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If nothing else, Frederic Raphael's EYES WIDE OPEN, his memoir of Stanley Kubrick,
shows us that the process of cinematic conceptualization is a war. Not, perhaps, a war of
conventional weapons and militaristic strategy, but a war nonetheless, one of posturing
and manipulation --- a thinking war. Stanley Kubrick loved the thinking war, a fact
demonstrated by his legendary affinity for chess. He played it with proficiency.
When Frederic Raphael teamed up with Kubrick to write an adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler's
century-old "Traumnovelle" ("Dream Novella"), he lacked nothing in
experience. He knew quite well that he was placing himself in the middle of a mine field.
Raphael was a veteran. And he had the scars to prove it. But the Kubrickian thinking war
surprised even our battle-seasoned storyteller, for it was a war in which each participant
alternately played the role of ally and enemy. The book follows the two year
partnership-of-sorts between the notoriously reclusive cineast and the man he chose to
diagram the skeleton of his 13th and final film: Eyes Wide Shut.
A notorious perfectionist, Stanley Kubrick would hardly have made his choice on a whim.
And the decision, it seems, was a savvy one. Through his mellifluous writing, Raphael
exhibits a staggering intellect. Words and thoughts seem to flow from him like honey. But
that's just the beginning. The structure of this book alone will hold your interest to the
end. Raphael is a veritable chameleon: He writes novels, screenplays and wandering,
philosophical discourses, each of which converge in this, a stylistic melting pot.
But take note, reader: EYES WIDE OPEN shrinks from many of the promises made by its
publishers. You will not know Stanley Kubrick when you finish this book, though you may
know Frederic Raphael. Raphael has created a work that is at least as much about himself
as it is about the man for whom he labored. There are fewer references to Kubrick than
additional anecdotes (which are legion). And at no time does Raphael seem to offer a
definitive and coherent portrait of the bearded genius. This book is about the feelings
Kubrick evoked in Raphael and the means by which he evoked them. To his credit, actually,
Raphael did no spying. EYES WIDE OPEN may provide insights, but not dirt.
The insights it does provide, however, are conclusive. Raphael recreates the voice of
Stanley Kubrick; he speaks through the master's mouth. Raphael tells us everything he
knows and everything we need to know. The answer is that there is no answer. Kubrick
remains too complicated. He is consistently inconsistent. And for that, the absence of a
portrait seems justified.
Frederic Raphael's memoir may enrage many loyal Kubrick fans --- so far, it has. The tone
is frequently bitter and Raphael lands significant, if not crippling blows to the Kubrick
myth. The writer is as perplexed and frustrated by Kubrick as the reader is by his
characterization. But Frederic Raphael is a Kubrick fan. And like the rest of humanity, he
also fears the deflation of genius. Who can despise the master?
Frederic Raphael has not deflated a genius. In fact, he cannot even explain Kubrick well
enough to deflate him. So he has allowed the genius to speak for himself. But, in that,
the memoir seems to have proven something unproven by even Kubrick's death: The master was
human.
--- Reviewed by R. Brad Turner
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