July 16th 2024.
There are few movies that have sparked as much intrigue and controversy as Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut. This past July 16, 2024 marked the 25th anniversary of the film's release, and it's safe to say that the buzz surrounding it has not diminished in the slightest. With the high-profile marriage of Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise at the forefront, the 1999 movie was enveloped in rumors from the moment it began filming in 1997. Whispers of an abusive and toxic production process only added to the already intense anticipation for the film.
As we all know, Kubrick was notorious for his tough approach to directing, demanding complete devotion and secrecy from his actors. This was no different for Kidman and Cruise, who played a married couple in the film. In fact, the shoot lasted an astounding 15 months, earning the Guinness World Record for the longest continual film shoot. Kubrick's insistence on immersing his stars in their characters blurred the lines between reality and fiction, pushing them to their limits by filming upwards of 50 takes for each scene.
The director believed that this repetition would break down the facade of performance and allow the actors to access parts of their characters they would otherwise be unable to. In order to further merge the worlds of the movie and the couple's real marriage, Kubrick even had them sleep in their characters' bedroom throughout filming. It's safe to say that the process of making Eyes Wide Shut has become infamous among cinephiles.
The film received an unprecedented amount of publicity before its release, largely due to the rumors surrounding the top-secret filming process. Cruise, known for his dedication to perfection, was the ideal target for Kubrick's obsessive devotion to craft. In fact, according to Vanity Fair, the stress of the shoot even gave him a stomach ulcer, which he kept hidden from the director.
Despite this, Cruise consistently defended Kubrick and his methods, stating that the director was not indulgent and that he wouldn't leave a shot until it was perfect. However, it wasn't just the endless takes that took a toll on Cruise. Kubrick also refused to let the actor see any dailies of his performance, a crucial aspect of his process. As Cruise explained, "Making a movie is like stabbing in the dark. If I get a sense of the overall picture, then I'm better for the film."
Instead, Kubrick insisted on deep psychological analysis of Kidman and Cruise's characters. In hours-long conversations, he probed them to confess their deepest fears, thoughts on marriage and commitment, and even reveal details about their sexual pasts. It's no wonder that the shoot lasted for over a year and set the record for the longest continuous film shoot.
Kidman later admitted that Kubrick's methods had the potential to be toxic, saying, "As an actor, you set up: there's reality, and there's pretend. And those lines get crossed, and it happens when you're working with a director that allows that to happen. It's a very exciting thing to happen; it's a very dangerous thing to happen." Even Todd Field, who played piano player Nick Nightingale in the film, stated that Kidman and Cruise were "subservient" to Kubrick.
Despite the intense and unconventional process, Kidman and Cruise have always been largely positive when discussing their time working with Kubrick. However, details from the shoot paint a different picture, bordering on toxic. In one instance, Kubrick demanded that Kidman shoot six days of naked sex scenes with a male model and pose in countless erotic positions, all while forbidding Cruise from the set and instructing Kidman to keep it a secret from her husband.
The critical reception of Eyes Wide Shut was mixed, with many criticizing Cruise's performance as overwrought and disconnected. However, Cruise has never questioned Kubrick's methods, instead blaming audiences for not understanding the film's true intentions. Some have even speculated that the process of making Eyes Wide Shut was the beginning of the end for Cruise and Kidman's marriage.
In a later interview with Vanity Fair, Cruise addressed the rumors surrounding the film, stating, "There were rumors out there about how Stanley was going to make a pornographic picture. But that wasn't the movie he was making...You can see that they didn't quite grasp what the movie was, even when they saw it, because they carried the baggage in." He continued to defend Kubrick and his genius, stating that "whatever preconception you have, you've got to take it on its own merits and not the surrounding elements."
Despite the intense and at times questionable methods used during filming, Eyes Wide Shut remains a cult classic and a testament to Kubrick's unique vision. And while it may have caused tension and even a stomach ulcer for Cruise, he continues to defend the process and the director who pushed him to his limits. As they say, the show must go on.
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