Masks play an important role in the dark sensual realm depicted in Eyes Wide Shut. This chapter offers an in-depth analysis of the film in this respect. Emphasis is put on aspects such as sensualism, sex, hedonism, and the Apollonian and Dionysian dynamics, rather than the sociocultural and socioeconomic elements of the broader social context. By going on a brief detour from the regular commitments in an Apollonian setting, the main character Bill Harford experiences Dionysian impulses that ultimately benefit his relationship with his wife Alice, who similarly requires Dionysian elements for her to feel satisfied in the relationship. Hence, the superficial Apollonian metaphorical masks that the couple wear represent a hypocritical state of orderliness. Only by creating a synthesis between the Apollonian and Dionysian a sustainable situation is reached. The physical masks, intimately connected to Dionysian hedonism, represent both sexual and psychological dimensions.

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Dark Sensualism in Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut

  • Björn Boman

摘要

Masks play an important role in the dark sensual realm depicted in Eyes Wide Shut. This chapter offers an in-depth analysis of the film in this respect. Emphasis is put on aspects such as sensualism, sex, hedonism, and the Apollonian and Dionysian dynamics, rather than the sociocultural and socioeconomic elements of the broader social context. By going on a brief detour from the regular commitments in an Apollonian setting, the main character Bill Harford experiences Dionysian impulses that ultimately benefit his relationship with his wife Alice, who similarly requires Dionysian elements for her to feel satisfied in the relationship. Hence, the superficial Apollonian metaphorical masks that the couple wear represent a hypocritical state of orderliness. Only by creating a synthesis between the Apollonian and Dionysian a sustainable situation is reached. The physical masks, intimately connected to Dionysian hedonism, represent both sexual and psychological dimensions.