But to "fix" Eyes Wide Shut , one must stop trying to make it a thriller. The film is often mis-marketed as an erotic mystery, which sets the audience up for disappointment. If we want to make the film better —if we want to unlock the masterpiece that many believe it to be—we must adjust the lens through which we view it. The "improvements" are not in the editing room, but in the viewer's expectations.
The garlands, the lights, the carols—they’re not decoration. They’re ironic counterpoint. Christmas is the season of goodwill and domestic bliss. Eyes Wide Shut shows the shadows behind that glow: loneliness, envy, and the transactional nature of love. When Bill walks through a snowy street as “It’s A Wonderful Life” plays on a TV, the contrast is devastating. He’s not George Bailey. He’s a man who nearly lost his soul without ever leaving Manhattan. film eyes wide shut better
In the first ten minutes, Bill and Alice (Kidman) smoke marijuana in their opulent bathroom. What follows is the most devastating marital argument ever committed to film. Alice, tired of Bill’s smug, clinical condescension, confesses that two years earlier, she nearly abandoned their daughter and their entire life to fuck a naval officer she saw for thirty seconds in a hotel lobby. But to "fix" Eyes Wide Shut , one