Kubrick's Game

  Unable to sleep, he sat at his computer and created an iTunes playlist from the 2001 album.

  SIDE ONE

  1. “We’ll Meet Again” – Vera Lynn (from Dr. Strangelove)

  2. “The Blue Danube” – Johann Strauss II (from 2001)

  3. “William Tell Overture” (speed version) – Gioachino Rossini (from A Clockwork Orange)

  4. “Piano Trio in E-Flat, Op. 100” – Franz Schubert (from Barry Lyndon)

  SIDE TWO

  1. “Rocky Mountains” – Wendy Carlos and Rachel Elkind (from The Shining)

  2. “Surfin’ Bird” – The Trashmen (from Full Metal Jacket)

  3. “Masked Ball” – Jocelyn Pook (from Eyes Wide Shut)

  Shawn had a feeling that Kubrick would want the players to appreciate music the same way he did in order to complete the game. In many interviews he’d read, Kubrick discussed how music had the power to cut through the shallow surface of our minds and tap directly into the subconscious. For a moment, he basked in the realization that his deduction about the true meaning of CRM-114 was proven correct—curious music; 11+4; all pointing to “The Land of Nod” poem.

  An age-old mystery solved.

  He checked his phone and couldn’t believe it was already past three in the morning.

  After procuring a snack of raw, unsalted almonds from the kitchen, he walked back to his room, but then heard a faint groaning from inside his sister’s room, where Sami was sleeping.

  He approached the door. “Sami, are you okay?”

  She answered after a moment. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

  “Okay. Goodnight.”

  Must have been a nightmare, he thought as he walked down the creeky hallway.

  First thing the following morning, the three met in Shawn’s bedroom. Sami and Wilson seemed preoccupied and nervous, but Shawn brushed it off as exhaustion.

  “So shall we discuss the new clue?” he said. “I was up until four brainstorming, so I want you guys to tell me which ideas you think are most promising. First—”

  “Hold on,” said Wilson. “Before we get into this, there’s something I need to tell you.”

  “Let me tell him,” Sami interjected. “Shawn, you know how much we care about you. There isn’t anything we’d—”

  A loud knock at the door interrupted her.

  “Who is it?” said Shawn.

  “It’s your father. Who do you think it is?” Don Hagan opened the door. He had wavy gray hair, an impossibly thick neck, and a voice as deep as a lion’s roar.

  “Shawn, what is the meaning of this? It just came by messenger.” He held up a letter from UCLA, then handed it to Shawn, not acknowledging Wilson and Sami’s presence.

  Shawn read the letter, but didn’t react to it.

  Wilson and Sami, reading over his shoulder, both gasped.

  “You’ve been expelled from school?” growled Mr. Hagan. “What the hell did you do? Do you know how much money I’ve poured into this hobby of yours? It better not have been for nothing!”

  Shawn remained silent, retreating into his own world like a hermit crab into its shell.

  “Clamming up again? Well I know you can hear me in there, and guess what, you’re not freeloading here. If I were you, I’d be job hunting and thinking about how you’re going to pay me back for three years of tuition down the drain.”

  “Mr. Hagan,” said Wilson, standing up. “Shawn is a really good kid and the most talented filmmaker at UCLA.”

  “Who the hell are you?”

  “My name is Wilson, sir. What happened wasn’t his fault.”

  “Whose fault was it then? Yours?”

  Sami rose. “No, sir, it was my fault. Shawn was helping me shoot a movie and he accidentally damaged school property. I fully intend to straighten things out and make it right.”

  “Don’t think I don’t see exactly what’s going on here. You’re taking advantage of Shawn’s nature. I get it. He’ll do anything if he thinks it will earn him friends. And don’t get me started on that autism, Asperger’s, or whatever crock he calls it.”

  Shawn turned away, shutting his eyes and covering his ears. He placed himself in a darkened theater in his mind, where no one but him could enter.

  “What do you mean ‘crock’?” said Sami.

