Stanley Kubrick’s Final Film and the Question of Control

Stanley Kubrick’s reputation as an auteur filmmaker is typically expressed in terms of his unusual control over all aspects of the filmmaking process. In this respect, however, Eyes Wide Shut (1999) is particularly problematic for the discussions sparked due to the director dying before finishing the film. The fact that Kubrick passed away before Eyes Wide Shut was completed has prompted fans and scholars to question whether the film that we saw was the same film that Stanley Kubrick wanted us to see. At the time of his demise, Eyes Wide Shut was still in post-production. The editing had supposedly...