Eyes Wide Shut: A dreamlike mystery that evokes curiosity
May 16, 2021
“No dream is ever just a dream.”
Just like any other Stanley Kubrick film, Eyes Wide Shut has beautiful cinematography. The strong color contrast and strong compositions, combined with the nerve-inducing score, result in a technically great and mysterious film.
A mysterious ritual
For me, everything in this film revolved around the ritual scene—a scene that is the key moment of this film. The haunting song ‘Masked Ball’ by Jocelyn Pook made this scene even better.
The shots of the masked characters after the ritual are really powerful. The shots visualize multiple strong emotions, with a beautiful golden section composition, while maintaining a static image. The camera doesn’t move, the masked characters don’t move, and the masks don’t have movement in their facial expressions. Yet, the facial expressions of the masks are all very exaggerated and therefore very present, which moves the focus to the strong emotions on the masks. This focus gets further enhanced due to the close-up shots, black clothing and intimidating blocking of the masked characters that are breaking the fourth wall. This gives the viewer the impression the masked characters are looking at them from within their comfort zone.
Overall, I really enjoyed the mysterious feel of the film. This being Kubrick’s last film, although a shame he had to pass away this early, is a strong way to close his filmmaking career.