  “You ask me, it’s a whole lot of psycho-babble. In my day, kids like him were just called nerds and they dealt with it. Nowadays shrinks charge two hundred bucks an hour for treatment, not to mention a small fortune for meds. Nearly bankrupted us. Shawn comes from a long line of consummate athletes. He could have been one too if he’d just applied himself. Problem is he got addicted to TV screens and uses Asperger’s as an excuse to not socialize or challenge himself physically. He loved telling bullies he was handicapped so he wouldn’t have to stand up for himself. The truth is, Shawn is a borderline case at best and there’s no reason he can’t function as a normal adult. The worst thing you can do is feel sorry for him. That’s exactly what he wants.”

  He leaned down and spoke into Shawn’s ear. “If you’re living in my house again, you will follow my rules. You’ll get a job and pay rent or you’re out of here.” He turned and charged out of the room, slamming the door so hard the American Beauty poster rattled off its nail and fell to the floor, cracking the glass.

  As soon as his father left, Shawn came back to life, as if someone pressed the play button after he’d been paused. He picked up the poster and placed it back on the wall.

  “The key to this puzzle,” he said, “will be figuring out how the playlist of songs correlates to the clue Kubrick spoke on the record.”

  “Whoa, whoa,” said Wilson. “Back to reality, Shawn. You got expelled. We have to deal with this.”

  “Deal with that?” said Sami. “Did you see what just happened? Doesn’t it all make sense now? Shawn grew up with a sadistic bully in the house. No wonder you escaped into movies. How could your dad treat you like that?”

  “We’ve never really seen eye-to-eye,” Shawn explained. “But things took a turn for the worse my senior year of high school.”

  “What happened?” asked Sami.

  “He took away my TV and all my movies thinking it would get me out of the house. I was so upset I created a dozen dummy Yelp accounts and used them to write horror stories about his orthodontic practice. It nearly put him out of business before he figured out it was me.”

  “That’ll do it,” said Wilson.

  “It worked anyway. He gave me back all my stuff in exchange for deleting the reviews.”

  “Don’t listen to him about your condition being your fault,” said Sami. “He may understand teeth, but he has no clue how the mind works.” She reached out to hug him, but he started pacing before she could touch him.

  “I think being expelled is a good thing. Now I have more time to focus on the game.”

  Wilson waved his hand dismissively. “Forget about that. How will you finish film school?”

  “There hasn’t been a single class where my knowledge didn’t exceed the professor’s. A degree would be beneficial, but the education is serving no practical purpose. Can we please get back to the game now?”

  Sami sighed. “I don’t know. Your dad clearly does not want us here.”

  “I know this place isn’t ideal, but it’s the only base that’s uncompromised. So what was it you wanted to tell me earlier?”

  Wilson and Sami looked at one another.

  Sami said, “I just wanted to invite you to be my special guest at the premiere of The Confession. The screening is Wednesday night of finals week. Since you no longer have finals to study for, I’m guessing you’re not busy.”

  Shawn smiled. “Of course, I’ll be there.”

  “Professor Mascaro will be there too,” said Wilson. “We need to plan for all contingencies.”

  “With any luck, we will have beaten this game before Wednesday,” said Shawn. “Last night I took the liberty of preparing research assignments for each of us. Let me know if you a
pprove.”

  He handed them a printout of the latest clue.

  The moon conceals the hand of God. He’ll take you to the Land of Nod. And once the final bridge is crossed, find Q’s identity that was lost.

  “What makes this one the most difficult is that there’s no numerical reference pointing toward a specific film,” said Shawn “We might have to search for clues in all of them, one of them, or none of them. What we do have is the playlist from the album, which lists his final seven films. The second line’s reference to ‘The Land of Nod’ poem makes me think that Eyes Wide Shut is a significant part of the puzzle. That’s all I have.”

  The team read through Shawn’s chosen assignments for them.

  Shawn was not thrilled about the prospect of getting entangled in moon landing theories, so he assigned “the moon conceals” meaning to Wilson, who had proven adept with conspiracy theories and symbolism.

