in choosing Dream Story as a source for a cinematic narrative...
Eyes Wide Shut is difficult to summarize, but it's organization is practically identical to Schnitzler's novel (Kubrick's insistence on an "inspired by" credit for Schnitzler seems not only wrong, but ego-driven). Cruise and Kidman play Bill and Alice Harford, a couple that seemingly have it all--looks, boatloads of money, great sex, an adorable child and a London-esque apartment in New York City. When they attend an ostentatious Christmas ball thrown by a wealthy friend (Sydney Pollack), Alice gets plastered and finds herself dancing with a skeezy Hungarian player; he whispers cheesy pick-up lines...
...chew the scenery and ends up choking bigtime. Her monologue should be the key to the movie--a thorough exploration of how unrealized emotions can inspire the most potent jealousy--and yet Kubrick has Alice on marijuana before she begins her speech. Why? Why cheapen the moment? In Schnitzler's novel, Alice is perfectly lucid; she virtually relives her erotic desires for the sailor as she recounts her lust. In the film, the exchange isn't balanced; Alice isn't rational, the emotions are cheapened, and the scene flops. Bill retaliates by diving into an underworld of sexual deviance that...
...Schnitzler's fascinating account of an opulent palace of sex and mirthful ritual has been turned into much the opposite. True, most critics and fans have raved about Jocelyn Pook's spooky score, the beautiful costuming, the fantastic lighting and the haunting ceremony. The problem, however, is that Kubrick's vision misinterprets Schnitzler's theme: That sex is so deceptive and dangerous because it involves a playout of fantasy. That reality only kicks in once sex is over. Yet, in Kubrick's orgy scene, the mood is menacing from the outset. This isn't erotic sex--this is a museum...