June 28, 1999. Copyright 1999. Graphic News. All rights reserved.

EYES WIDE SHUT

LONDON, JUNE 29 Graphic News: THE CRITICS were not supposed to know much about Stanley KubrickÕs mysterious last film, ÔEyes Wide Shut,Õ until the official screening on July 10, just six before its opening in the United States.
Rumours abounded Ð Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman get seriously naked in the film Ð but KubrickÕs rigorous insistence on secrecy meant few people knew what they were talking about. ÔEyes Wide ShutÕ was Kubrick's 13th film, completed a week before before the legendary filmmakerÕs death in March at age 70.
But when London film critic Alexander Walker, Kubrick biographer and family friend who had seen the movie early, filed his review to the Evening Standard, ÔEyes Wide ShutÕ changed from best-kept to the worst-kept secret in Hollywood.
Predictably, the people at Warner Bros. are chagrined by WalkerÕs actions Ð as is KubrickÕs family, according to a studio spokeswoman. ÒHe was a family friend, they showed it to him and he betrayed their trust,Ó spokeswoman Nancy Kirkpatrick said. ÒThe family is very hurt and angry. It certainly wasnÕt the plan, and we are not happy.Ó
To add to Warner Bros. disappointment the review and in-depth plot summary was published on the Evening StandardÕs Web site with the suggestion: Email this article to a friend.
If you donÕt want to know what itÕs about, then don't read any further.
The film, according to WalkerÕs review, stars Cruise and Kidman as Bill and Alice Harper, Òprotagonists in a story of how an apparently happily married couple, rich, successful New Yorkers... are set at odds with each other by their dreams and fantasies.Ó
They attend a party at a grand mansion where each is tempted by the fruits of other guests.
ÒThe filmÕs most complex sequence,Ó Walker says, Òand one that raises Cruise and Kidman to the summit achievements of their acting career to date occurs on their return home.Ó 
After smoking a little pot to relax themselves, Bill and Alice quiz each other about their erotic fantasies and find out more than theyreally wanted to know.
Alice asks if Bill is aroused by female nudity while examining his patients. He protests Ð sex may be too near to death for comfort.
Kidman defiantly asks: ÒHavenÕt you ever been jealous of me?Ó He stumbles fatally. ÒI know you would never be unfaithful.Ó In seconds, the marriage has become a state of mutual enmity. 
ÒKidman, clad only in panties and paper-thin camisole, reveals an act of infidelity she committed with a sailor. KubrickÕs direction awards her the scene.Ó
ÔEyes Wide ShutÕ then follows Cruise on the rebound from his wifeÕs sexual revelation Ð he ponders the pleasures of necrophilia, kissing a dead woman in the morgue; patronizes a prostitute and explores sex games among New YorkÕs rich and famous, curiously clad in cloaks and Venetian masks.
ÒEven at its most baffling,Ó Walker concludes, Òit is an astonishing work made with masterly control and at the same time a humanity that this directorÕs detractors insisted he did not possess.Ó
/ENDS
Sources: Evening Standard, Associated Press