King of Hollywood

Chapter 422: Chapter 144 Better Than Expected

“I must admit, it is an issue that is difficult to ascertain yet impossible to avoid. From start to finish, I never believed that Adrian could produce a work in the style of Kubrick, despite his excellence. There are essential differences due to differences in thought, lived experiences, and accumulated time. Kubrick’s greatness lies in how he consistently pinpointed the darkest aspects of humanity and society in his films—a quality nearly unmatched. Yet today, it has been broken by a young director.” —Washington Post

“It’s clear that normal rules do not apply to Adrian. It’s uncertain whether his ‘Eyes Wide Shut’ is what Kubrick intended, but it’s also uncertain if it’s not what Kubrick wanted. The film is so similar yet slightly different, making it impossible to make a definite judgment. The Miracle Director truly lives up to his name.” —Variety

Two days later, those reviews finally came out, but they were either ambiguous like the ones above or focused solely on analyzing the plot without touching on the controversy.

“Overall, this is still a movie about a marriage crisis. The director astutely captured the distrust between the couple. The husband merely solved a potential scandal for his employer, while the wife grew suspicious after previously seeing him entangled with a pair of female models, which almost led her to be explicitly seduced by an old man.

Although the wife controlled her impulses through rationality, the seeds of doubt had been planted, and with the director’s step-by-step guidance, conflict finally erupted between the couple. The husband also uncontrollably began to suspect his wife, with rich imaginations and sudden passion making him impulsive, eventually getting involved in an underground party organized by the upper class, orchestrated by an old classmate, and placing himself in danger.

After finally escaping, the husband began to pursue the truth, which seemed almost unrelated to the first half of the story. However, the director hinted through a few shots that it was precisely because of the earlier trust crisis that he was so desperate for the truth, as if it would clarify whether his wife had truly been unfaithful. In the end, under the confrontation with his former employer, the husband finally realized how dangerous his situation had been and recognized the importance of family, eventually returning to his wife and bursting into tears. It seemed to be a happy ending, but the wife’s last line in the mall brilliantly told the audience that some things will never conclude, leaving endless room for speculation.

Whether it is the intricate composition, the stark contrast in colors, or the music that seemed to observe from the sidelines, all tightly followed what the story wanted to express. The party in the middle appeared debauched, but on careful observation, it lacked any erotic undertones, possessing only a chilling eeriness. The director used this method to interpret the longstanding theme: the dehumanization of humanity by material society. This is a thought-provoking work!” —renowned critic Morris Sheden

Most people did not deny the significance the film aimed to convey, which was difficult to define precisely. Most also acknowledged that, at the least, this film continued one of Kubrick’s themes as stated by Morris Sheden: “the dehumanization of humanity by material society.” Whether it was ‘Dr. Strangelove’, ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’, ‘The Shining’, or ‘Full Metal Jacket’, this theme was very apparent.

But there were still those who dissented, such as Ms. Marcelline Maggie: “Adrian produced a work that panders to the audience. Although he mastered Kubrick’s style in form, he completely missed the essence, especially the absurd party scene. Whether it was Nicole Kidman’s portrayal of the wife or Vanessa Shaw and others as the prostitutes, all appeared extremely vulnerable. The only resistance, too, because of the husband’s insincere confession, easily evaporated into thin air. It seems he never realized what the original novel intended to express nor did he truly consider Kubrick’s thoughts, merely dabbing arbitrarily after doing enough superficial work!”