Leah just watch it. The best way to view a film is not knowing anything about it going in which is getting harder and harder to do now with the internet etc.. Eyes Wide Shut was rated R but it’s not nearly as graphic as many other films likewise rated. I wish I could have viewed Brokeback Mountain the first time with no idea what would happen or The Crying Game or The Sixth Sense without knowing their surprises.
Well first of all I feel it is a great film. I have seen it countless times and even once on mute so I could examine each shot. It is truly a work of art. The film deals with marriage and sex throughout but the scene he was referring to is probably the orgy scene. All in all it isn’t that explicit. All the controversy over it is undeserving and although graphic it isn’t that bad. The other scenes throughout are pretty mild. This is in comparison to the other films you mentioned. Try as hard as possible to see this film.
Sounds to me like the clerk you were dealing with hadn’t seen the film for a while – EWS isn’t really that bad, certainly not a 2 hour porno. (For starters, the film’s 2 hours and 40 minutes, but that seems like the wrong point to pick on here.) I was 17 when I saw it in the theatre (in Ontario, you had to be 18 to see any film classified R by the ontario film board, and looked about three years younger then I was, but I wasn’t missing what might be my only chance to see a Kubrick film on the big screen so I lied and lied some more) and saw it again last year (at 26) and while it’s a great film, it’s not as dirty as it’s rep would have you believe. I can sympathize with your plight though – That same year a woman wouldn’t see me a copy of Evil Dead II because I wasn’t 18 yet. When I told her (and provided proof) that my 18th birthday was tomorrow, she still wouldn’t budge. Some people…
The clerks favorite movie is probably Xmen! Eyes Wide Shut is one of the greatest films ever made.
NAZI CLERK NAZI CLERK
you guys are giving her bad advice. she’s just a kid.
the clerk was right. you shouldn’t be watching this film. you shouldnt be watching any r-rated film. if you want to see it, you should have to ask your parents to rent it for you or something.
Actually if you are only 15 the clerk is not supposed to let you rent an R rated film by law-altho I doubt anyone pays much attention to this. But to call it a 2 hour porno is just stupid. It’s longer than 2 hours.
However you shouldn’t let people tell you whats good or not-make up your own mind by seeing it. Personally I think it’s Kubricks weakest film but a lot of people on the site love it.
Steve: I would go a step further. I think this is more than his weakest film, it is his single failure: maybe one of the most boring films made on the subject of sex and love. Though Malle’s swan song gives it some competition. And this is not to forget Antonioni’s contribution to EROS.
What is it about old filmmakers and sex?
I agree with Bob. It isn’t a porno but you are too young to be watching R rated films. That’s why there’s the rating system. There are many movies to see out there so just wait until you’re old enough to rent it. Meanwhile stick with films that aren’t rated R. They don’t have to be PG or PG-13. There are many older films to see.
>>Sounds to me like the clerk you were dealing with hadn’t seen the film for a while<<
Or ever?
>>Personally I think it’s Kubricks weakest film<<
It’s certainly his most oblique … 2001 not withstanding. I’m still puzzling throught it. I’m not prepared to declare it great, but it might be his most fascinating.
Considering how many things I did before I was legally old enough, I’d be a hypocrite to claim that Leah should wait 3 years to see EYES WIDE SHUT … though I expect the added life experience in that time might enrich her understanding of it.
I’m sure if you guys were 15 now you would disagree. Age has nothing to do with maturity. There are 15 year olds more mature than 50 year olds. I would say the original poster is probably more mature than the guy renting her the video. If she is on this website talking about great films than in my opinion that is evidence enough of her maturity level.
Drew-Correct. But my daughter worked at a video store and if they rented a R rated film to someone under age they could lose their job as the video store could be fined. If she’s mature for her age she should talk her parents into rentuing it for her.
Well I’m not saying I want the person working there to get fired. I also have major problems about the rating system and feel there should be some sort of parent signed ID so people under 17 can go into R rated movies. Anyways the problem is the film is so notorious that her parents will probably say no. Even if it isn’t as bad as other things she has seen. I’m not saying to go against your parents but as someone who used to be in that situation parents don’t get it sometimes. Sometimes for your love of film you have to disobey.
The clerk simply should have denied Leah’s request, stating, sorry kid, you’re under age, i can’t legally let you rent this film. To bring any personal preference about the film into that is extremely unprofessional.
Frankly, i think you should wait. I don’t doubt your maturity, or even your ability to handle the subject matter. What it comes down to is being able to appreciate and understand the many layers of the film, about the relationships and the sexuality. I think it would better serve the film for you to wait until you’ve got a sexual history and more relationship experience under your belt, so to speak.
Or watch it now, then watch it again in ten years, and see how different the film will be to you. That might be interesting as well.
When you watch it please keep in mind that Kubrick made this as a COMEDY above all else.
Christopher, are you sure about that? To me the film is bordering on the horror genre; some shots of Cruise walking the city at night echoing similar shots of Nicholson in the Overlook. To me it more a modern Gothic than a comedy, although there is some comedy in almost every Kubrick whether it be in the delivery of dialogue or over the top performances of particular actors.
This is the onyl Kubrick film i have not seen. i am kind of hesitant because i have heard soooooo many mixed reviews and i dont want this film to ruin my view of Mr. Kubrick. but, i know i will see it eventually, and probably sooner than later.
As far as the age thing is concerned, i am in my twenties and can remember seeing stuff i shouldn’t have, by law, at an early age. i would actually say that i don’t think viewing R-Rated films before i was legally supposed to has had any traumatic effect on me, and it is no one elses decision beyond my own and my parents whether or not i should see/experience something. The only concsequence, that i can see, that someone seeing a movie before an appropriate maturity level, is that they will be unable to fully experience and appreciate the film.
