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Kubrick’s posters make a rainbow...

Don’t you want to go where the Rainbow ends?

BLUE

ORANGE

RED

YELLOW

GREEN

PURPLE

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A friend of the blog has been working on a film. Please support if you can!

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The American Trilogy

People have said that Stanley Kubrick’s final 7 films are more like 1 film about humanity spanning different genres. It’s undeniable that there are specific parallels and connections between his films, but the way his films connect to each other on a basic level is quite interesting and not very difficult to see.

Dr. Strangelove ends with nuclear bombs destroying the world cut to the black void of 2001; The Dawn of Man. The end of the world caused by man’s violent nature transitioned into the beginning of man’s violent nature with Moonwatcher discovering the bone as a weapon.

2001 ends with the Starchild looking directly at the camera; at us, while A Clockwork Orange opens with a closeup on Alex’s eye. A transcended soul cut to a devilish man. The eye was a very potent symbol within 2001, representing the vast exploration possible inside oneself. The eye continues to be important in Clockwork, especially with Alex’s stigmata eyeball cuff links, strengthening the comparison to the godlike Starchild and Jesus Christ dying on the cross as a man, transcending to a God. Alex does not transcend, he lives on to do the deeds of evil men.

A Clockwork Orange, set in a near future or alternate reality, ends with an offer for Alex to move his way up the societal ladder by aligning himself with the same corrupt politicians who used the Ludavico technique on him in the first place, then a daydream with Alex surrounded by what look to be noble men and women of a past era observing him in a sexual act with a woman. The next film, Barry Lyndon is a period piece that explores the issues of class in 18th century Europe and trying to better oneself by moving up in the classist system. Clockwork is a story about where society is now (or was then), while Barry Lyndon explores where society was within the period piece genre. Interestingly enough not much has changed. Both world’s are violent, full of wealthy people using lower class people to further their own agendas, the people at the bottom forced to scratch their way to the top of a corrupt system, often using nefarious techniques to get ahead.

Kubrick is trying to communicate the way society / humans are and have always been while connecting the films with transitional elements that bring this idea into the viewer’s subconscious.

I believe those films, are also connected to the final three in Kubrick’s portrayal humanity and the way he sought to hold a mirror up to us via the cinema screen. However, The Shining, Full Metal Jacket, and Eyes Wide Shut seem to have a deeper connection to each other than the previous films. Yes, they too are an exploration of genre, using the conventions of it to subvert more complex themes, but I feel Kubrick started to develop ideas on how to thematically connect these films on an even deeper level throughout the 20 year period spent completing these three.

I suggest that the final three films act as a trilogy, exploring the genocide America was built on and the ideals of which continue to permeate through our society. These films are his ode to America’s dark secret hidden in plain sight. Not since Dr. Strangelove had he made a movie even based in America. These final 3 are inherently American films. While Strangelove was an overt criticism of authoritarian power, the final trilogy shrouds itself in a ghost story, a war epic, and a sexual thriller in order to issue Kubrick’s vicious critique.

Just to caveat, I don’t think the final trilogy are ONLY critiquing America but I do think this is crucial in all three films, more so than his others excluding Strangelove. 2001, Clockwork, and Barry Lyndon are more overtly commenting on humanity and culture in general.  

Let’s get into how the final 3 specifically do this. I’m going to breeze by a lot of basic info that any Kubrick obsessive should already know.

The Shining references Native Americans constantly, the hotel is built on an “Indian burial ground” and had to repel Native American attacks while building the Overlook. There’s a ton of info on this out there already so I don’t feel it necessary to explain all the evidence to support this, but it’s overtly injected into the film, barely under the surface. There’s also a ton of material to support the idea that the hotel itself represents America and it’s constant ability to “Overlook” the horrors that our society is built on. Stuart Ullman, the Hotel Manager has an American flag on his desk, echoing his jacket and tie with an American eagle statue poking out form behind his head (Symbols related to characters’ heads are important in Kubrick’s work). In a film where mirrors are also important his initials backwards are US. The Shining is about the bloody birth of America and the generational inheritance of said violence. To see these things, one has to use their own ability to Shine and see through the veil of genre.

