9. Traumnovelle
Eyes Wide Shut is an adaptation from Arthur Schnitzlers 1926 Traumnovelle or Dream Story. Schnitzler was a playwright, doctor and a friend of Freud. His original novella is set in 1920's Vienna amongst a Jewish community. Despite the obvious differences, Eyes Wide Shut is actually a surprisingly faithful adaptation. Perhaps this suggests that tensions and sexual attitudes between couples hasn't changed for 70 years.Yikes. Kubrick's widow, Christiane Kubrick has said that he made her read the book as far back as 1968 when Stanley was looking for a film to follow 2001: A Space Odyssey. Christiane didn't like the book as much as her husband and the pair allegedly fought over it which only led Kubrick to conclude that if a book is worth fighting over it has to be worth adapting. Below is the book's cover design by Penguin that uses The Bride, the unfinished painting by Gustav Klimt:
What Culture Thespians may also know that Dream Story was been put on as a play at the Gate Theatre in London in 2011.
