Kubrick, Polanski and Jacques Vallee (added note)

I normally reserve non-political posts for the weekends, but you know what Thoreau said about a foolish consistency. Besides, how can I resist drawing your attention to an article by Jacques Vallee (the real-life model for Francois Truffaut character in Close Encounters) on Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut and Roman Polanski's The Ninth Gate?

Alas, the Vallee piece is a bit of a disappointment. I agree with his view that the Polanski film conveys a much more persuasive aura of real occultism than does Kubrick's offering. Of course, The Ninth Gate asks audiences to believe that the supernatural is real, and Kubrick does not. That's a big difference.

Vallee is correct when he says that EWS is -- on the level of plot -- hooey. Ultra-affluent Satanic sex clubs of that sort simply do not exist outside the fever-dream hallucinations of Alex Jones and his fellow Christian soldiers (such as these idiots). If such gatherings actually took place in the modern world, I would have heard of them. Very wealthy men usually do not go in for public rutting -- they are too vain to display their shortcomings.

Yes, genuine practitioners of sex magick do exist -- I used to date a high-ranking OTO disciple -- but I doubt that any of 'em have that kind of money. Usually, they live in apartments and drive used cars and eat off the value menu at Carls Jr. Butlers? Limousines? Oh, they wish.

Sex magick isn't nearly as much fun as it sounds. Basically, the idea is to keep your mind focused on some non-sexual goal during orgasm. Once that principle was explained to me, I said no thanks. Who wants to be thinking "Job promotion!" or "New headphones!" at that moment?

Incidentally, T9G -- if I may so abbreviate the Polanski movie -- also makes reference to aristocratic sex magick clubs. Pure myth. But nobody ever came into that movie expecting a documentary.

Vallee, like most other commenters, misses the most important theme of EWS: Monogamy. Yes, it really is that simple. And that complex. If the practice of monogamy were easy, then why are so many people bad at it?

I think I know the secret of Kubrick's long-standing attraction to that story. In my opinion, the film is rather more autobiographical than most suppose.

Eyes Wide Shut is based on Arthur Schnitzler's Traumnovelle, published during the 1920s. Kubrick first focused on making a film of this book in the early 1970s, between A Clockwork Orange and Barry Lyndon. That's the key fact.

If you've seen Clockwork, you must recall the scene in which the "reformed" Alex is tempted by a gorgeous platinum blonde who appears onstage wearing only sheer light-violet panties. ("She came to-ward me...") That fetching young creature was Virginia Wetherell, who first came to my attention in the Boris Karloff horror film Curse of the Crimson Altar, which was written by none other than Henry Lincoln. (Yes, the Holy Blood, Holy Grail guy. I don't think he lists Curse on his resume these days.)

An interview with Wetherell was on the net circa 1996-97. It's gone now, and although I saved a copy, I've blasted through quite a few hard drives since that time. So I must rely on memory. In her recounting of what-it-was-like-to-work-with-Kubrick, she told an extremely odd story about her, uh, costuming. Basically, she asked the great man what color and kind of panties she should wear. Kubrick asked her to model a few pairs. Then he had her go to the department store and pick up a few dozen more panties.

And she modeled all of them. Over and over. It got weird.

Well, many will chalk up that incident to Kubrick's notorious perfectionism. Many others will presume the obvious: Virginia Wetherell was pretty damned amazing, while Stanley Kubrick -- reports to the contrary notwithstanding -- was human. You bet your ass I'd have kept the fashion show going on as long as possible.

This is presumption on my part, but the "underwear incident" may have triggered his interest in Schnitzler's work. Clockwork was Kubrick's first film with nudity. He must have had dozens of nubile lovelies come in for casting sessions. Perhaps it finally dawned on Stanley Kubrick that he was Mr. Big Shot Movie Director and that he could chuck his marriage and play the "Hef" role -- if he wanted to.

Of course, all men experience temptation. I've never read a hint that Kubrick actually did anything to endanger his marriage. But is it just a coincidence that he became, at this point, fiercely attracted to Traumnovelle? It is, after all, the story of a successful man who is tempted to cheat on his wife, only to hold himself in check because, well, it's scary out there. Love keeps spouses in place -- but so does fear, and one might as well be honest about that fact.

The autobiographical underpinnings of EWS are indicated by the presence of Christiane Kubrick's artwork, visible throughout the film. She is, in my opinion, a terrific artist. On some viewings, I came away convinced that I liked her paintings better than his movie. (My feelings about the film fluctuate.) Who knows? 700 years from now, Stanley Kubrick may be remembered as the guy who married Christiane.

If you've seen Paths of Glory, you've seen Mrs. Kubrick: She plays the captured German girl who sings Ein treuer Husar during the moving finale. Fascinatingly, she was the niece of Third Reich filmmaker Veit Harlan, who, after the war, stood accused of creating anti-Semitic propaganda. Kubrick -- who was Jewish -- became fascinated by Veit Harlan and had hoped to make a biographical film about him.

I probably shouldn't mention this, but Christiane Kubrick must be the only real-life woman in the history of the world who actually dressed the way Wendy (Shelley Duvall) dressed in The Shining. At least, that's how she dressed for a filmed interview. I have no idea what to make of that, but there it is. (Nothing here is meant to make the woman feel bad; as noted above, I admire her work.)

When EWS came out, many snickered at Kubrick's seeming prudishness. As Vallee puts it: "It could be summed up as 'Handsome young millionaire doctor tries to get laid in New York for three days and fails!'" But faithfulness remains a perfectly valid theme for any work of art. Arguably, faithfulness is a more courageous theme than is promiscuity. I may not believe in marriage, but I do believe in commitment. Sophisticates who cackle at that concept are not as sophisticated as they pretend.

About T9G: The abruptness of the ending pissed off a lot of people. But would the film have been better if Polanski had visualized whatever-it-is that lies beyond the gate? Imagine how Michael Bay would have finished the thing. Once you're done shuddering, you'll be grateful that Polanski tastefully rang down the curtain when he did.

Added note about The Ninth Gate: I think a big problem many people have with this film stems from the fact that Johnny Depp's character is, quite simply, an asshole. Although he's not evil, he doesn't care much about human beings. More amoral than immoral. Yet he is the one who is granted the privilege of walking through the gate. He doesn't deserve it, but there he goes.

Traditionally, we think of spiritual advancement as being linked to morality. The classic real-life archetypes are Jeanne d'Arc and Gilles de Rais: The virginal, heroic saint versus the fiend who wants to bludgeon his way into the higher realms. Bernadette versus Boullan also serve as models. Depp resembles neither. T9G tells us that the man who breaks through the Great Barrier is neither virtuous nor venal; he's simply clever and lucky.

That's not an emotionally satisfying thought, I must admit.