The next film is Full Metal Jacket, based in the Vietnam War. The film starts out with soldiers getting their heads shaved, representing the first step in their dehumanization at the hands of the U.S Military. Vietnam is not considered a just war and is an obvious extension of the genocidal characteristics America was born into. America is still doing the same thing that The Shining represents; going into a place full of brown skinned people and wreaking havoc for their own benefit and seemingly justified by racial bias. Vietnam is truly the beginning of a modern genocide, justified by politics, fear, money, and propaganda. This film came out in 1987, 12 years after Vietnam ended, but interestingly enough 3 years before another example of this American Imperialism; The Gulf War. Full Metal Jacket makes us look at something inhumane that just recently happened and yet most people remember the drill Sergeant yelling hilarious obscenities at the soldiers, many thinking the second half of the film as inferior to the first. As horrific as the dehumanization process of bootcamp is, it’s easier to watch than the reality that happened in Vietnam. In the film’s major battle sequence, we see multiple solders die, wasting hundreds of rounds only to find one young girl to be their target. This is the reality of Vietnam. Note the poster’s reference to Joker’s helmet, BORN TO KILL, relating to both the birth of America and the eagle behind Ullman’s head, turning him into a literal figurehead of this inherited American violence. 

Eyes Wide Shut continues this theme from the perspective of someone living their adult life in post Vietnam society. The modern genocide has turned war into a commodity and has shown the darkest side of capitalism. Bill probably was too young to go to Vietnam but would be a first generation adult starting a family post Vietnam (meaning he was old enough to experience Vietnam as a child but not old enough to go).

Coincidentally enough, when EWS was released in 1999 the US were only a few years away from yet another unjust conflict in Iraq based on lies with huge non-compete contracts handed out to companies that the G.W. Bush administration had personal and financial connections with. It’s also interesting to note that although this couldn’t have been intended by Kubrick, the themes of generational violence being passed down through the generations connects to George Bush starting an Iraq war in the 90s while just over a decade later his son would do that same. Kubrick saw humanity in such a deep way, the good and bad, that he’s almost seen the future through his exploration of complex themes. Sadly though I don’t believe he was psychic, but purely able to to see the reality of cycles we humans perpetuate throughout time.

Eyes Wide Shut is about modern society’s classist structures and how someone like Bill Harford could be so oblivious to the dangers that surround his lovely life and how easily that can be taken away by his own inability to see himself and the various social constructs he participates in. He is blind to the world, happy as clam to live an upperclass Manhattanite lifestyle. This is inherently connected to the more overt violent themes in the previous two films. There is a cultural genocide perpetuated by the richest people who use others like pieces on a chessboard; built off of the original sin of America’s treatment of the Natives and continued through our unjust wars of today, finally providing the power structure for a few people to wield over the rest. Money in Eyes Wide Shut is equivalent to the axe in The Shining, the rifles in Full Metal Jacket. The first line in Eyes Wide Shut is, “Honey have you seen my wallet?”. This is no accident, it’s a seemingly insignificant line of dialog that immediately begins to beg you to pay attention to this theme. 

- From The Shining: ULLMAN: We had four presidents who stayed here, lots of movie stars. WENDY: Royalty? ULLMAN: All the best people.

See my post on “All the best people”

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Hello, I'm sure you've heard about the threads online connecting Larry Celona, EWS and Epstein. It's pretty interesting. Tumblr won't let me post links, but if you google all three of those it'll take you in the right place. I was wondering if you had any thoughts on it or you were planning a post. Thanks!

Hey, thanks for your continued interest in the blog. I haven’t really looked into this much but Rob Ager made a fairly interesting video. It’s a little long and I inherently disagree with his assessment of the Somerton scene but the cosmic parallels between Mandy’s obituary and Kubrick’s are fascinating and his videos are always interesting in some way.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94OfggPdzow

There are some interesting connections for sure, but it would seem Kubrick just likely enjoyed the columns and types of stories Larry Celona would write and therefore hired him to help as an expert newspaper copywriter. Possibly Celona had written about nefarious practices of the wealthy before and that attracted Kubrick especially with the themes in EWS.

On a quick look at Epstein’s Wikipedia page it says “Epstein often attended Victoria's Secret fashion shows, and hosted the models at his New York City home, as well as helping aspiring models get work with the company” . That’s an interesting connection to EWS (and possibly Ziegler) with the models and the prostitution charges Epstein was eventually charged for, as well as that happening in the mid 90s, before EWS would have been filming. So it is POSSIBLE Epstein is directly referenced in EWS. 

