I spent two days watching "Eyes Wide Shut," and now I feel very depressed, urgently needing some beautiful things to enrich my soul.
At first, I had no concept of this film; I came purely for the tags of desire and curiosity, completely unaware that this was a work by the great director Kubrick. It wasn't until halfway through that I suddenly realized this film is not simple. After watching, I could only worship it; it truly deserves to be called a masterpiece. The two-and-a-half-hour film never drags, flows smoothly, and is quite profound.
In the first half of the movie, I kept wondering what the title "Eyes Wide Shut" referred to, and later I realized it was about the protagonist catching a glimpse of the dirty group activities of the upper class, filled with debauchery and mystery, where everyone present wore masks. The protagonist, having attended this event without an invitation, faced a threat to his life. If it weren't for a woman at the party who had previously helped him and saved him with her body, he would surely have lost his life.
The protagonist comes to his senses and wants to continue investigating everything that happened last night, but he continues to receive death threats. He returns home dejected and finds the mask from the party on his bed, next to his sleeping wife. At this moment, he breaks down; this is the final warning. It turns out that his life is so insignificant in the eyes of the so-called big shots; they know everything about you, and killing you is no more difficult than squashing an ant.
The protagonist is a doctor, a solid middle-class individual. Compared to the vast majority of people, he is already part of the upper class, gaining respect by simply showing his medical license and finding many conveniences in life. Becoming a doctor, becoming middle class, becoming one of the top 20% in this social hierarchy might be achievable through personal effort; however, moving up from this 20% tier involves an insurmountable chasm that cannot be crossed by individual effort. Here, the significance of personal effort is dissolved; those who are born with it have it, and those who are born without it will never possess it.
From the movie, I felt a sense of oppressive power, specifically patriarchal oppression. At night, the protagonist's boss talks to him, warning him not to pursue this matter any further and telling him that he was also present at the time, and everyone there was a big shot, whose names alone instill fear. The protagonist inquires about the woman who saved his life that day, but the boss dismisses her as just a prostitute, saying there’s nothing to care about; her death is nothing unusual. The woman’s true identity is a former beauty queen, found dead from a drug overdose in the morning, undoubtedly because she saved the protagonist. The protagonist falls silent; in the eyes of the boss, the beauty queen has no dignity, merely a tool for sexual release, and he himself is just a tool, one that can help the boss diagnose illnesses. Thinking further, who is the boss a tool for? This social class is so ridiculous; people strive to live within a fate that has already been written for them. I believe this is also the director's satire and critique.
The film was made 20 years ago, and regarding the ugly revelations of the upper class, I think it is not far-fetched. Recent events like the Lolita Island and the "Blowjob Dad" incident remind us that the collusion of power and darkness is deeper than we imagine. Social media has brought us closer to the upper class, amplifying our anxiety and sense of powerlessness. Perhaps there is a path to liberate humanity, which is to raise the hammer and sickle; the human society of the twentieth century once saw a red tide, but it has since fallen silent, and immature movements have caused greater harm. Where will humanity go? I cannot imagine. At the end of the film, the protagonist's wife says: “There is something very important that we need to do as soon as possible—fuck,” which may be the director's advice: if you cannot change it, then just enjoy it for now.
Some people interpret this work from a psychoanalytic perspective, saying the entire film is the protagonist's dream. I find that interesting, but I am not an expert in that area, so I won't elaborate further. In any case, I highly recommend this film; it is worth watching.