Yesterday, a mother in mourning at Christmas. Today, pure sex. At the risk of sounding like we’re getting lazy about this thing eighteen days into it, we really don’t think the point or the meaning behind Nicole Kidman’s gown in the opening scene of director Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut is obscure or difficult to divine. On the contrary, it’s so obvious in its meaning and clear in its intentions that articulating them almost seems beside the point — said point being pure sex.
Kidman plays Alice, the bored and beautiful wife of a wealthy and also beautiful doctor (Tom Cruise, of course). On this night, as they leave for the lavish Christmas party of a patient, the couple is about to embark on a journey of sexual obsession, secrets and infidelity. While these opening scenes do a lot to establish the wealth and domesticity that define their marriage, the dress itself is screaming “I’m bored and I want to be looked at.” It’s notable that the first time we see the dress, Alice is on the toilet. The first thing we see her do in the dress is stand up and wipe before her husband overwhelms her with his desire. This secures the idea that this dress isn’t on the body, it’s of the body. Notice how the coat covers the dress entirely, as if that were the outfit and what’s underneath is nakedness.
What’s interesting is that, while it’s clearly a very sexy dress, it’s not really all that revealing. She is, after all, a wealthy doctor’s wife at a lavish party. Propriety of some sort must be maintained, even as every man who comes in contact with her can’t seem to keep his hands off her. It’s notable how this dress so clearly screams sex without making a sound. Some black lace, an open back, the suggestion of sheerness and 1999 Nicole Kidman is all you need to sell the point. This is a dress to drive men wild.
Next up: A return to jingle-jangle!
[Photo/Still Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures]
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