Eyes Wide Shut. disliked by most critics, unwatched by most audiences, a fully successful fever dream that’s ready for a reappraisal.
Eyes Wide Shut and The Shining, the former because of the reasons Dave mentioned, the latter because it is to easy to like, and then dismiss, as good genre, ignoring all the rest of the strange wonderfulness of that film.
The Killing
Praise for “Eyes Wide Shut,” which someday might get the audience it deserves. But I’ll spend my two cents on the ’60s relic that is “Lolita,” which – with no pretense of being a faithful adaptation – nonetheless has much to recommend it: A brilliant opening sequence, Humbert the Tortured, Quilty the Chameleon, deliciously dark humor and Ozzie Morris plying his craft in glorious black-and-white.
“Lolita”
Barry Lyndon
How about the killer’s kiss. Great little movie.
Yes! He shot that himself and it proves just how much of the rest of his filmography he essentially served as cinematographer for (Eyes Wide Shut especially)…
“Killer’s Kiss”
Amazing….
His most under appreciated film is surprisingly his best, PATHS OF GLORY. one of my favorites…
Most of Kubrick’s films were grossly overrated. “Barry Lyndon” is ridiculously bad (the Irish polyglot who is supposed to speak French without the slightest foreign accent says: Fit fo Joe instead of Faites vos jeux in the casino scene… this is just one example of how there was no suspension of disbelief throughout this picture, but hey, the costumes were exactly made following techniques out of the 18th century!); “Eyes wide shut”? What the f**** was that? One Helmut Newton photo tells more than this whole movie. His best, “The Killing,” came years after John Huston’s much better “Asphalt Jungle”. "2001… " is actually pro-creationist! The apes turn into humans thanks to divine intervention…. “A clockwork orange” is (unlike the book) a crypto-fascist film. Shall I go on?
“The killing” and perhaps Eyes wide shut, the presence of Tom cruice damaged the independence nature of the film. Cruice always was Cruice and he never dissolved in the character, on the other hand Nicole was more authentic.
I found paralellisms between The Killing and the splendid " Asphalt Jungle" , but the edition and lenaguge that Kubrick used in his film is the real deal.
Thanks
IRT Guy Lee Thys
Right, as said by the great Roger Ebert (Whom I wholly agree with) "Some people find “Barry Lyndon” a fascinating, if cold, exercise in masterful filmmaking; others find it a terrific bore. I have little sympathy for the second opinion; how can anyone be bored by such an audacious film, unless they’ve become such passive filmgoers that no movie can involve them unless it caters to them?"
To call “2001: A Space Odyssey” (His best film, btw) pro-creationist is to make the mistake of thinking you understand that nature of the foreign intelligence. Was it divine intervention? I don’t know, and you certainly don’t either. If anything, I think it comes closer to scientology than anything, but either way the film is infinitely stimulating for those who are willing to examine possibilities, as is the case with most of Kubrick’s films.
You call “A Clockwork Orange” a “crypto-fascist film”. Am I the only one who thinks that perhaps these “crypto-fascists” are the subject of the satire?
That said, yes. Go on.
Dear Rollie,
A Clockwork Orange? At the time when the film was released, I thought it was a dark satire. Not so anymore. About 2001: I’m not alone here to think it is utterly pretentious and very religious. Barry Lyndon is not a boring picture, there is simply no suspension of disbelief. I don’t believe the lead character for a second. This said, all of his films are visual masterpieces (except Eyes wide shut). And I still like Lolita very much (pity Sue Lyon was 17 though).
Best, Guy Lee
not one of my favourites but definately eyes wide shut
It would have to be “Barry Lyndon.” It is hard to call “2001” or “Clockwork” or “Strangelove” underappreciated because they are so appreciated. “Eyes Wide Shut” may not be that well appreciated, but, likewise, in my opinion it’s hard to call it underappreciated. I’d vote “2001” as the most misunderstood Kubrick film — gallons of ink have been written about its meaning and symbolism, when really all it is is Kubrick’s orgiastic indulgence in cinema as pure visual abstraction.
OH COME ON! I think it is without doubt Eyes Wide Shut.
When it came out everyone I remeber critics saying how shitty it was.
A**H****s
His earlier films like 2001 and a clockwork orange had to grow on people. Some of his films took a considerable amount of time to get it’s due, and i hope eyes wide shut will soon be recognized as the masterpiece it is. Unfortunately eyes wide shut is more down to earth than his other more metaphysical films (excluding Barry Lyndon) so i can understand why some are turned off by it. perhaps if it weren’t thought of as a kubrick film it could have been more appreciated, but expectations ran to high for a very “in your face” film like his others were.
Eyes Wide Shut… Because some of my friends said that after seeing that film they felt that the movie was uncompleted……of course….Iam disagree….. for me…Is simply a tribute to the faithfulness between husband and wife… Sublime not?.
I love Kubrick as much as any other fimmaker, but i do not agree with eyes wide shut being a masterpiece. I do find it to be a very good film, but the master missed in some areas. I do think that film does feel incomplete, maybe he wasnt finished. He was reknown for being a perfectionist so i think that he himself was not finished with this film.
I call bullshit on that.
Well let me guess you loved it the way it was. Well i call your bullshit and raise you some cow dung.
The only thing I question about Eyes Wide Shut is the ending, which tidies up the story perhaps more than it should. But I still think it’s a great ending, one that forces us to examine the nature of our relationships instead resigning the film to an exotic murder mystery. Does anyone else find it kind of satisfying that Kubrick’s last word as a film-maker was “Fuck”?
The whole idea is that it fake tidies up; nothing is really tidied up!
Barry Lyndon is a historic masterpiece and very few people have seen it
The Killing is a great movie that doesn’t get enough appreciation, fame-wise. However, I would agree that Barry Lyndon is severely under-appreciated as well. I put off seeing it, because someone (on IMDB?) described it as long and boring.
Long? Yes. Boring? Depends on who’s watching.
I think both Barry Lyndon and Eyes Wide Shut are under-appreciated, but since I feel that Barry Lyndon is a much better film, it’s probably more under-appreciated as well.
Bary Lyndon is visually good and interesting. Eyes wide shut was a slip, a foul in Kubrick’s canon.
Rollie Schott
I say “Paths of Glory”. That or Barry Lyndon, or course, though I suspect that will be the trendy response.