  Sami took on the task of searching the films for anything related to the Bible, religion, or God. It was a complicated job because there was a spiritual undercurrent in all of Kubrick’s films, yet hardly any overt religious imagery or story points. All that came to mind was a priest character and Jesus imagery in A Clockwork Orange, a couple climactic scenes set in churches in Barry Lyndon, and the evangelical profanity-spouting Sgt. Hartman in Full Metal Jacket.

  “Listen,” said Sami, “please thank your family for putting us up, but Wilson and I discussed this and we don’t feel comfortable staying here. We’re probably going back to Wilson’s to work on this one. We also need to work on our finals, plus I have to finish my thesis paper.”

  Shawn thought it was strange that they were finding excuses to be alone together, but he brushed it off as paranoia. Strategically, it made sense not to be separated.

  “I understand,” he said. “I think we can work independently this week and convene again after this weekend.”

  After their meeting, Sami and Wilson left, leaving Shawn alone in his childhood sanctuary. Despite the negative energy, it felt refreshing to be home. However intimidating his father was, he had to admit there was no place he felt safer.

  He’d assigned himself the task of exploring the Kubrick film he had studied the least, Eyes Wide Shut. Kubrick himself called Eyes Wide Shut his best film, yet it invariably lags behind when fans and critics rank his pantheon. Many of Kubrick’s films were ahead of their time, unappreciated until many years later. Besides 2001, an even greater instance of this was The Shining. It garnered mixed reviews upon release and was nearly forgotten a few years later. Cut to twenty years in the future and it had somehow exploded in popularity, inspired a rabid cult following, and was recognized as one of the greatest horror films ever made.

  The question was, could Eyes Wide Shut be operating on the same level as 2001 and The Shining—a film doomed to remain misunderstood and unappreciated for many years, only to make a roaring comeback down the line?

  While Shawn didn’t admit it openly, his true feelings about the film were similar to the masses. After a twelve-year window between films, it felt almost like a betrayal in its persistent halting of action, repetition of dialogue, and absence of innovation.

  However, after three nights of research and watching the film five more times, his feelings began to shift. While perhaps not Kubrick’s best film, he decided it deserved to be mentioned in the same breath as the big three—Strangelove, 2001, and Clockwork. He had made several startling discoveries he couldn’t wait to share, but he remained stumped about the clue’s meaning.

  That night, he lay awake thinking about Desiree, and wondered if she was having the same trouble he was. He recalled their daring caper into Malcolm McDowell’s house, and searched his memory for a hint of forgiveness. He imagined holding her in his arms, the feeling he’d experienced when she first kissed him on his birthday.

  He couldn’t wait any longer. He opened a message box.

  Thursday, 1:10 a.m.

  Moonwatcher: Desi, you awake?

  Waiting for response from Djacks.

  Moonwatcher: Is everything okay?

  Waiting for response from Djacks.

  Moonwatcher: I would like to discuss the clue with you. Also, I was expelled.

  Waiting for response from Djacks.

  7:19 p.m.

  Missed message from Djacks: Shawn, I need help. I’m

  Waiting for response from Moonwatcher.

  Missed message from Djacks: Disregard previous message. Very busy. Will talk when I’m out of the weeds.

  7:36 p.m.

  Moonwatcher: Desi? Desi? Do you need help with the puzzle or are you in trouble?

  Djacks is offline.

  Friday, 2:38 a.m.

  Men in masks chased Shawn down an unfamiliar New York street. Each person he passed joined in the chase, out for his blood. Dozens of them. He passed Sami and Wilson, but even they joined the mob. A powerful wind blew against him. He turned down an alleyway but hit a dead end. The mob closed in on him.

  Shawn woke up sweating and panting. He hadn’t had such a frightening nightmare since childhood.

  Saturday, 2:44 a.m.

  This time the mob is larger, angrier. They corner him in the alley.

  “Why didn’t I remember to turn the other way?”

  They are inches away and....

  Shawn woke up again.

  Sunday, 6:30 a.m.

  This time Shawn remembers to turn the other way. The wind evaporates and the mob is gone. He runs down an endless dark alleyway. A looming black monolith rises out of the ground before him and emits a shrill screech so loud his ears burn.

  Then, a beeping in the distance.

  “Where is it coming from?”

