Originally Posted by PacMan2006

But this movie was deeply layered in so many areas, I feel I'd need to watch it three more times to catch half of the symbolism--whether it was with lighting, or things in the background, subtext etc.

Thoughts?

Originally Posted by jessecrx

Waiting for that guy who posts on here who has that mindfuck analysis of this movie to show up

Repost it!

Originally Posted by rennervision

I'm a big Kubrick fan, and the first time I saw this I was disappointed. (I even got the distinct impression that it was actually unfinished, and the studio's claim that Kubrick died shortly after editing it was bogus to save the picture's reputation.) But then a funny thing happened. I realized there were little details about the movie that kept bugging me. There was a secret just beneath the surface of the film that I was trying to grasp and it kept eluding me.

So I watched it again. And again. And like other Kubrick films, I started to appreciate it more and more after multiple viewings. There are things in this movie that seem too intentional for me to think I am overanalyzing it. Here's a few things that I rarely see anyone mention (if ever):

First of all, the girl that rescues Tom Cruise at the orgy is absolutely, positively NOT the girl who OD'ed earlier at the party. At the orgy it appears Sydney Pollack is with that girl, and he even nods momentarily at Cruise as if he recognizes him. (I don't believe it can be explained how he recognizes him, since this is a surreal film that takes place in a "dream reality." Dreams don't always make perfect sense, and here is one example of where that happens. It also explains how the movie feels like it covers more time than just one night - again, everything is taking place in "dream time.")

Anyways, there is a scene where you can clearly see Pollack is trying to get his partner (who I believe to be the OD chick) to approach Cruise and question him. However, before they can reach him, Cruise is quickly taken away by a different girl whose identity remains a mystery. (As a matter of fact, she's even played by a different actress if you pay attention to the credits.)

So if the mystery girl who takes Cruise away is not the same one he later finds dead at the morgue - who is she?

I don't have a definite answer, but there are certainly some interesting clues elsewhere in the movie that seem too deliberate to be coincidental. First of all, there's the opening shot of the film. Nicole Kidman drops her dress off her body in a scene that does not fit with the continuity of the rest of the film. But what's more interesting is this seems eerily similar to the same angled shot of the women in the orgy dropping their cloaks. Why would Kubrick choose this seemingly out-of-place moment as the opening shot of the movie unless he was trying to send a clue?

The party Cruise and Kidman go to gives me another strange vibe. There's no way to prove this, but I get the distinct impression from watching it that almost everyone in that party later puts on masks and participates in the orgy. There's even a brief comment about how they're not sure why they keep getting invited to these things, since they don't know anyone here. (Or do they?)

Then there's the scene after the party where Cruise and Kidman are together. She's looking in the mirror while the soundtrack plays "Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing" and that look on her face gives me the creeps. What did she do that was so "bad"?

And there are other clues as well. Kidman has a dream similar to the orgy. She also somehow acquires Cruise's mask (which appears to have been left at the party). I know what everyone is thinking at this point. If I'm implying Kidman was the mystery woman, that would be logistically impossible since she was at home with their daughter. I realize that - but again, this movie takes place in a surreal "dream reality."

Perhaps the mystery woman isn't anyone we meet elsewhere in the film, but then it wouldn't make much sense why she was so concerned about Cruise's safety. Anyone you mention in the film could have 10 logical explanations as to why she couldn't possibly be the mystery woman. But one thing I know for sure, she is most certainly NOT the OD chick that everyone thinks she is.

Originally Posted by jessecrx

Waiting for that guy who posts on here who has that mindfuck analysis of this movie to show up

Repost it!

Originally Posted by PopcornTreeCt

Kubrick may appear to be honoring women by showing them at their most vulnerable but I think it comes off more exploitive than anything else.

Originally Posted by Giggles

Not a big fan of either Cruise or Kidman, but it's one of the greatest Kubrick films. Tells a lot about nature of men and women and their relations. Very lifelike and truthful. I think it was not a coinsidence Cruise and Kidman got divorced right after EWS.