The problem I have with directly relating Epstein to EWS is that the case against doesn’t really start until 2005. However this sort of thing with underage prostitution could have been passed down to him from someone or some organization that Kubrick was semi aware of. The fact that there are A-List models in the reality of the film as well as a child prostitute sure does suggest he was aware of some of the things we now know as factual with Epstein.

I don’t think there’s much to add that Kubrick hasn’t already shown directly in the film. Rich people buy other people for sex and it’s more dark than just an empowered woman trying to make some bread such as Domino. He was showing us this before the internet was what it is today, before the Epstein case so if anything we can see Kubrick had an idea of how the powerful people in this world operate. I believe I cover that pretty sufficiently in a lot of posts about the film. 

If there’s something I’m missing please give me a more direct source to google and I will check it out. I honestly kind of thought this was a silly connection at first, besides just a thematic parallel but the more I looked into it (albeit very briefly) the more connections creep in. It’s interesting to note that we don’t know what Ziegler does for a living / how he made so much money. The same kind of goes for Epstein, before the huge scandal. 

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Smoking AFter Sex

Alice smokes in the living room after Bill’s promise to tell her “everything”. Smoking is a popular post sex trope, usually referring to the fact that the sex was so good they need a smoke to calm down. Is this a purposeful juxtaposition to smoking after sex? This being the opposite of sex, the confession of infidelity. We aren’t shown the confession, yet we are shown graphic sexual content in the film. By doing this the confession of infidelity becomes more explicit than the pornographic visuals of the orgy scene.

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Misguided Anger

Bill had 2 opportunities for sexual deviance before the Somerton orgy and doesn’t go for either. In between his first two sexual encounters his masculinity is tested by other males: The YALE frat boys and Nick.

Marion professes her love for Bill and he declines her advance.

Bill sees the couple making out after Marion had kissed him. This triggers a fantasy of Alice’s fantasy with the naval officer.

This is Bill’s most frustrated scene in the film, accented by hitting his hand with an angry slap. This parallels the theme of sexual frustration building within him. His manhood has been challenged very harshly by Alice, who was in her own right sharing her sexual truth, but with the intention to hurt Bill; as her own frustrations with their relationship had reached a breaking point. The young couple likely remind Bill of a time when he and Alice were recklessly in love, making out on street corners because they were so infatuated. Is Bill frustrated with Alice’s confession or that another man could possibly challenge his status?

Then Bill’s manhood is harshly challenged by other men in a violent confrontation with homophobic slurs hurled at him. Bill does not like this but walks on.

After this encounter, Domino approaches Bill on the street and yes he does “come” inside with her but he’s hesitant. Bill wasn’t looking for a hooker or sexual encounter until this point. Two just fell into his lap. I think there’s a tendency for people to read the film as Bill got into a fight with Alice and went out looking for sex. That’s not the case. Bill is seemingly going to have sex with her but it’s obvious he’s never done something like this before. He’s not even sure how much he should pay. Alice’s phone call causes Bill to stop the encounter so if he was really mad at her would this make a difference? Alice’s phone call saves him from making a mistake only because he remembers their love.

He finally meets Nick at Sonata Jazz. They buddy up and Nick tells Bill about the orgy. Bill is ready to do something crazy at this point after having two very simple solutions if all he wanted was sex. He’s going to get a costume in the middle of the night, to drive to Long Island to a mansion orgy. Bill isn’t doing this simply for sex, though he probably doesn’t realize it. He’s doing it more so to prove to Nick how much of a man he is.  If Bill had gotten away with his intrusion the two buds would have a hell of a laugh together. Bill and Nick are symbolic doubles in the film, think back to Ziegler’s party; White suit / Black suit, Doctor/ Not a Doctor, along with their similar appearance. Is Bill trying to prove to himself how much of a man he is?

Kubrick subtly portrays a major psychological part of male in society; proving your manliness to other men through your sexual prowess with women. Bill seems to be more mad at the fact that another man could best him rather than being worried about getting laid. We’ve literally seen two models hitting on him at Ziegler’s party and let’s face it he looks like Tom Cruise. Bill would not have a problem getting laid on any given day. This brings about what the orgy really represents. Power. Sex is about power more than pleasure for those people. This is will lead people down a dark path as sex is meant as an act of love not dominance. Bill is hurt when confronted with Alice’s brutally honest expression of her sexuality and he is surprised by her sexual desire, but his anger is rooted in the idea of another male dominating him. In this case the naval officer. Bill is looking for Nick’s approval, to prove to the fantasy of Alice’s naval officer that he is a dominant male figure. However, Bill is essentially angry with himself on a deep psychological level.

