Eyes Wide Shut

Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

Kubrick's final film stars Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman as a wealthy Manhattan couple on a sexual odyssey. Based on Schnitzler's Freudian novella Traumnovelle, Kubrick relocated the story from turn-of-the-century Vienna to 1990s New York.

The film's core theme is monogamous fidelity — the secret password in the film, "Fidelio," is the title of Beethoven's only opera, subtitled "Married Love." Although Kubrick was nearly seventy, he worked 18 hours a day for 15 months in complete confidentiality to meet the planned release date.

He sent an unfinished copy to the stars a few months before release, but his sudden death on March 7, 1999 came just six days after he finished editing — he never saw the final version released to the public. Film critic Michel Ciment believes "he literally worked himself to death."

Nicole Kidman called the experience "like having a great, great teacher" and noted the film is ultimately "about commitment." The film faced censorship before its US release — digital figures were added to obscure an orgy scene to avoid an NC-17 rating, a decision that drew significant controversy.