A new Nicole Kidman film has a hidden link to another feature she starred in, and erotic thriller you can watch on Netflix.
Kidman has been very open in speaking about her sexuality in films, leading to her revealing in this latest venture that she had to stop filming because she was having ‘too many orgasms’, a problem I’m sure many wish they had.
The film in question sees her character engage in an affair with a young intern at the company she is CEO of.
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Called Babygirl, it has released to much fan acclaim and critical success, with particular credit given to Kidman’s performance.
In discussing the film recently, director Halina Reijn actually revealed a link between Babygirl and another Kidman role.
Reijn connected Kidman’s role in Babygirl to her character in Eyes Wide Shut, which you can watch on Netflix, a Stanley Kubrick erotic thriller starring the Australian actor alongside husband at the time Tom Cruise.
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In Eyes Wide Shut, Kidman plays Alice, the wife of main character Bill (played by Cruise).
A discussion while the pair are high reveals that Alice considered having an affair earlier in their marriage, and that she had actually fantasised about having sex with another man she saw on vacation.
This sends Bill spiralling, ending with him infiltrating a high-powered orgy.
According to Reijn, Babygirl is an examination of what Alice’s life would have been like if she had acted on that fantasy.
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Reijn said in an interview with EW about both films: “It's about marriage; it's about monogamy.
“What is monogamy and can you possess someone else or do you have to set them free?"
She stated, however, a major difference is that in Eyes Wide Shut ‘we follow Tom Cruise everywhere, we don't even know what [Kidman’s character Alice is] going through.
“We're totally in his mind, heart, and soul. I want to know, 'What if she would've gone and actually would've lived her fantasy?'
“That's what [Babygirl] is — my answer, playfully and humbly, to the male Eyes Wide Shut.
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“All of us women are ready and hungry to see and hear stories about how we feel and from our perspective."
Reijn also said that her affair partner, played by Harris Dickinson, is purposely fantastical in a way usually reserved for female characters in films focused on sex.
She said: “It's my playful revenge on all the movies that are made by men where all these women are either a femme fatale or a Lolita.
“[Dickinson’s character Samuel gets] a fairy tale introduction. So, I almost want to have people wonder, 'Is this real or did she dream him up?'
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“Because we start and end the movie with orgasms, we can see the whole movie as a metaphor of one big sexual fantasy.”
Babygirl is playing in theatres now.
Topics: Film, Netflix, Nicole Kidman, Sex and Relationships, TV and Film
Michael Slavin