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While I'm working on completing and finalizing my Star Wars Episode I fanedit, I figured I'll also broaden my horizons and throw in a project that has almost nothing to do with Star Wars! I decided to work on editing the last film in Stanley Kubrick's filmography: Eyes Wide Shut. My favorite Stanley Kubrick film and, according to IMDb, no one else's favorite.
I get that editing any Stanley Kubrick film is kind of like touching a sacred cow, but if there's one movie in the acclaimed director's career that could use a bit of fine-tuning, it's this one.
My approach to Eyes Wide Shut
I think a lot of the reasons why people tend to look down on Eyes Wide Shut is because of its vague structuring. With many of Kubrick’s other films, the structuring is so clear, it’s ridiculous. Dr. Strangelove has a clear three-act structure. So does 2001. Ditto for A Clockwork Orange. Same with The Shining. Full Metal Jacket? Okay, that one’s unusually structured, but yeah, I can still make out what Kubrick was going for. Eyes Wide Shut? Ummmm… That’s tough. I’m not even sure what counts as the film’s beginning, middle, or even end. Was Alice telling Bill about the sailor the official foray into the 2nd act? Or was it when Bill meets Nick Nightingale at the Sonata Cafe? Likewise, it’s hard to figure out what the climax of the film is. Was it the infamous Somerton scene? Or was it when Ziegler talks to Bill about the conspiracy? Or maybe it was when Bill finally told his wife the truth? It’s hard to make out what the structure is, and I think I know why. I have read Walter Murch’s In The Blink of an Eye, 2nd Edition, and I’m currently reading Edward Dmytryk’s On Film Editing, and both books have this particular editing rule: When a movie is too long, the best place to start is to cut out the subplots. Considering the film’s 159-minute running time, I think that rule is worth applying here.
There are two subplots in particular that I think are responsible for mucking up the structure. The first one that comes to mind is the Domino subplot. The second, and more heartbreaking one, is the Marion subplot. Currently, I have cut out both subplots, and I think the movie is much stronger (and shorter) without them.
I also want to be as respectful to Kubrick as much as possible. This means I’ve had to pay extra caution by comparison to my other fan edits. I’ve even had to make some of my editing choices by individual frames! I have to assume that every cut must appear seamless (or at least, as close to seamless as possible). To do otherwise would be disrespectful to Kubrick).
However, I also want to honor the direction that Stanley was going for at the time he made this film. Some of you may or may not know this, but Kubrick was very close friends with Steven Spielberg in his later years, and he wanted to make more Spielberg-ian films at around this point in his life. A.I. Artificial Intelligence, was his next project, and it was going to be his personal attempt at Spielberg. But that never happened because he died during post-production on this film (Still, it says a lot about their friendship that Spielberg took the director’s chair for A.I. following Kubrick’s death). I have a theory that Eyes Wide Shut was supposed to be a bridge between the dark, cerebral tone of Kubrick and the fantasized, sentimental tone of Spielberg. That is my theory, but one that makes sense enough given the behind the scenes material, documentaries, featurettes, and interviews I’ve seen regarding this movie. So, I will be making certain editing choices with this Kubrick-Spielberg compromise in mind as well.
Changes list
Currently, my edit is sitting at a nice running time of 124 minutes. I must state that this is all subject to change for the time being (until the edit is released and, hopefully, approved).
For those who need clarity:
- = deleted
/ = changed
+ = added.
-Helen’s babysitter, Roz
-Bill's talk with Nick Nightingale at Ziegler’s
-Most of Bill’s phone conversation (Since the Nathanson subplot no longer exists)
-Three of the four visions of Alice mating with the naval officer (Once is enough)
-The fratboys
-The Marion subplot
-The Domino subplot
+The uncut and uncensored Somerton scene
-The coffee table scene
-Bill deciding to leave his job early
-Bill’s second visit to Somerton (and 2nd warning)
-Bill calling Marion’s family
-Spinning hospital entrance shot
/Moved Bill’s return home to before the big “talk” with Ziegler
-First shot of the mask in the climax (For surprise’s sake)
The not-so-interesting stuff
For this version of Eyes Wide Shut, I am using my cranky old 2007 US Blu-Ray as my official source, mainly because it's the only release in the States. The video quality is, well, not the most state-of-the-art. So in addition, I will be doing my own color grading in DaVinci Resolve to give it a more cinematic appearance. Currently, none of my edits have been approved by the academy as of this thread (mainly because I've never submitted anything to the academy before), so I'm not allowed to showcase any stills of my color grading work on this forum for now. However, I will be posting screencaps of my color grading over at originaltrilogy.com, so if you're fine putting in a little more effort into your web-surfing, or giving out your own thoughts in case I'm making a mistake or two, you can check on my thread over in the "Fan Edits and Projects for Other Properties" category on OT.com if you're feeling up for it.
I also decided to crop the image from 1.78:1 to 1.85:1, as it seems to me given the research I've done that 1.85 is the most likely format Kubrick intended. My reasoning is very long and detailed, and it requires me to throw in links to a few online sources (which I can't do for reasons already said in the last paragraph). My thread on originaltrilogy.com will feature my explanation for the aspect ratio. I have also been given a PAL-sourced version of the 1.33 format by a user named Stretch009. I have no plans to make that my official version, and I will most likely put more of the love and attention on the 1.85 version, but I am considering playing around with this source as a just-in-case.
I also have plans to do a commentary track (even though I'd rather be editing than commentating), since I have a lot to say about this film, both on my editing decisions and on the film itself.
