Author Topic: Crimes of Passion and Eyes Wide Shut  (Read 3867 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Iain Fisher

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1863
    • Iain Fisher
Crimes of Passion and Eyes Wide Shut
« Reply #1 on: March 14, 2011, 11:17:54 PM »
Dr. Todd Hoffman gives a talk "EROTIC DYSFUNCTIONS AND DANGEROUS REPRESSIONS : COMPARING AND CONTRASTING KEN RUSSELL’S CRIMES OF PASSION AND STANLEY KUBRICK’S EYES WIDE SHUT THROUGH PSYCHOANALYSIS"

"....Two movies that explore the consequences of excessive repression are Ken Russell’s Crimes of Passion and Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut. The former film explores the dissatisfaction of the male protagonist’s loveless marriage. He represses his frustration towards his emotionally and sexually distant wife by maintaining an excessively passive attitude towards her anger and disappointment in what their marriage has become. The dissatisfied husband finds an outlet in the female protagonist, a prostitute named China Blue, who is also searching for her own psychological solace.

The latter film explores the unconscious dimensions of the male protagonist’s obsessive jealousy towards his wife, who discloses her fantasy involving another man during a tense marital fight. The protagonist is called away at precisely the moment of the disclosure, instigating what constitutes the bulk of the narrative: a nocturnal journey that symbolizes a wandering into his own psyche. In effect, the protagonist searches for emotional and sexual fulfillment as jealous revenge against his wife, only to be stymied at every opportunity..."

Details are here
https://ncur.ithaca.edu/ncur/search/Display_NCUR.aspx?id=51792