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do you really think that there was an original cut? if so, what are the scenes that are missing?

No I think that's a myth. Jan Harlan has said that the cut that we see is pretty much the cut Kubrick showed to the studio minus some scoring and sound design. The fact that the studio digitally added hooded figures is the issue that probably makes other crazy theories seem all the more plausible. By doing that The studio was majorly disrespectful to Kubrick and it actually fucks up a major theme in the film by censoring that scene but luckily we all have the real movie available.

All of the theories I've heard really don't make sense concerning an original cut of the film. If I heard something that made sense I would at least consider it being possible. As it is, I don't think there is any major weird occult scenes that were cut because they "showed too much". I think the occult part of the orgy and how it's presented is very much intentional and to put some sensational child sacrifice would weaken major themes in the film.

I just talked to another reader of the blog about how ridiculous it is to theorize Alice being at the somerton party which is what many people theorize was cut as well. The film isn't about the occult although there is a secret society that seems to have a certain occult mystique to it inside of the film. I don't really think it's about exposing any particular secrets of the world (although I could be wrong and do like hearing even the most ridiculous theories) , but it does show that conspiracies are real which is something Kubrick suggests and shows in almost all of his films.

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Red Right Hand - Ziegler, Hartman, Strangelove

“What if the breath that kindled those grim fires, / Awaked, should blow them into sevenfold rage, / And plunge us in the flames; or from above / Should intermitted vengeance arm again / His red right hand to plague us?”

- John Milton “Paradise Lost”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradise_Lost

“His Red RIght Hand” refers to Divine vengeance “from above”, connecting the God themes of “Paradise Lost” to how Dr. Strangelove ends with the nuclear bomb setting off the doomsday device and basically ending civilization as we know it. Dr. Strangelove ends with a Deus ex Machina, literally meaning “god from the machine”.

The Nazi party has an obvious connection to divine vengeance by executing a genocide and thinking it was their right to do so. The character of Dr. Strangelove represents Nazism and also coincidentally has an uncontrollable, gloved right hand.

Starting to see the connections?

Kubrick likely read Paradise Lost, a Renaissance classic, given his history of being a voracious reader and heavily interested in Renaissance period.

“A Dear John letter is a letter written to a man by his wife or romantic partner to inform him their relationship is over because she has found another lover. The man is often a soldier stationed overseas, although the letter may be used in other ways, including being left for him to discover when he returns from work to an emptied house….it is commonly believed to have been coined by Americans during World War 2“ - Wikipedia

Could this “Dear John” be a sly tip of the hat to JOHN Milton while still being a tongue in cheek American cultural reference?

Also of note, the phone the President uses in Dr. Strangelove is RED. Even though the film is in Black and White you can still kind of tell it’s red. The President coincidentally (?) is holding the RED phone in his RIGHT HAND during the scene. This idea of divine vengeance compared to world leaders making such decisions for the masses, essentially acting as gods; deciding who lives and dies is quite interesting.

The red phone is also featured prominently on the original posters if anyone is skeptical:

In conclusion I believe there’s some interesting connections between the shots below from Eyes Wide Shut and Full Metal Jacket with the right hands of Ziegler and Hartman being in the extreme foreground, almost acting as their whole being for the respective shots. Both are in a position of wanting to control in these scenes, there’s the military connection to Hartman and there are definitely themes of Ziegler acting as a divine controller in Eyes Wide Shut, someone who is above society. 

Even the title “Paradise Lost” seems so significant to almost all of Kubrick’s work. Bill’s perfect life rocked by Alice’s confession in EWS, the dehumanization of the soldiers in FMJ; taken from their simple American lives and thrust into the Vietnam war. It all seems to connect quite perfectly.

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Bill Removes his Mask

This shot of Bill during his final conversation with Ziegler is probably one of the most peculiar in the film. Bill holds his hand on his face as he slowly gets up from the sofa and continues to keep his hand there for about 14 seconds when he slowly slides his hand away. The length of this action seems too deliberate to not have an intended meaning from Kubrick.

