So when Eyes Wide Shut came out 4 years ago movie buffs in the U.S. were all upset claiming that we were the only country in the world who didn’t get to see Stanley Kubrick’s cut of the film (I didn’t investigate this myself but heard the complaint over and over).
When it came to DVD time I noticed that the only U.S. DVD release matched my recollection of the U.S. theatrical release. I thought of buying the DVD from a European merchant but then there’s the whole problem with encoding and format.
Silly me, it just dawned on me that perhaps I could buy a Canadian release DVD- no problem with format or encoding!
So am I right? If I buy the Eyes Wide Shut DVD from a Canadian merchant will I get a different cut of the film than I would if I bought it in the U.S.?
Would that cut be truer to Kubrick’s vision?
Has anyone out in Messageboardland seen the film in both the U.S. and outside the U.S.? How different are they?
I’ve never seen the uncut version (god knows I never want to see that film again) But from what I understand in the USA version there’s digital ‘people’ in the way of some of the more graphic parts of the orgy and some of the sex is a little nastier…but by and large people that have seen both versions say the difference is so small that nobody in their right mind would care.
did a quick google and found the unedited parts…I think it’s against the rules to have a nude link so try http://www.indelibleinc.com/kubrick/films/ews/ click on links and then go down to eyes wide shut edited scenes.
As far as I know, the same version of Eyes Wide Shut was released in the U.S. and Canada. The Brazilian DVD has all the censored T&A restored, but it’s a different region and I think it’s PAL also. You can get it at www.diabolikdvd.com
If the difference is so minute, it should never have needed editing.
A Clockwork Orange has been left alone, and I’m 100% sure it has much nastier stuff than EWS.
I think A Clockwork Orange got a lot more slack because it clearly wasn’t meant to titillate – and of course there wasn’t nearly as much skin shown. How to do you mean “worse,” Bwanabob? I agree that the “sex scenes,” (if you can call them that,) in A Clockwork Orange are uglier and more shocking, but what exactly was the MPAA’s rationale for insisting on a toned-down version of Eyes Wide Shut for American consumption? It their primary concern is protecting the upholstery of theatre seats from becoming moistened by anything apart from the traditional sodapop and Golden Topping[sup]tm[/sup], then I don’t think they had anything to worry about with the ultraviolence in A Clockwork Orange. (Of course I doubt that incidents of public masturbation and/or organized orgies in the frozen north saw any increase due to our exposure to Mr. Kubrick’s untrampled vision, either.)
It was interesting to see the comparisons. (Thanks for that link, Darkhold.) Rainbowthief, we definitely did not see the Bowdlerized version of Eyes Wide Shut up here. Judging by the examples shown, it looks as though the orgy scenes were transformed into an extended Austin Powers gag for U.S. consumption. I imagine that really detracts from the intended tension & frisson of the film-- no wonder it went over so poorly. (For the record, it’s up there with my favourite Kubrick films-- and I went in expecting to hate it, based on its reviews and its leading castmembers, by whom I am ordinarily underwhelmed.)
I wish the concept of a “B Ark” for those pesky Puritans was around in the 16[sup]th[/sup] century – you guys would be so much more fun to share a border with. “Two Veffels Departing For the New World: the Libertine and the Mayfounder. (Be Affured that No Dancing or Singing will be Permitted on the Mayfounder.) A New Life Awaitf You in the Colonies.”
While the depiction of a graphic rape is “worse” in the emotional sense, and obviously an actual rape is incomparably worse than an actual orgy, from a standards point-of-view, it seems much less worse, since it’s clearly is not intended to appeal predominantly to “prurient” interest, and is therefore not legally obscene in the U.S., even if someone cared to take the dubious postion that A Clockwork Orange, taken as a whole, lacked serious artistic value. Or something.
Larry, seriously, if you’re looking for logic in the MPAA ratings, you’re wasting your time. They’re a joke. A pathetic one, at that.
I will say that, when I saw the film in the theaters, I didn’t notice the digital ammendments. I’d heard about them, and knew they would be in there, but while I was watching the movie, at no point did their prescence impact on my enjoyment of the film. Which I like quite a bit, actually. Not one of my favorite Kubrick movies, but a worthy effort none the less.