Listeners have been asking for this episode for years and today, Santa is bringing it to you! Happy Holidays, it’s time for Eyes Wide Shut! In 1999, the film was hotly anticipated for many reasons: it starred Hollywood’s most famous couple, it was the final film of master of masters Stanley Kubrick, its very long production was hounded by the press, and it promised lots of onscreen sex. Adapted from Arthur Schnitzler’s Traumnovelle, the film cast Tom Cruise as a doctor who goes on an odyssey of sexual obsession after his wife (a haunting Nicole Kidman) confesses to an unrequited sexual fantasy about a stranger. A ritual orgy, Todd Field playing jazz piano, and a flirty Alan Cumming followed, and baffled audiences reacted viciously.
This episode, we discuss the film’s initial negative reaction from audiences and critics alike and its contemporary reassessment. We also talk about its formative place in Kidman’s emphasis on auteurs, how the film unpacks Cruise’s screen persona, and the film’s mystery box marketing.
Topics also include Sidney Pollack barechested in suspenders, the film’s censored orgy, and the Blockbuster Entertainment Awards.
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