CHRISTOPHER BUSH- i don’t understand what you’re saying… i’m 25 and i’ve been watching rated R movies since i was a kid… if something was too disturbing for me, i would turn it off. don’t you remember being more mature than people gave you credit for when you were a kid?
PS i used to work at a video store in Washington state. there is no law about letting people under 17 rent a rated R movie, but there was a vague store policy
Movie’s great.
Clerk’s probably never seen it if he described it THAT inaccurately.
He just wanted to follow corporate policy to keep from getting fired,
and wanted to sound cool and edgy in the process.
You’ll have other means of watching it. Seek them out. It’s worth it (not for the sex).
not really wanting to weigh in on the should you of should you not have been able to see the film, But as for Kubrick I think this film should be listed as one of his best. Kubrick sought to display the Human condition in it’s many incarnations. All of his films deal with different aspects of humanity. Eyes wide shut just takes us into a very uncomfortable realm of “the grass is greener” mentality. I think that the use of extremes kind of shocks us into the polarity between the hum-drum existence of everyday life, and a fantasy life of secret societies filled with orgies and mystery. I can’t say that it’s easy to watch the pace is extremely slow, but so was 2001 to a point.
Wow thanks for all the feedback everyone. I really hate the rating system too, some R ratings are entirely uncalled for. Supposedly if you use the f-word twice it’s an automatic R rating which is just silly. Anyway, my parents are pretty liberal about my film choices, I’m only really not allowed to see The Exorcist or Clockwork Orange until I read the book. Everything else is fair game and my dad was with me at the movie store so I totally could have rented Eyes Wide Shut “legally” but the clerk seemed alarming conscerned with the content. Weird, but it sounds like all of the disturbing elements of this film are only disturbing if you are unable to appreciate the artfulness of it. Correct? Oh well, maybe I’ll just hold off on this one for awhile. Perhaps it’s a sign. Or indication that I should just cave in and finally get netflix.
Leah-the “disturbing” elements are not very disturbing,yes there is an orgy scene but it’s very cold and unerotic.
A 2 hour porno? The whole movie is about how Tom Cruise can’t get laid no matter how desperately he tries. He can’t get laid with a hooker, he can’t even get laid at the orgy. I think there’s about 5 seconds of simulated sex seen from a distance and some costumed nudity that’s about on a level of shock with some vintage Roxy Music album covers. I’d try to get this nasty clerk fired.
Leah: Go watch the film, however you can get it, as you definitely have the maturity and film viewing experience to watch it. The R rating system is just pure hypocrisy and totally irrational. Maybe you could get the film at the library where I doubt they will hassle you. When I was young, I was told I was not old enough to read a John Steinbeck book (!) because it was in the ‘adult’ section. Was I ever suitably ticked-off. Fortunately, most libraries I am aware, now allow anyone to take out what they want – hopefully, videos too. We live in a very repressive society, but don’t let that stop you from exploring books or films that interest you. That clerk was a jerk. You can make your own mind up about the film.
Leah I watched the film when i was in 7th grade. I am now 17 and I appreciated it as a work of art the first time I saw it (and that was on a vhs tape!). It is a complete masterpiece. He said it was a porno because it does have a lot of nudity throughout the film, but it is in no way pornographic. I’ve talked to many people who call Eyes Wide Shut a porno, this is nothing but pure ignorance. Watch it and be amazed. Fuck what people say, this was a film made by Mr. Stanley Kubrick and is one of the most beautiful films ever made. It has Tom Cruise in it and I said it’s beautiful… uaually a film with tom Cruise makes a film ugly.
Dear, dear Leah: Listen to Biberkopf (and to me), & not the crowd. The issue here is not censorship & minors (we all know you will get your hands on this film if you want to), but the bloody movie itself. And trust me in this. There are 300, maybe 500, films you need to see before you watch this one. By the time you’ve looked at all of those you may well have a 15 year-old of your own. And by that time — a prediction — you might also have a hard time getting your hands on a copy of the long out-of-print EYES WIDE SHUT.
@MMORE: Did Biberkopf ever say not to watch it? I think he only said that the clerk was mistaken about the content of porno in the film.
@BIBERKOPF: Your thoughts?
@LEAH: totally get a Netflix account…
Dear dear Leah listen to the crowd and not MMOORE!
Leah, when I was underage Blockbuster had a waiver that parents could sign letting their underage kids rent r-rated films. I seriously doubt that there is any legal precedent to you renting an r-rated film as a minor—it is a suggested parental notification system, not a governmental system (that’d be called censorship). Besides which, for those of you who haven’t seen the film in a while, the r-rated video (dvd, whathaveyou) has the orgy scene “optically blocked” by added cloaked figures—or don’t you remember the whole hubabaloo over warner’s censoring Kubrick’s posthumous work?
Seriously, Bobby Wise and Christopher Bush, “children” do not need these pedantic insults that they are “too young” to be watching r-rated movies in the first place, especially not on a forum like this. If they are seriously interested in the artistic medium of film, let them watch whatever they desire to, it will only get them more passionate about their own futures.
leah
It seems as though almost everyone on these forums is in love with Kubrick’s last film, Eyes Wide Shut, so naturally I wanted to see it. Anyway I picked it up at blockbuster but the cashier guy wouldn’t let me rent it because he said it was esentially a 2 hour porno. I tried to explain to him that I am not at all vulnerable to corruption and that I’d already seen Requiem for a Dream and Boogie Nights and the Shining and a whole lot of Todd Solondz films, so my age is not exactly a factor (I’m 15 by the way), but I don’t think he had a problem with me renting any R rated movie, he just seemed to object towards this one. ANYWAY, I just want to know what exactly he means by all this. I’m pretty tough when it comes to filmsI don’t get effected easily. So what’s the deal with this film is it really that disturbing?