I believe Kubrick intended this to be Bill symbolically removing his societal mask. Bill has been an obedient servant to Ziegler throughout the film, but here is where Bill finally stands up to big Z. Bill has removed the mask he wears everyday and stands up for himself now seeing the truth and consequences of choices he’s made. This is the last step before Bill sees his true face, the mask on the pillow.

Watch the scene below. Go to 2:11 here if the video doesn’t take you there:

Now after coming up with this thought of Bill removing his mask in this scene, I started to think of other moments of characters touching their faces in the film and the results are quite interesting in my opinion. I have never heard of anyone pointing this out before but I think Kubrick was using these behavioral gestures on purpose to reinforce the masks motif.

This theme is mostly associated with Bill, but look at Alice before she rolls the joint. She keeps her hands on her face for quite a long time as well and finally pull her hands off and opens the mirror. She will soon reveal a deep truth to Bill. Alice’s mask is off.

Now let’s look at the phone calls. Not only does the physical act of putting the phone to one’s face match the act of putting on a mask, but when we make phone calls we put up a facade. Our voices often even change, we feign laughter or interest if it’s a superior, we act extra polite if with a service person, etc.

Alice just revealed the fantasy about destroying her whole life for one night with a random man. Bill is stunned, yet answers the phone and puts on his societal mask.

Bill: Lou Nathanson just died. I'm going to have to go over there and show my face.

When Alice calls and interrupts Bill’s encounter with Domino he pretends he’s still at the Nathanson’s.

Bill was about to try and have sex with Marion, in which case he would have had to lie and pretend he had feelings for her when really he just wanted sex to prove his masculinity to himself.

Bill lies to the waitress at Gillespie’s while holding his cheek.

The Clerk at Hotel Jason tells Bill an interesting story but if we follow this motif’s logic, does his final action of insinuate a lie? Note the clerk slides his hand over his face and hair completely.

Bill lies to his secretary and cancels appointments in order to return to Somerton the next afternoon.

Bill gets a call to go to Ziegler’s and even though he is thoroughly freaked out from the Somerton party, Domino’s aids revelation, the stalker, and now Mandy’s dead body; Bill puts on his professional doctor persona and answers the call.

Bill cries, wipes his tears and holds his cheek again. He displays true emotion here, which has been held inside of the character for the whole film, only briefly displayed in jealous fits of rage, but tears are truer then rage. Rage is a reactionary mask, tears are introspective.

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Waking Death

At the death of client Lou Nahanson, Bill puts on a somber face and pays his respects for the sake of politeness.

(I’ve photoshopped two screenshots together from the mask scene for comparison)

Bill's reaction to the mask however is akin to a family member dying. The death of a part of himself? A time for growth, much like the final sequence in 2001? I believe these two scenes are meant to parallel and visually connect this theme of death/rebirth.

The shots of aged Dave Bowman have also been visually compared by many to the shots of dead Lou Nathanson (LUNA-SON = Star Child?). The Star Child being the ultimate symbol of rebirth in 2001: A Space Odyssey; and note Bill has also just undergone an odyssey of his own.

The Star Child stares at the world in the final scene from 2001. In his final scene, Bill stares at Alice, who through this odyssey has realized she is his world.

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Status Symbols: Servant Nick

VICTOR: ...I couldn't even begin to imagine how you, how you'd even heard about it, let alone got yourself through the door.  Then I remembered seeing you with that that that prick piano player, Nick whatever the fuck his name was, at my party...and it didn't take much to figure out the rest. BILL: It wasn't Nick's fault. It was mine.

VICTOR: Of course it was Nick's fault.  If he hadn't mentioned it to you in the first place none of this would have happened. I recommended that little cocksucker to those people and he's made me look like a complete asshole.

Ziegler blames Nick instead of Bill because Bill is of higher social status. Ziegler’s language also becomes vulgar, using a bunch of sexually charged curses in his tirade, verbally showing his lack of respect for Nick; a lowly piano player. If only he had stuck it out in medical school like good ol’ Dr. Bill.

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Can I take your coat?

MAITRE'D: Can I take your coat?

MILICH: Okay.  May I take your coat?

Bill’s is asked for his coat twice by societal servants on his way to Somerton where he needs a cloak for entrance. He is not asked to remove his cloak in this secret society until....

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The End of a World

Kubrick’s most comedic film is about the end of the world.

His most serious film is about a relationship possibly ending.

The end of a marriage being treated with more severity than the end of the whole world. This seems to be a Kubrick twist on romanticism.

