Customer Reviews

Eyes Wide Shut: Music From The Motion Picture

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

When it's from a Stanley Kubrick film, that's when. Though it's not for everyone, the soundtrack to Kubrick's beautifully twisted final film, "Eyes Wide Shut", is a musical journey unlike any you've ever taken. Like the film itself, the "Eyes Wide Shut" soundtrack is a dreamlike experience, taking us from heaven to hell and back again. It is Dominic Harlan's riveting piano music that haunts much of the film, and, of course, every nightmarish note is here. We are quickly catapulted into that blurred reality that Tom Cruise's celluloid character spends his two evenings roaming the streets of New York in. Harlan's piano work has the same feel as Kubrick's film -- easily alternating between beautiful and frightening, real and surreal. Featured alongside Dominic Harlan's music on "Eyes Wide Shut" is the brilliant original score of Jocelyn Pook. Pook perfectly captures the film's beauty and menace in such themes as "The Dream", "Migrations" and especially (and most importantly), in the chilling theme, "Masked Ball". The masked ball scene appears midway through the movie and serves as the film's visual centerpiece and turning point. It is the moment where dreams and reality converge once and for all, setting the harrowing second act into motion. Jocelyn Pook's music in this scene -- hypnotic, frightening, and gorgeous -- does wonders for the effectiveness and power of this moment in the film, and is especially glorious when listened to through your headphones. All in all, the "Eyes Wide Shut" soundtrack is not merely a collection of recordings from an extraordinary film. It is a companion to that film, in which we trace Tom Cruise's footsteps through his two nights of dreams and reality, curiosity and jealousy, paranoia and revenge, and finally -- hopefully - truth and redemption. If you're up for the experience, it's a trip well worth taking.

I loved Jocelyn Pook's music for Eyes Wide Shut. It's really the only reason I would buy this soundtrack. However most people don't know that Jocelyn Pook released her own cd, Flood, a month ago. It's at amazon. You just have to go under classical search to find it. It's got the complete six minute masked ball song as well as migrations. I can't believe amazon doesn't list it as a recommendation for this album. Anyway I just wanted to let you know that the cd is out there and easily available. However, it doesn't have all of Ms. Pook's compositions for this movie which makes the Eyes Wide Shut soundtrack worth owning as well. If you are like me and loved her music and would like more of the same, check out her new cd Flood. It's truly magical!

After listening to the soundtrack of "2001:A Space Odyssey" i never thought i would find another album with such haunting tunes. I'm so glad that i'm wrong. Kubrick, once more, blends "his" vision of the world with "others'" sounds. The incredible diversity this soundtrack provides leaves me speechless. It's jazz, it's classical, it's pure rock, all wrapped up in one, shining just like a gem. They're the tunes, for sure, Kubrick had in mind. To perfect the film, to make it dream-like, to have it palpable. This is one of the rare soundtracks that won't disappoint you, but enrich your musical world just as Kubrick enriches your visual one.

Although Stanley Kubrick's final film "Eyes Wide Shut" was controversial and blasted by many critics, there is little doubt that the film exhibited meticulous and lush set and costume design. The film's soundtrack does an excellent job of matching the style of Kubrick's visuals.

The soundtrack opens with Ligeti's minimalist masterpiece "Musica Ricercata, II" performed by the precise Dominic Harlan. Next is the film's opening theme, Shostakovich's "Waltz 2 from Jazz Suite," a sweepingly grand piece given an excellent performance by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Chris Isaak's "Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing" is the only rock music track on the entire soundtrack, but it fits in surprisingly well.

It is, however, the compositions of Jocelyn Pook which truly stand out. He first two pieces, "Naval Officer" and "The Dream" are quiet, disturbing mood pieces. "Masked Ball" is the track played during the opening of the infamous orgy sequence, and it features a chorus played backwards, forming a sort of black-mass atmosphere. "Migrations" is played during the continuation of the orgy, as the Doctor walks room to room. With its wild yell and frenetic strings, this is the climax of the album.

The big-band pieces can seem trivial compared to the artistic heights of Pook, but they add good incidental accompaniment to the film.

One of the better film soundtracks out there, EYES WIDE SHUT is worth getting, even if the film itself let you down for plot reasons.

The Jocelyn Pook's Masked Ball song wasn't just a simple reverse of another existing song, not at all.

What do you obtain if you reverse the song used in the movie? You get a similar opera tunes with a rommanian greek-orthodox pray. Though, the music (not the voice) is now played backward.

