All shook up

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In an age of unparalleled technological progress, many of us, particularly in the developed world, tend to get carried away with our achievements and idea of ourselves as Masters of the Universe. The South East Asian tsunami is a timely reminder of our vulnerability to the devastating forces of nature and of our own mortality. That tens of thousands of people going about their business can be reduced to a sea of rotting corpses and shattered lives in a matter minutes is enough to humble even the most staunch advocate of ‘man’s superiority over nature’ argument. For anyone who’s experienced any type of natural disaster the point is even more strongly driven home.

Only a week after returning to Japan I experienced an earthquake. It’s not the first time I’ve experienced one, I was in Japan when the Niigata earthquake struck last year and I can recall at least two other occasions earthquakes struck whilst I was in the country. According to the people who measure such things this one was only a mere 5.2 on the richter scale. Although it was a far cry from the force of Niigata last year, the close proximity to Tokyo meant I felt this quake more than any of the others I had experienced. I was woken, or more precisely shaken from my sleep at around 5:00 a.m. I quickly realised what was happening and climbed down the stairs from the loft where I was sleeping. By the time I had gotten myself underneath a door frame it had stopped.

I don’t want to overstate the severity of the quake and the danger it posed. Of course I couldn’t know it at the time but the worst case scenario for me was maybe a few bruises if I had fallen off the ladder. A few CD’s that had been precariously placed on top of the TV had toppled over. Outside there were no signs of damage and if it hadn’t been for a friend who mentioned it later that day I could almost have been convinced I had dreamt the whole episode. Almost, except for that lingering feeling of utter helplessness which took over in the few seconds it lasted - a feeling no doubt shared by the two DVD shop employees in the picture at the top of this article.

Movie Review Eyes Wide Shut

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Eyes Wide shut is one of those movies I’ve always wanted to see but for a variety not so convincing reasons never quite got around to until recently. Stanley Kubrick is known for the provocative nature of his films and the versatility of his work. He has tackled many different genres from science fiction (2001 a space odyssey) and horror (The Shining) to comedy (Dr Strangelove) and War (Full Metal Jacket). With Eyes Wide Shut Kubrick tries his hand at psychosexual drama.

At the beginning of the film we are introduced to a young, upper-class couple - Tom Cruise plays a dashing, successful doctor and Nicole Kidman his beautiful yet slightly melancholy wife. They are invited to a fancy Christmas party for one of Cruise’s wealthy patients and a few hours and one too many drinks later find themselves being hit on by other guests. Both are receptive to the flirtatious activity but neither Cruise nor Kidman engage in any extra-marital activities.

The next scene for me is the best in the movie and probably the best scene Nicole Kidman has ever shot in her career - that’s not to say everything else she’s been in was crap but she executes this scene perfectly. After returning home from the party husband and wife share a joint and recall the evening‘s events. Kidman clearly has something on her mind and questions her husband about the two women that were flirting with him. Cruise answers honestly and playfully enquires about the man he saw flirting with his wife. Cruise shows no sign of jealousy and this irritates his wife even further. As a result of the combination of alcohol, the joint and Cruises indifference Kidman launches into an interrogation of her husband’s underlying thoughts and feelings. Cruise refuses to indulge his wife’s line of questioning and tries to calm her with the usual platitudes married couples serve up to each other, whether they truly believe them or not, to reassure the other party that such thoughts never enter their mind.

Realising she’s not going to get her husband to admit to anything she stuns Cruise with a revelation of her own. She confesses her lust for a young naval officer she once saw whilst holidaying with her husband and child. Not only does she admit to it, she divulges her willingness at that particular moment when she saw the officer to give up her marriage and child just to satisfy her desires. Cruise listens in silence, completely dumbfounded as his wife pours out her true feelings. It’s not that what she says is difficult to comprehend, but that she is actually admitting to it, and admitting it to the one person who it would hurt the most. Everyone, whether married or single, has had similar urges or thoughts at some moment in their life however most would never openly admit to it except in the confidence of their closest friends, but never to their partner.

Despite our supposedly liberal minded society such thoughts as Kidman divulges are seen as a betrayal of trust and in her character’s case of the sacred institution of marriage – the thoughts of a sexual deviant, a slut, when in fact they represent the bare truth of our human nature. That’s the beauty of the scene, Kubrick shatters the charade of moral righteousness that most pretend to uphold. It’s as though a great lie everyone knows to be untrue has been exposed - as if for a moment everyone’s thoughts have been laid bare for all to see.

If that actually was the case, it would be terribly embarrassing for most people. I don’t remember the reaction to the film when it first came out but I imagine many couples quickly exiting the cinema in a desperate attempt to avoid the knowing stares of the other patrons. The awkward silence in the car on the way home, totally engrossed in thought but pretending not to be. I wonder for how many couples who saw this movie together, it was a catalyst for their break-up? Or more interestingly, I wonder how many couples sat down and had an honest conversation about what they had just seen? Something like; “Jane do you ever have thoughts like that?” “Well just the other day when your friend Mike came over and you were in the shower”, “I thought that if he wanted to fuck me on the kitchen table I would have went for it” “How about you?” “Well actually I’ve always fancied shagging your sister”

Oh yeah the rest of film, Kidman’s revelation scene sets off a chain of events that sees Cruise, now totally consumed by images of his wife getting it on with the young naval officer, get himself into some bizarre and potentially dangerous situations. If you are observant the revelations at the ending of the film come as no surprise, not that it matters though, the highlight of the film is over in the first 15minutes. Still Kubrick manages to keep you interested until the end.