Evaluation on Tim Kreider’s review on Eyes Wide Shut

The following essay’s aim is to evaluate Tim Kreider’s review on Kubrick’s film Eyes Wide Shut, a film from 1999. Tim Kreider is working as a writer and as an artist, living in the Chesapeake Bay area. He has contributed to The New York Times, The New Yorker‘s “Page-Turner” blog, al Jazeera, the Men’s Journal, nerve.com, The Comics Journal, and Film Quarterly, from which this review is taken.

His nine-page long review is mostly concerned with the arguments of various other reviewers and viewers of the film about why their expectations did not meet the film: has citations and reflects brilliantly on the questions and assumptions of The New York Times’ Michiko Kakutani or The New Yorker’s David Denby, among others. The first argument he reasons how this film was expected to be sexual - as Entertainment Weekly promoted it as “The Sexiest Movie Ever” (Kreider, 1999).

After watching the film, it can be told that this film was never meant to be sexy. Its purpose for showing nudity is more about some cold, neutral point of view and aims to put an emphasis on the surroundings. As Kreider says, only in the beginning when Nicole Kidman steps into the frame, naked, is classically sexual: his main point is to show that real pornography is not the orgy of the bodies, but the works of art, the apartments, the whole atmosphere of the film, and the so-called “money shots”, in which it can be seen that something is expensive. His words are so expressive that when the article is read, Shostakovich’s Waltz can almost be heard, recalling the experience.

However, if a film is expected to be sexual, it is hard not to be disappointed when expectations are not met. These disappointed viewers can be understood since if there is something new, it is unknown what it is about.

The other argument to be presented is about the deliberate objectification of women. Each woman in the film, according to Kreider, has a role of propriety, a propriety of her husband.  The Christmas context highlights how everything can be bought and is bought, like women. For example, Kreider points out how little Helena (the most beautiful woman of Greek mythology), the daughter of the protagonist, is constantly shown next to her mother, being groomed to become beautiful and precious like her. Simultaneously, her appearance is the factor with which the work is concerned: in the first scene, she asks “ How do I look?” and she is complemented by grand admirers of beauty such as Sandor Szavost, and by the immensely rich Mr. Ziegler, (“absolutely stunning”). These complements are empty, they just want a single sexual occasion. These women are just artifacts for them, as a prostitute would be for the protagonist when feels like he can buy one for a night.
         Kreider also mentions a complicated web of threads between the women of the film. The various associations of these characters is not presented clearly since one character is associated with another and not convincing enough; it is not well elaborated. Apart from this thread of thoughts, his argument on regarding women as possessions is convincing.

In conclusion, two stronger arguments of the review were presented. All in all, it can be said that the review is a thorough one, which reflects accurately on the unique sensation of this film. His arguments are clear and easy to follow, only minor weaknesses could be found.

Reference:

Kreider,T. (1999). Eyes Wide Shut by Stanley Kubrick: Brian W. Cook. Film Quaterly, 53 (3), 41-48