MovieChat Forums > Eyes Wide Shut (1999) Discussion > The wife and her orgy dream the same eve...

The wife and her orgy dream the same evening, HUGE COINCIDENCE ?

posted a month ago by yvesyves (698)
6 replies | jump to latest

Isn't it a huge coincidence that she has her dream about an orgy the exact same evening as her husband goes to the mansion with the orgy ??

Could the wife be part of the cult and someone who was there seeing her husband called her to tell her and she made up the story of the dream to fuck with his mind? Since the husband's real experience AND the wife's dream are so similar and both took place the same evening that is crazy.

Could it all be linked to them smoking weed before everything takes place? I read someone suggesting that may be Tom Cruise's story going to the secret party orgy never happened that it was all a dream because of the weed he smoked, and the wife who also smoked that weed also had her own dream of an orgy.

[–] Seperatrix (1308) a month ago

"Could it all be linked to them smoking weed before everything takes place? I read someone suggesting that may be Tom Cruise's story going to the secret party orgy never happened that it was all a dream because of the weed he smoked, and the wife who also smoked that weed also had her own dream of an orgy."

It's fun to come up with off-the-wall ideas at times, especially for films that require some heavy lifting. But I don't see how the film or story is served with the idea that "it was all a pot heads dream."

My take for what it's worth: The dream was just a coincidence that mirrored enough of what Dr. Bill experienced to cause him to break down and confess to her what he'd been up to the past 24 hours. That's it.

Something had to drive the narrative at that point and so the idea of "so Dr. Bill went to this party, came home, now what?" had to have a next movement of sorts. Having Dr. Bill investigate the death of the druggie was a set-up was paid off to the revelation his friend would later deliver. But the wife's dream tied back into the theme of the film about the nature of relationships, commitment, etc.

[–] yvesyves (698) a month ago

Ok forget the weed, what i mean is, they have been together for years and years, their girl 8 or 9 years old , out of the 4 or 5 000 nights we can assume they spent together the wife has that crazy dream which she confesses to the husband the exact same evening as he has what is probably the most incredible, dangerous and crazy experience of his life, and which is quite similar to her wife's dream, what are the odds? The whole movie could have been perfectly fine without the wife's dream since it's only a tiny part of the whole movie, so did Kubrick add her dream for some reason? that's what i meant. (and yeah both are sexually frustrated because they have been together so long therefore both have fantasies to escape their daily "boring" life)

[–] Seperatrix (1308) a month ago

" . . . the wife has that crazy dream which she confesses to the husband the exact same evening as he . . . "

In fairness, it wasn't the EXACT same dream. The dream didn't take place in a country mansion with robed figures roaming around chanting liturgies and mumbling threats. The dream from what I recall, was of her naked, then when her husband went to find clothes for her, she began with her own (self induced?) orgy, and her husband stood by as an observer.

Let's not forget, this entire journey began when she confessed early in the film of her desire to be with another man. Even if it meant losing her husband and daughter in the process. So the dream also functions as an extension of her desires (guilt?) regarding that confession. Having just made that confession to her husband, she goes to sleep and dreams of humiliating him by have sex with several men. The dream didn't occur in a vacuum, it occurred after her specific confession.

Could the film have been "perfectly fine" without that scene? The film was based on the 1926 novella Dream Story by Arthur Schnitzler -- which I haven't read -- but I'm going to assume that the answer is no.

Perhaps someone else can weigh in with something insightful to constructively augment our discussion.

[–] yvesyves (698) a month ago

interesting points , thanks for the write up

[–] Melton (5034) a month ago

Yes it is a coincidence but that is deliberate.

In The Shining Kubrick was exploring the point where the psychological ends and the supernatural begins.

In EWS he is exploring the point where thought ends and deed begins. Alice and Bill have not been unfaithful in action, but they certainly have in their minds - Alice’s fantasy and Bill’s intentions with other women.

At the end of the film Alice says ‘the reality of one night can never be the whole truth’ while Bill says ‘and no dream is ever just a dream’ - the film marinates in a space between dream and reality and very deliberately blurs that line (it feels like a David Lynch film in many ways, and the title of the source novel Traumnovelle translates as Dream Story), the real scenes feel dreamlike (especially the bizarre orgy) and Alice’s dream feels, as you point out, all too close to reality.

[–] SemiAnimus (2778) a month ago

"Alice and Bill have not been unfaithful in action, but they certainly have in their minds - Alice’s fantasy and Bill’s intentions with other women."

This is how I interpreted the movie as well. Those lines you quoted were particularly telling. That the events of the night happened is secondary to everything that lead to them happening. The fuse was lit long before the bomb went off, even if it's the explosion that captures our attention.