  He woke up and shut off his phone’s alarm.

  9:00 p.m.

  Initiating Skype video conference with Samira Singh.

  “Hey, Shawn, how’ve you been?”

  “Productive. How about you?”

  “Same. Got the final mix back of The Confession. Turning it in on Monday.”

  “Are you happy with it?”

  “It looks great, thanks to you. What have you been up to?”

  “I watched Eyes Wide Shut twelve times. In between, I’ve been reading everything I can find on dreams and subliminal messages.”

  “Subliminal messages? What for?”

  “It’s complicated. How about you go first? What have you found out about the hand of God?”

  “Should we wait for Wilson?”

  “You’re not with him?”

  “No. I’m at a café in Santa Monica. Wilson wanted time alone to work on the moon clue.”

  Text message from Wilson Devereaux: Finishing something. Please start without me.

  “Okay, I guess we can get started,” said Sami. “As we discussed, I tried to connect the hand of God line with correlating imagery. One image kept coming up. Sending to you now.”

  File transfer in progress....

  “That looks familiar,” Shawn said.

  “It should. It’s a close up of God’s hand reaching for Adam’s, from the Sistine Chapel, painted by Michelangelo. This section is called ‘The Creation of Adam.’ Here, let me send you the full picture.”

  File transfer in progress....

  “It represents God bestowing the divine spark of life upon humanity,” Sami explained. “It’s probably the most iconic image of renaissance art, next to the Mona Lisa.”

  “Kubrick would probably consider Eden stories to be fantasy,” said Shawn.

  “Perhaps, but that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t have appreciated the aesthetic value of the artwork. If anything, it perfectly encapsulates Kubrick’s singular obsession—the power of the image. Michelangelo is considered the all-time master of color, and who uses color more systematically than any other director?”

  “Kubrick.”

  “Yes. And what film was his most vivid and colorful?”

  “Eyes Wide Shut.”

  “Yes! Most scenes are bathed in blues and reds. Chr
istmas lights sparkle at every location. Based on this, I decided to go through his films and see if I could find images that correlated to ‘The Creation of Adam.’”

  “And?”

  “Sending now.”

  File transfer in progress....

  Sami sent him still frames that indeed seemed to mirror the “The Creation of Adam” image—the apes and astronauts and David Bowman reaching for the monolith in 2001, the old drunk pointing toward the gang in Clockwork, the Red Cloak pointing at Bill Harford in Eyes Wide Shut, and the Blue Fairy reaching toward David in A.I.

  Sami continued. “Just as the painting represents the moment God breathed life into Adam, the 2001 monolith represents life being breathed into the apes to trigger their ascendance into proto-man. At the end, dying Dave Bowman reaches toward the monolith again, just like his ape ancestors, and is transformed into the Star Child. In A Clockwork Orange, the old drunk reaches toward Alex before they start beating him, just as the ape-man beat its rival. In Eyes Wide Shut, the Red Cloak spares Bill Harford, essentially granting him his life with a point of a finger, and I even extended my search to A.I., Spielberg’s version of Kubrick’s long-anticipated project. When the blue fairy appears, she extends her wand, transforming the robot boy into a human child.”

  “This is great, Sami. I think you may have cracked this part of puzzle. Now we just have to figure out how it all fits together.”

  “You said you made some discoveries about Eyes Wide Shut?”

  “I believe so. Eyes Wide Shut was a title that Kubrick came up with himself. I think this is his first clue about the film’s hidden meaning. Kubrick is saying to us, you have to keep your eyes wide open when they are shut. In other words, be fully aware when you are in your personal Land of Nod. It’s about lucid dreaming.”

  “Interesting. And I’m assuming there’s more?”

  “Much more. By the time Kubrick was directing Eyes Wide Shut, he had become a master of subliminal filmmaking. It began with The Shining. Before filming, he met with advertising executives to learn how they manipulate the masses through imagery and sound. He seemed to have been experimenting with how imagery, music, and speech work in harmony to influence the subconscious. Why do you think the characters in Eyes Wide Shut repeat so many lines of dialogue? I’m sending you just a few examples, of which there are many more.”