Dream Story · Film Analysis
Written by Arthur C. Rauscher · Ovid Publishing Group
Arthur Schnitzler's 1926 novella Dream Story (Traumnovelle) and Stanley Kubrick's 1999 film adaptation Eyes Wide Shut offer a fascinating study in the translation of narrative from literature to cinema. While Kubrick's film is largely faithful to the source material, there are significant differences in how the story is presented and interpreted.
Both works explore the complexities of marriage and the temptations that can threaten it. The blurred line between dream and reality is crucial in both: Schnitzler's prose creates a dreamlike atmosphere through its narrative style, while Kubrick uses visual and auditory techniques to create a surreal quality. Both also examine the power of sexual fantasies and the consequences of repressing desires.
A key difference lies in Fridolin's Jewish identity in the novella, which is entirely absent in Kubrick's characterization of Bill Hartford (Tom Cruise). In Dream Story, Fridolin's Jewishness — never stated but assumed — contributes to the tension and danger he faces, particularly in the secret society scene, where his otherness is both a threat and a source of forbidden allure. In contrast, Bill Hartford is presented as a generic upper-middle-class New Yorker. This omission alters the power dynamics and psychological landscape of the character's journey.
In the novella, the men at the masked ball are dressed like monks and the women like nuns — representing the Catholic majority of Vienna. Fridolin is the outsider Jew invading their space, and when caught, is cast out. The ball is a metaphor for the precarious position Jews held in Europe. In Kubrick's film, this religious-class dimension is entirely removed, the scene instead amplified visually and made more sexually explicit — its ritualistic aspects intensified for cinematic effect.
Dream Story is set in 1920s Vienna; Eyes Wide Shut takes place in 1990s New York City. This change significantly impacts the social context. Schnitzler's novella is deeply rooted in the milieu of early 20th-century Vienna — its specific attitudes towards class, sexuality, and psychoanalysis — while Kubrick's film transposes these elements into a modern American setting. The film also takes place at Christmas, stripping the family of their implicit Jewish identity and making them generically Christian.
Dream Story is told from a close third-person perspective heavily focused on Fridolin's thoughts — an early example of stream of consciousness. Eyes Wide Shut necessarily loses some of this internal monologue but compensates with visual storytelling and more spoken dialogue, as well as a more definitive ending. Schnitzler's novella leaves more to interpretation; Kubrick offers a clearer sense of the couple reconciling.