Making Stanley Kubrick’s ‘Eyes Wide Shut’ Was a Real-Life Nightmare

The Big Picture

• Stanley Kubrick’s final film, Eyes Wide Shut, was a nightmare to make, with a production that lasted 15 months and set the record for the longest film production in history.
• The film’s setting, New York City, was recreated on a soundstage in England, showcasing Kubrick’s attention to detail and his dedication to creating a perfect facsimile.
• Eyes Wide Shut is a mysterious and polarizing film that leaves many unanswered questions, allowing the audience to interpret it in different ways and unlock new depths with each viewing.

The intensity of production for Stanley Kubrick‘s films has been well documented. With hundreds of takes, attention to detail down to the smallest imaginable thing, using lenses from NASA to film in candlelight for Barry Lyndon, Kubrick was a perfectionist. None of his films were more of a nightmare to make than his final one, Eyes Wide Shut, starring then-couple Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. The film set the record for the longest film production at 15 months, including 46 consecutive weeks. Why was this?

Stanley Kubrick was a master at this point, and according to Paul Thomas Anderson, who visited the set while filming Magnolia, “Kubrick had a really small crew… I asked him, ‘Do you always work with so few people?’ He gave me a look and said, ‘Why? How many people do you need?’ I felt like such a Hollywood asshole.” What made this production such a nightmare, and how does that translate in a film that is probably Kubrick’s most polarizing?

Why Was Stanley Kubrick So Difficult On Set?

Stanley Kubrick’s movies are popular among the average moviegoer, and the arthouse crowd for good reason. They are incredibly compelling, meticulously crafted films that span many genres, from political satires to war films and horror movies. Everyone from your freshman film student nephew to your grandmother probably loves one of his films. Eyes Wide Shut may be one of Kubrick’s most well-crafted films from a production side but at a cost.

When you watch Eyes Wide Shut, the setting may feel a bit strange, especially if you’re a New Yorker. The film is set in New York City, specifically Greenwich Village, but something just feels off. The scale feels a bit weird. This is because the film was not only not filmed in New York City, but not filmed in a city at all. Kubrick recreated Greenwich Village on a soundstage in England, where he lived for the last 40 years of his life, and produced both this film and Full Metal Jacket. In classic Kubrick fashion, according to The Guardian, everything was arranged to be a perfect facsimile, down to the exact width of the streets. Yet, there is still an oddity to the film. Something is not quite right.

What Is ‘Eyes Wide Shut’ About?

Eyes Wide Shut follows Dr. Bill Harford, played by Tom Cruise, through an odyssey through the underbelly of New York City, following a revelation about his wife Alice, played by Nicole Kidman. Essentially, he is on a quest to reclaim his masculinity through sex. This could be presented in a very straightforward manner, played for some raunchy comedy or pure sex appeal. Tom Cruise had played a charismatic lead before in movies like Risky Business, and Kidman could easily slide into the sort of mean, erotic thriller role that dominated the ’90s. This is not the case. Both feel profoundly out of place in every scene of the film. There is a strange, stilted quality to their behavior that we don’t see from the supporting cast.

From Kubrick, we have to believe this is intentional. This is especially apparent because he put both leads through hell on the film set. As The Guardian confirmed, Tom Cruise had to walk through a door 95 times until Kubrick was happy with the take. And this was after two Best Actor nominations for Cruise, he was no spring chicken. But if you compare his performance to say, Sydney Pollack as Ziegler, Pollack is much more relaxed, much more natural, whereas Cruise seems like an alien learning how to speak. Once again, we are left with a strange feeling. A film feeling a bit stilted or off can lead to a lack of immersion, and more bad questions than good ones. Why would Kubrick do all of this then?

Is ‘Eyes Wide Shut’ a Finished Film?

There is an argument to be made that the reason Eyes Wide Shut feels so strange, is because it is unfinished. Kubrick died 6 days after presenting the first cut of the film. While you may think, how unfinished could the film be if he had a cut ready, you have to remember that Kubrick changed his films seemingly until the release day, including changing the entire score of 2001 during post-production. Who knows what could have been done if he had more time to work on the film? Maybe the setting could have felt more natural with a little color correction, or the acting a bit more natural with a few different cuts.

However, there is some dissent against that argument. Todd Field, who plays Nick Nightingale in the film and was close friends with Kubrick, has stated that “Stanley was absolutely thrilled with the film. He was still working on the film when he died. And he probably died because he finally relaxed. But it was one of the happiest weekends of his life, right before he died, after he had shown the first cut to Terry Semel and Tom and to Nicole.” While you can certainly say that Kubrick could have done more with the film had he lived a little longer, the film certainly represents his vision. Now what that vision is, is up for debate.

Eyes Wide Shut may be the film with the most unanswered questions in Kubrick’s entire career. For one, what is the film about? Is it an erotic thriller? Is it a harsh critique of modern relationships? Is it a conspiracy film, Kubrick’s confession to being involved with shadowy figures? Is it an incredibly dry comedy, especially considering Kubrick had wanted to make Eyes Wide Shut a comedy dating back to the ’70s? For the outsider, this may all seem a bit much, but this has been the discourse surrounding many of Kubrick’s films. The enduring theory that The Shining confesses his involvement with faking the moon landing because Danny wears an Apollo 11 sweater proves that. We will never know what Eyes Wide Shut is really about. And that’s ok!

Stanley Kubrick created a bizarre film, with acting that feels just as strange as the fake city it’s set in. What makes Eyes Wide Shut enduring, and makes Kubrick a director that still blows your mind almost 25 years after his death, is that you are never presented with all the answers. The audience has to fill in the gaps themselves. The film can be whatever you want it to be. One viewing can be about power, class position, and how disposable people can be to those who are above them. Another can be a comedy of manners, where a butler drives out to hand Tom Cruise a letter telling him to leave the premises. Every viewing unlocks a different part of the film, and that is classic Kubrick. The production may have been hell, the film may be a bit unpolished, but Kubrick ended his career with another masterpiece. Eyes Wide Shut is an essential work of American cinema, and one worth many, many viewings.

Eyes Wide Shut is available to rent on Apple TV+ in the U.S.

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