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The Masked Couple

One mystery of EWS that seems to be debated is the identity of The Masked Man who nods to Bill from the balcony. I’ve always thought it to be Ziegler for a few different reasons. First let’s address the other popular theories people have about the identity of this masked man and the curious nature of his female counterpart.

“Ziegler is Red Cloak - Therefore he is not this masked man”

I’m a big fan of film theorist Rob Ager and I encourage people to check out his site www.collativelearning.com  but I don’t love his theory on Ziegler being Red Cloak. I like some of the things he points out in this video, i.e. the Ziegler banging the pool ball on the red felt top compared to red cloak’s staff. I think this connection is intentional by Kubrick but certainly not to say that Ziegler is Red Cloak. I believe the final scene with Ziegler is meant to parallel the Somerton scene for other thematic reasons dealing with societal hierarchy.

I fully believe the Somerton orgy scenes actually happened in the reality of the film. I do not believe this is a dream or a metaphor as Ager suggests. I believe these scenes DO have a dream logic to them which allows us to interpret deeper meanings underneath the surface, just as the whole film does. Everything in Eyes Wide Shut ACTUALLY occurred. If this were not the case then i believe the film’s themes are greatly weakened.

Sandor Szavost is the Masked Man (Alice is the Woman?) I find this theory to be fairly ridiculous and also unsupported by anything in the film besides Sandor being all horned up at the first party which is obviously meant to parallel the Somerton gathering.

1. We don’t even know if Sandor is at this party although I do like the idea that some of the people here were indeed at Ziegler’s Xmas party. Let’s say Sandor is at Somerton, there’s no real evidence that would indicate this Masked Man is Sandor.

2. I’ve heard many people say they believe Alice is at the Somerton orgy and that these two are Sandor and Alice. If it WAS supposed to be Alice it would have to be a dream, which as I’ve said it is not. Alice could not have physically gotten to Somerton and back in bed before Bill. Also if this WAS Alice, why is this character not more central at the Somerton party? Also this ruins the parallel of sexual fantasy vs. reality which Alice’s dream reinforces.

Ziegler is the Masked Man and the tear drop masked woman is his wife. This is the theory that makes sense to me, but I do encourage others to find the interpretation that works for them. That being said, let’s look at some facts

1. Ziegler, Nick, and Bill are the ONLY people we know who were definitely at the Somerton party.

2. The parties obviously parallel each other for thematic reasons. If we use this logic then who is the first to greet Bill at both parties who are not butlers or security guards? Ziegler and his wife

3. Ziegler’s wife makes a passive aggressive joke about him objectifying women. She puts on a big smile to greet the guests and we don’t see her again. Ziegler even feels comfortable enough to have sex with a prostitute while his wife is in the same house.

We can assume his wife’s happy facade is masking her true feelings. The masks at Somerton seem to represent a true face of one’s inner self. Kubrick shows us the face of everyday societal living is masked by fake smiles and pleasantries. The tear drop represents Ziegler’s wife and all women who are in this kind of marriage; one that Bill and Alice could fall victim to if they are not careful. This tear drop masked woman also disappears after greeting Bill just as Ziegler’s wife.

The nod from this Masked Man represents a welcoming into this secret society, one that represents sex and animalistic instincts over honesty and fidelity. Ironically the password “FIDELIO” is what gains entrance from one world into another. Only after Bill and Alice are honest about their infidelities can they truly “Fuck.”

What if Bill went with the woman that The Masked Man sent over to him? Would he have been allowed to stay? I get the feeling Ziegler is Bill’s mentor in a sense, in terms of welcoming him into the upper tier of society. Wouldn’t it make sense for Ziegler to take on the same role in this secret society?

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Smoking Sandor (UPDATED)

An extra smokes a cigar in the background of Sandor and Alice’s conversation. He only takes two puffs in the scene. One when Sandor gulps down Alice’s drink and another when Sandor kisses Alice’s hand. Coincidence or Choreography?

I just re-watched Eyes Wide Shut in a theater and realized the cigar smoker we see blowing smoke behind Sandor at very opportune moments is also blowing smoke behind Bill at a moment that directly parallels the Sandor seduction. Watch below at :11 seconds

The cigar smoker is in the background of both Bill and Alice’s “bad, bad thing” that they did. They flirted with infidelity and Kubrick seems to have placed this cigar smoker behind them in both scenes to symbolize the devilish path they are being led down.