So unless there was some big opera in rommanian churchs where all the musicians were on drugs, playing and reading their music sheets backward, this mean the only thing that has been "stolen" was the prayer's voice. The orchestral song has been made to put the reversed voice on. They didn't just "clic" on a reverse button and voila. Jocelyn Pook did write an orchestral score and only added a reversed voice on it. Now don't tell me that composing an orchestral song is easy as ripping a Beethoven track ala Puff Daddy.

Stanley Kubrick is far from my favorite director. When i saw Eyes Wide Shut i thoughtthat it was good for what it was but very bizzare. Musically speaking Kubrick had a talent for finding the right composer for the job and the right music. Eyes wide shut is no different. This music is very haunting and very eclectic. The first track Is Music Ricercata No 1 by Dominic harlan this alone is very haunting and is done completely done on a piano with only a few notes repeated over and over again. Although the Jazz music seems to be a little misplaced but none the less it is imensely listenible. Then is the awesome Baby Did A Bad Bad Thing which is a great song sung by Chris Isaak. Kubrick hired british composer Jocelyn Pook to score this film. The final result very eery and Haunting. Starts out with naval officier it is performed just by strings then The Dream plays with the same theme as Naval Officier. Then is the very unusual Masked Ball but is very eclectic but very haunting. Although i would have wish for a couple more tracks of Jocelyn Pooks music this does me just fine. Even though the movie is not the best but the soundtrack very unsusal and you want to hear every thing write up to the very end.

Among the most notable things of any Stanley Kubrick film from 1964's DOCTOR STRANGELOVE onward was the music he used in those films. Whether it was Richard Strauss' imposing "Also Sprach Zarathustra" in 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, the Beethoven Ninth in A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, or Bartok's "Music For Strings, Percussion, And Celesta" in THE SHINING, Kubrick always chose the music to set the mood and the scene, and frequently provide ironic counterpoint to the proceedings. The same holds true for the music he used in his final film, 1999's EYES WIDE SHUT.

In this typically ironic film of sexual infidelity, Kubrick utilized original instrumental pieces by English composer Jocelyn Pook, including "Masked Ball" (used to chilling effect in the orgy scene in the mansion) and the exotic "Migrations" to marvelous effect, and he also used a movement from Gyorgy Ligeti's piano piece "Musica Ricercata" in those scenes where Tom Cruise's character is being followed on the streets of New York. Several big-band standards, including "When I Fall In Love" and "Strangers In The Night", are also utilized. And for the film's official musical calling card, Kubrick chose the Second Waltz from the Jazz Suite No. 2 by Dmitri Shostakovich. This waltz in C Minor gives the film its strange irony, much the same way Johann Strauss' "Blue Danube Waltz" did for the early space scenes in "2001." The performance of the Shostakovich waltz by the Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam under the direction of Riccardo Chailly is magnificent.

This soundtrack is a musical valedictory to one of Hollywood's most enigmatic, controversial, and influential film makers in history, and is well worth picking up for its mix of jazz, classical, and world music sounds.

BTW, Tracks 1 & 14 (Ligeti) are identical. The Ligeti and Liszt pieces are quite eerie, very well played, and sound warm. All four of the Pook tracks are very unique classical pieces with some sampling.

The three jazz tracks are great. Strangers in the Night is terse and very well played with no vocals. I am surprised to find that I don't skip this track when it advances. The "I Got It Bad" track has some static on it. It's one of Duke Ellington's two-thousand compositions.

Chris Isaak's track begins to rock before it concludes and has this great bass impression at the beginning. The only track with vocals.

The "Waltz 2" track is nothing short of perfect. It's completely hypnotic with a highly dignified feeling to it. This waltz appears throughout the movie and accompanies the credits. Very appropriate and respectful piece for Stanley's final film.

Overall a fabulous soundtrack to a fabulous movie. Both taste better and better with age. Great for nighttime driving and rainy days. Works very well with and without the film.

It has great music, very romantic and mysterious, tragic even. It's wonderful! I choose music cds carefully and this is a must-have for me.

Ok, I will admit I was one of the FEW people who went and saw this movie the day it opened. And, Ok, I'll admit it, I kind of liked it. But you know what really caught my attention? No, it was not the nudity, the controversy, the director, or the costumes (or lack thereof), it was the music.

From the jamming of Chris Isaak's Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing (in my opinion one of the greatest crooners of his time!) to the haunting first few seconds of the soundtrack. Those piano keys just seem to echo throughout the land. Track 2 is one of those sweeping overtures that reminds you just how sensational classical music can be.

The CD revolves around classical numbers splashed with a bit of darkness. The haunting melodies create visual pictures in your head that seem to linger.

This is definitely an album that you can sit down to and listen to on a rainy day. Lay back, fasten your seat belts, its going to be a bumpy ride!