"Most of Kubrick's films show his characters in relation to, and their interaction with, their environment" - Paul Duncan....

Ok so baring that in mind, why is it Bill Harford in Eyes Wide Shut and Jack Torrance in The Shining are so similar? Their environment? Maybe...

Bill enters the scene of Marion Nathanson and her father who just passed that day, he walks in from an elevator. This shot is, very obviously, like the elevators in The Shining in the way that there is symmetry, a bin in the middle, and lights from the side and above.

The house of the orgy is presented in a similar disorientating way to the hotel and the maze in The Shining. We follow Bill from in front and behind, being led deeper and deeper into the maze structure of the house, making us feel in a dream like scene.

What I have found most interesting is the way Bill tends to repeat; he often repeats what people say to him as if he doesn't understand, or is questioning what they are saying. This reminded me of the madness seen in Jack when he repeats "all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy", but he also repeats things Wendy says.

But why make Bill like Jack? Possibly because the character was ruined by the familiar face of Cruise. Furthermore, characteristics of Jack seep through presenting us with reasons to look beyond Cruise's face.

After all of this, why did Kubrick cast them in the first place? He wanted his last picture to be big and these famous actors could provide that? But that never phased him before so why the change...?

More intertextuality!!

Top right of this frame shows a large billboard on the side of the building stating Manning... Bowman.

So... What connection does Bowman have with Eyes Wide Shut?...

After watching Eyes Wide Shut I came away feeling a mixture of emotions. I was shocked by the themes and visuals and explicit sex scenes at the orgy, but also completely astounded by the amazing structure of shots typical to Kubrick, such as reverse tracking, single source lighting, use of circles, masks and disguise in the orgy, and common focus on eyes and staring.

Unfortunately, for some reason, I also felt disappointed. Mainly because of the actors chosen; Cruise and Kidman are huge stars, and this obviously attracted mainstream audiences, thus throughout the film I felt drawn away from his unique style and towards the recognizable faces of the actors and the location... too Hollywood for my liking. When compared to settings of 2001, a completely unfamiliar space craft; or A Clockwork Orange, a futuristic setting of Britain; and an isolated hotel in the mountains in The Shining... then we conclude in the streets of New York. Just felt way too mainstream Hollywood, which is unfortunate, but my opinion.

Having said this, his techniques still shine through...
Themes in Eyes Wide Shut are the same as those in others in my study.

Staring and eyes... Bill always stares, this is especially noticeable at the orgy as his eyes are highlighted by the mask. There is also a shot of Alice staring at Bill when she confesses her dreams of the Naval Officer the night they do pot.
Theatre... the staging of the circle of women in cloaks, and the ceremonial style chanting at the orgy is the theatre in this film. "Suppose it was staged, fake..." - Ziegler
Games... the hooker is called Domino, and Zeigler's pool table. "Please Bill, no games" - Zeigler
Masks and disguise... there are African masks on Domino's wall. Milich's costume shop. Masks and costumes at the orgy - ironically they can all see everything through their masks but continue the charade that they haven't seen anything.
18th Century... the large house at which the orgy is held.
Family relationships... Bill tries to get revenge for Alice's dreams of the Naval Officer and the dream of her having sex with uncountable amounts of men; he doesn't think about his daughter or Alice when at the orgy or at Domino's flat, only when he is alone.

This film lacks the idea of technology governing people, but does include the theme of collapsing society much like A Clockwork Orange. The secret society dwells under the cloaks of rich people willing to pay for unprotected sex with hookers; furthermore, it is likely that AIDS will destroy this community, as Domino (a hooker) tester HIV Positive.

THEME 7   Family Relationships...

In 2001, Floyd calls his daughter via video telephone and later Poole receives birthday wishes from his parents; family relationships are positively portrayed in 2001, however the sense of distance between the characters and their families heightens the isolation and danger.
In contrast, Alex has a terrible relationship with his parents. They don't know what he gets up to and they don't really pay any attention to him; even worse, when he returns home after treatment they disown him and don't allow him to live back at his house.
Jack, Wendy, and Danny's family unit is just a huge mess. Jack clearly doesn't like his wife and is always fed up with her; Wendy is in a world of her own; and Danny is being led by his imagination further and further from the protection of his mother. This separation from each other isolates each character making them even more vulnerable, and when Jack turns on his wife and son, it actually brings Danny and Wendy closer together.
Full Metal Jacket doesn't really touch on family relationships, but it is clear as the film progresses, the soldiers form their own family unit.

Having studied British horror, I know that the destruction and breakdown of the family unit is a typically British style and is common in all British horror. Kubrick may have picked this up when he moved to England after the making of Spartacus.

Following technology...

The name HAL derives from 'Heurisitic' and 'Algorithm'... however if you take the initials H.A.L and then take the next letter of each in the alphabet, you get I.B.M...

Apparently this is just fluke, but im not so sure... knowing Kubrick, this is no coincidence.

THEME 6   Technology...


"Kubrick was a technological genius" - Paul Duncan

I agree... his need and want to invent new and better gadgets, and prove to inventors that what they thought could not be done,  could in fact work if they followed his very thought out instructions; the most famous being the steadicam.

The theme technology follows with the idea that technology governs the characters in the films.

In 2001, there are zero gravity toilets, video phones, food dispensers, and voice identification; all of which the astronauts rely on greatly.
Alex undergoes the Ludovico treatment which is considered a form of modern technology.
Jack disables the radio and snow-cat, and on top the phone lines are dead due to the storm.
The rifles in Full Metal Jacket are the ultimate image of technology governing characters; the soldiers are trained to become one with their rifles, thus the technology becomes a part of them. This reflects on the idea of evolution in 2001; the way in which humans develop and become unable to move forward or fulfill daily activities without technology - the restriction and restraint technology has upon us.

THEME 5   Games...

Physically and mentally all characters play games at some point. In 2001, Poole plays chess; chess is particularly relevant as it was Kubrick's interest and aid "to remain calm in a crisis and apply methodical approach to the job in hand" (Paul Duncan).
In The Shining, Danny is the image of this theme. He is always playing, whether it be in his car or playing with his trains or with a ball, or in the games room playing darts; however we do see Jack throwing a ball around when he is bored. Danny is also the image of innocence, due to his age and lack of understanding for the things happening around him.
Interestingly, but not surprisingly, there are visual similarities in the presentation of games...

In both 2001 and The Shining, game playing are captured from a birds eye view. This creates a sense of weakness in the character and strength in the spectator, or, in this case, whoever the POV belongs to (i.e. HAL and the spirits lurking in room 237). This perspective of the theme suggests that threatening characters (HAL and the spirits) have power over the characters playing the game and already have the upper hand; this creates fear and intensity within the spectator as we can feel something bad is going to happen to them but we don't know what.
In terms of intertextuality, Danny has been connected to Poole, not just because they are both playing, but something much more. To aid the visual connection, Danny is wearing a jumper with the Apollo space craft on it. But what do Poole and Danny have in common?...