Eyes Wide Shut

Trev made an excellent post about Eyes Wide Shut a year ago, in which he confessed to understanding very little of what he'd just seen but showed an eagerness to understand it all the same. I find myself in the exact same boat - confused as hell by what I just saw, but confident that Kubrick was saying something meaningful and that the fault lies with me for not understanding it. I've already Googled "Eyes Wide Shut analysis" and clicked through a handful of links, and while I hate to throw in the towel on any movie that makes me think - seriously, how often do I whine here that a movie just wasn't all that special or memorable - I'm really at a loss here.

The movie is obviously about sex and marriage and temptation, but that much is clear even from a basic superficial viewing of the movie. There's definitely a deeper message here, and thanks to the Internet I've got multiple possible understandings of the film less than a day after finishing it, but nothing jumps out at me as an obvious ultimate solution - which isn't even to say that the movie is supposed to be a puzzle.

So, yeah. I'm still not sure what I make of Eyes Wide Shut, but I'm pretty sure I liked it, and I think it'll be something that benefits from stewing in my brain over time. A couple of years ago I reviewed Mulholland Drive here, and my first and last sentences were just, "What the fuck?" But without even having seen that movie a second time, I've come to really appreciate it; immediate confusion gave way to long-term satisfaction. Maybe that'll be the case here and maybe it won't be, but for now I'm willing to give this one the benefit of the doubt.