Eyes Wide Shut

A detailed Summary of Eyes Wide Shut

Like any film that is carefully constructed, Eyes Wide Shut is the sum of its elements and of the ways by which these interact with each other. The most significant elements of the film are color, (particularly red, blue and yellow) sound (such as voices plus external and internal music) and the repeated figures of the Female Nude and Masks.

Eyes Wide Shut can be divided into three parts, each of which contains the elements mentioned above. Part I introduces the main characters and their relationship towards each other. Dr. William Harford and his wife Alice attend a party where pianist Nick Nightingale (Todd Field), an old acquaintance of "Bill" and a pivotal character for the plot, provides the music. The Harford's friend and host Victor Ziegler (Sydney Pollack), introduces his wife to his guests and later solicits Bill's medical attention to save the overdosed prostitute and "beauty queen" Mandy (Julienne Davis), who is sprawled naked on a divan in an upstairs room of the mansion, while Ziegler nervously gets dressed. On the wall behind her hangs a large painting of a female nude. In this manner, the figure of the Female Nude is introduced as having a dual significance: as a measure for risk and fatality (Mandy), and as a repr

The events that lead up to Bill's arrival at the mansion (from his encounter with Nick to finding a costume) introduce the character to a world that differs from those of his home, his work, and his friend Ziegler's mansion. In his world, the characters are identifiable and their roles are defined. In this "external" world, Bill is introduced to a world that requires a specific code of access, and a world whose inhabitants are portrayed as players of an unidentified game. For example, Bill convinces the costume shop owner Milich to open the shop for him late at night. Flashing his card which identified him as a doctor and promising to pay a good tip, Bill is allowed in and is made witness of the sex games of Milich's daughter, who is caught in a menage-a-trois with two transvestites. Bill finds Milich's reaction comforting: he threatens to call the police and is enraged with his daughter. However, in later scenes, Bill returns to the shop and sees the two transvestites closing a deal with Milich, who has evidently prostituted his daughter. The purpose of this subplot is to focus on Bill's confrontation with the ambiguousness with which such a resolution was reached. In other words, Milich's hidden transformation from being angered to being pleased by the situation points to Bill's ignorance of the "rules of the game."

In the end, the film is finally a reaffirmation of marital values. Both Bill and his wife's voyages into dream worlds, "whether realm or imagined," are finally recognized as being dangerous and unnecessary. The final message of the film is that we should remain "awake." Thus we can continue to live in a world where the societal and familial rules are clearly understood by all; there is no ambiguity among people as to their roles in relationships.

Part III involves the protagonist's struggles with seeking to rationalize the events of the first and second parts, and to reconcile with his wife. The consequences of his intrusion in the mansion are not only uncertain, but they are kept from him as he engages in an obsessive investigation. Soon, Ziegler summons Bill. In his study, Ziegler confesses his knowledge of the previous night's events. He reaffirms a shocked Bill by describing the goings-on in the mansion. Ziegler's role in the scene (and perhaps in the scene he is narrating) is visually represented. He leans on the edge of his deep-red pool ta

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1606
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Movies