Music in film plays a key role in depicting point of view. Pre-existing songs may be used to provide ironic commentary, as music may be planted to specifically complement the action onscreen. Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut shows Kubrick's increasingly sophisticated use of pre-existing music as he skillfully combines music and image. Four kinds of music are used in this film: a Shostakovich waltz, a Ligeti piano suite, a newly composed score, and pre-existing songs. The Ligeti is used to underscore objective events, while the newly composed score by Jocelyne Pook underscores jealous fantasies. Music goes beyond signifying moods and emotions in Eyes Wide Shut, also pointing out Kubrick's narrational agency.

Works: Stanley Kubrick (director): Sound track to Eyes Wide Shut.

Sources: Dmitri Shostakovich: Jazz Suite, Waltz No. 2 (7-9); György Ligeti: Musica Ricercata (9-13); Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields: I'm in the Mood for Love (16); Isham Jones and Gus Kahn: It Had to Be You (16); Wayne Shanklin: Chanson d'Amour (16); Victor Young and Edward Heyman: When I Fall In Love (16); Harry Warren and Al Dubin: I Only Have Eyes for You (16); Mozart: Requiem (17); Liszt: Nuages gris.

Index Classifications: 1900s, Film

Contributed by: Karen Anton Stafford