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Reviews8
mmt02's rating
Eyes Wide Shut will imediately alienate or entice its viewers. Walking out of the theatre, there were many people commenting on how bad it was. For a person looking for a porn film, I guess Eyes Wide Shut had too much plot and too little sex. For a person looking for an erotic thriller, I guess Eyes Wide Shut had too many open-ended questions and too few climatic scenes filled with answers. But for a person looking for a peek into the mind, into that Freudian unconscious, Eyes Wide Shut had plenty of images to contemplate.
First of all, like all of Kubrick's films, Eyes Wide Shut is about images, visuals. Durring Cruise's "night on the town" Kubrick's grainy film mixed with his extensive backlighting creates a dream-like state. The camera is slow and methodic. It shows us all we need to see in this urban dreamscape (minus those pesky digital images!). Because thats what Eyes Wide Shut is: a tour of the human dreamscape, or at least the seedier side of it.
The plot moves slowly not concerned that it has left some questions unanswered, because this isn't a film about answers. Here we see another Kubrick signature, the open-ended ending. When those credits role, you'll probably still have questions or maybe you'll want to know what just hit you. Where did Kubrick just take you? What did you just see? I must say that one viewing, which is all that I have had, is insufficient to answer those questions completely.
Eyes Wide Shut is an excellent movie that makes you think. Not like The Usual Suspects, but like Persona or 2001 or Blue Velvet, another dream caught up in dreams. It doesn't keep you guessing, it keeps you thinking...well after the credits role. One thing is clear though, this is a must see finale to a wonderful career.
First of all, like all of Kubrick's films, Eyes Wide Shut is about images, visuals. Durring Cruise's "night on the town" Kubrick's grainy film mixed with his extensive backlighting creates a dream-like state. The camera is slow and methodic. It shows us all we need to see in this urban dreamscape (minus those pesky digital images!). Because thats what Eyes Wide Shut is: a tour of the human dreamscape, or at least the seedier side of it.
The plot moves slowly not concerned that it has left some questions unanswered, because this isn't a film about answers. Here we see another Kubrick signature, the open-ended ending. When those credits role, you'll probably still have questions or maybe you'll want to know what just hit you. Where did Kubrick just take you? What did you just see? I must say that one viewing, which is all that I have had, is insufficient to answer those questions completely.
Eyes Wide Shut is an excellent movie that makes you think. Not like The Usual Suspects, but like Persona or 2001 or Blue Velvet, another dream caught up in dreams. It doesn't keep you guessing, it keeps you thinking...well after the credits role. One thing is clear though, this is a must see finale to a wonderful career.
The Third Man is a movie that looks and feels not like a movie of the 40s, but like a neo-noir of the late 60s/early 70s. This wonderful example of classic noir is one of the all time greatest films. It combines amazing visuals, sounds, dialogue, and acting to tell a thrilling story and comment about the atmosphere after WWII.
Of all the movies durring the studio era (pre-1960ish), there are three movies with cinematography that always stick out in my mind: Gregg Toland's work in Citizen Kane, Russel Mety's work in Touch of Evil, and Robert Krasker's work in The Third Man (all starring Orson Welles funny enough). I just recently saw a restored 35mm version of The Third Man. The crisp black and white visuals of a bombed out Vienna are so breath-taking. Shadows are everywhere. The unique way Krasker tilts the camera in some shots adding to the disorientation of the plot. And who can forget the first close-up of Welles with the light from an apartment room above splashing onto his face; one of the great entrances in movie history (Lime gives his old friend a smile that only Welles could give).
The cinematography is backed by strong performances by Welles, Cotten, and italian actress Vali. The writing of Greene is wonderful; you can see the plot twisting around Cotten tightly. But what makes The Third Man so great is its historical commentary (well not really historical since it was commenting on its own time, but to us it is historical). On one level The Third Man is a story of betrayal and corruption in a post-war, occupied Vienna. On the other hand, its giving the audience a glimpse of the mood of Europe after the great war. The uncertainty that the Cold War was bringing is evident through out the film; Cotten is constantly trying to figure out who to trust. Vienna is on the frontier of the new communist bloc (we even see the communists infiltrating Vienna trying to bring Vali back to her native Czechoslavakia). The zither music score combined with the stark images of bombed out Vienna are reminiscent of the frontier towns of American Westerns. So The Third Man is not only a wonderful film noir, but a unique look at the brief time between WWII and the height of the Cold War.
Of all the movies durring the studio era (pre-1960ish), there are three movies with cinematography that always stick out in my mind: Gregg Toland's work in Citizen Kane, Russel Mety's work in Touch of Evil, and Robert Krasker's work in The Third Man (all starring Orson Welles funny enough). I just recently saw a restored 35mm version of The Third Man. The crisp black and white visuals of a bombed out Vienna are so breath-taking. Shadows are everywhere. The unique way Krasker tilts the camera in some shots adding to the disorientation of the plot. And who can forget the first close-up of Welles with the light from an apartment room above splashing onto his face; one of the great entrances in movie history (Lime gives his old friend a smile that only Welles could give).
The cinematography is backed by strong performances by Welles, Cotten, and italian actress Vali. The writing of Greene is wonderful; you can see the plot twisting around Cotten tightly. But what makes The Third Man so great is its historical commentary (well not really historical since it was commenting on its own time, but to us it is historical). On one level The Third Man is a story of betrayal and corruption in a post-war, occupied Vienna. On the other hand, its giving the audience a glimpse of the mood of Europe after the great war. The uncertainty that the Cold War was bringing is evident through out the film; Cotten is constantly trying to figure out who to trust. Vienna is on the frontier of the new communist bloc (we even see the communists infiltrating Vienna trying to bring Vali back to her native Czechoslavakia). The zither music score combined with the stark images of bombed out Vienna are reminiscent of the frontier towns of American Westerns. So The Third Man is not only a wonderful film noir, but a unique look at the brief time between WWII and the height of the Cold War.