University of Würzburg

Symbols in Stanley Kubrick′s movie Eyes Wide Shut

by

Carolin Ruwe

Table of contents

1. Introduction 4

2. The first scene 5

3. "No dream is ever just a dream" - fantasy or true story? 6

4. Discussion of the major symbols in Eyes wide shut 7
4.1 Eyes 7
4.2 Mask 10
4.3 Mirror 12
4.4 Victor Ziegler 14
4.5 Orgy 16

5. Conclusion 17

Bibliography 18

1. Introduction

Stanley Kubrick′s Eyes Wide Shut, one of the most eagerly anticipated movies of the 1990s, turned out to be the most controversial cinematic work of this decade. Critics are divided between scathing criticism and commendatory enthusiasm; reviews range from calling Kubrick′s movie intellectually over-hyped, a disaster, or a boring experience to praising it as a triumphant victory and a masterpiece.
For one thing, Eyes Wide Shut generates controversy on first viewing. It does not present easy answers or reassuring certainties, but leaves the viewer baffled as to its meaning. It is the movie′s complexity and large symbolic dimension that makes one realize that a single screening may not reveal all the meanings necessary for an interpretation.

One of the movie′s outstanding features is its extensive use of recurring motifs, symbols, allusions, and paradox - one of the reasons why the film is difficult to understand. Thus, to come to a fuller understanding of one of the film′s possible messages, it is not only useful, but also necessary to take a closer look at its symbolic structure. This paper attempts to discuss the symbols employed in the movie as it is of benefit to the film′s analysis.

Eyes Wide Shut presents two different planes of discourse: there is an outer reality, the social dimension, and there is the inner world of the characters, the psychodynamic dimension. To allow for the viewer to penetrate beyond the surface of outward appearances and human superficiality into the hidden worlds of dreams and fantasies, the use of symbols is an ideal instrument. Symbols appeal to the imagination and they address and evoke our emotions. They reflect on the interface between fiction and reality and thus help to reveal the truths of the subconscious mind. This helps to foster audience participation and emotional involvement in the story, which is of importance for Eyes Wide Shut to develop its full effect. However, even though Kubrick′s movie is full of symbols and hidden meanings, it is difficult to put them together for an analysis. There is not one interpretation that fits perfectly and renders a symbolic coherence. Thus, Eyes Wide Shut is open to several interpretations, none of which fits perfectly to all parts and aspects of the film. And this is exactly what makes the movie so intriguing: its ambiguity and loose ends, which leave interpretation to the viewer.

2. The first scene

After one quick shot of a woman stripping naked in front of a mirror, the screen turns black, “as if an eyelid had closed reflexively to mask what the retina had just glimpsed.”2 Such is the startling image that opens Kubrick’s movie Eyes Wide Shut. The focus of this very short first scene is on the visual impressions; there are no words. At the outset, the viewer is pushed in a position in which they are forced to concentrate on what their eyes can see, only taking in the images without having much room to think further. Alexander Walker even goes so far as to compare the role of the viewer to that of a voyeur in a peepshow with the shutters descending.3 This does not seem to be too far-fetched, since the interior of someone else’s dressing room with a woman taking her clothes off is not for an audience of millions to watch. It is a very private moment that usually nobody is supposed to look at – except maybe her husband.

One function of this very short first scene is that it serves as an eye-catcher, trying to whet the viewers’ voyeuristic appetite and seemingly promising the audience that the movie is about to give them what they came for: to watch sex on the screen. This is a very sly move, since the viewer, ready to have their expectations fulfilled, is taken by surprise as the movie enfolds its different perspective and thus turns from mere eye-catcher to hypnotizing eye-opener. Lee Siegel sums it up in his review of Eyes Wide Shut: Kubrick makes us “look at the film the way the film looks at life.”4 As the story unfolds, the focus shifts gradually from outside to inside, and the viewer’s attention is captivated because the movie’s sex is more in the mind than on the screen.

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