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Where is the Mask?

One of the big mysteries of Eyes Wide Shut is the how the mask ends up on Bill’s pillow at the end of the film. Bill says he “must have lost it” and maybe that’s true. We never see him leave Somerton and I can see how Bill would be freaked out enough to misplace the mask he was holding in the last moment we see him at Somerton, slowly backing away in fear.

Bill says to Milich the next morning, “could you put it on the BILL” and I dont think this is a coincidence.

The mask is already on The BILL (Harford that is) because he is metaphysically wearing it after the Somerton orgy.

Let’s face it, the missing mask is either caused by Alice finding the Rainbow fashions bag before Bill left for work; leaving it on his pillow to confront him or Bill just straight up lost it in the confusion of getting out of that Somerton situation. So it’s either there in reality or just in Bill’s head, causing a moment of extreme catharsis. Bill probably lost it, remember his first line in the film: “honey have you seen my wallet?”

The mask has come to represent Bill’s secrets, a wall he has built up through social conditioning. The mask he realizes is a representation of his truth and he actually has been wearing a mask (his own face) everyday due to social niceties. He cant find the mask because after Somerton that wall between his inner self and the self he allows others to see begins to break down. The mask (his inner self) has now become the face he wears amongst society because Bill has seen something that forces him to question his life and his choices in a way he had never truly considered. The mask is revealed to him where he dreams, his pillow, where truths are revealed by deep depths of subconscious. Bill sees the mask because he is finally conscious of his societal mask. Does he tell Alice “Everything”?

Adding to this, I think Juli Kearns has an excellent bit of conceptual framework for how the mask ends up on the pillow here: http://idyllopuspress.com/idyllopus/film/ews_mask_on_the_pillow.htm

Also note that this idea of one’s face being a mask for society as opposed to one’s true self is used very well in the classic Twilight Zone episode “The Masks” which might help to understand this concept in a more overt format.

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Updated the end of this post!

“All the Best People” - Lord Wendover / Stuart Ullman / Ziegler

There is a line in Barry Lyndon which establishes an important theme. The quote is from Lord Wendover, whom Barry befriends in order to secure a proper title in the kingdom so he may be legally entitled to the Lyndon fortune…

“When I take up a person, Mr Lyndon, he or she is safe. There is no question about them any more. My friends are the best people. I don’t mean that they’re the most virtuous, or indeed the least virtuous, or the cleverest or the stupidest or the richest or the best born. But the best. In a word, people about whom there is no question”.

This is especially interesting because although Barry Lyndon is based on a novel by Thackeray, this quote is actually from a different Thackeray novel, Vanity Fair. Kubrick’s inclusion of a line from a completely different book helps prove its thematic importance.

Kubrick establishes that “the best people” does not mean that they are necessarily good people, but simply friends of Lord Wendover. This theme becomes more and more important as Kubrick’s filmography progresses.

ULLMAN: We had four presidents who stayed here, lots of movie stars. WENDY: Royalty? ULLMAN: All the best people.

We already know from Barry Lyndon that being one of “the best people” says nothing about their personality, but means that they are in favor amongst the wealthy class. They have been initiated into the proverbial “club”. The Overlook Hotel is one of their clubhouses. Was Somerton another clubhouse of sorts for the wealthy? Ziegler basically confirms it.

ZIEGLER: Who do you think those people were? Those were not just ordinary people. If I told you their names…I’m not gonna tell you their names…but if I did, I don’t think you’d sleep so well.

Who do I think those people were? All the best people.

Note this line from Barry Lyndon’s Narrator, following the Lord Wendover quote above:

NARRATION:  He (Barry) made great sacrifices to bring it about. He lavished money here, and diamonds there. He bought lands at ten times their value and purchased pictures and articles of virtue at ruinous prices. He gave repeated entertainments to those friends to his claim, who, being about the Royal person, were likely to advance it. And, I can tell you, bribes were administered. And in high places, too. So near the royal person of His Majesty that you would be astonished to know what great noblemen condescended to receive his loans.

Connect that last part to Ziegler’s “I’m not gonna tell you their names“ line to complete this thematic connection between Lord Wendover / Stuart Ullman / Ziegler as well as their roles as a higher class character to Barry / Jack / Bill.

Barry would lavish these peers with money, Jack seems to be driven to kill for acceptance into this group, and Bill vows to keep secrets for Ziegler and his group of nefarious individuals.