>>518640244
>stripped away or downplayed redemptive arcs and moral clarity in favor of cynicism and existential bleakness
There are very few Kubrick films with happy endings. In fact I can't think of any.
That may be more a product of the time than anything.
On the other hand, I think that this may come down to a fundamental issue which I think Kubrick was on the right side of.
Kubrick was a Hobbesian. He believed that the state of nature is a state of chaos.
Eyes Wide Shut and a Clockwork Orange are about the "real world" behind the facades of polite society. I think Eyes Wide Shut is more an indictment of women than of Jews or the Elite.
The entire theme of the movie is basically spelled out in Kidman's speech to Cruise after the party.
Man and women have "evil" desires which must be honed by the state to be useful. The elite are not as bound by the state because they run it and so the Elite naturally tends to be more in line with their animal desires than the benign peasantry.