u/sanitasea

The vintage black stroller and "Sabrina" (the teeanage witch) combined seem to hint at Rosemary's Baby. A year after this movie's release, its director Polanski's wife Sharon Tate was killed in a brutal mass murder. A night later, Rosemary LaBianca and her husband were murdered by the same Manson family members. These figures in the background in the toy store/stroller scene appear to be connected to these victims of August 1969. The Manson murders have since been interpreted as closing an era - the hippie culture of the 60s.

Tate-LaBianca in Eyes Wide Shut

Glenn Miller was one of the best-selling recording jazz artists of the early 1940s. Here are some facts about him:

- Left university to pursue music full-time.

- Worked as a freelance trombonist and arranger in the 1920s.

- Formed his successful orchestra in 1938. (The Glenn Miller Orchestra)

- Primary instrument: B♭ tenor trombone

- Breakthrough hit: “Moonlight Serenade" (1939)

- Jazz adaptation of Beethoven's classic: "Moonlight Sonata" (1941)

- Joined the U.S. Army in 1942 at age 38. Led the Army Air Forces Band. (Performed for troops across the U.S. and Europe to boost morale)

- The Army Air Forces Band was scheduled to travel from England to Paris in mid-December. The band usually travelled together.

- On 15 Dec 1944, Miller is said to have left early, boarding a small, unofficial military flight, unscheduled for him, accompanied by two officers.

- Miller had not reported this intention to his chain of command; it's mentioned as a 'casual', 'opportunistic' flight, since he allegedly wanted to organise logistics in Paris before the band's performance.

- The aircraft reportedly vanished over the English Channel, no trace found.

- On December 24, 1944, Miller's disappearance was announced to the press, stressing that no members of his unit were with him aboard the missing airplane.

- Cause of disappearance remains unknown.

Now some highlights from Eyes Wide Shut:

- Nick Nightingale left university to play (jazz) music full-time.

- Nick played at "Sonata" Jazz where we see "moon"-shaped lamps on the tables. Moonlight Sonata and Moonlight Serenade are both evoked. Beethoven is further evoked through the password 'fidelio'.

- Nick is "a long way from home" (Miller was from US but was in England)

- Before entering the cafe/bar, Bill stands in front of the poster and we see Bobby Berman's photo close-up, in the last seconds. Nick introduces him as "the one and only Bobby Berman" at the end of the performance, and shortly after, we see Berman as the focus in the frame between the curtains. The initials B.B. remind of Miller's signature instrument: Bb Trombone.

- Bill stands in front of the Miller (beer) sign when he enters. Then he orders and drinks a beer. The surname Be(e)rman also rings an association.

- When Bill goes to the hotel, the receptionist tells him that he left with 'two men': - "Big guys. I mean they were very well-dressed and very well-spoken, but they weren't the kind of people you'd fool around with."

- Ziegler later tells Bill not to worry about Nick, that "All they did was put Nick on a plane to Seattle."

There are some other mentions and signs of 'Miller' throughout the movie, but I will finish the list here.

Maybe neither Nightingale nor Miller boarded any plane? Maybe both had seen or said something they shouldn't have.

Whatever happened, Glenn Miller's music is fantastic and lives on, and he remains a Legend.

I think this scene in Eyes Wide Shut is about the press, and communications/media in general. This is how I arrived at this conclusion:

The newspaper dispensers, the mail boxes, and finally the kiosk selling newspapers/magazines all point to the same concept. So I decided to dig about 'Verona' around this context. I found out about the Verona Congress, held in 1822, which was a topic of conspiracy the next year in 1823, when the London Morning Chronicle published a document referred to as "The Secret Treaty of Verona". A newspaper in Paris also followed in publishing this 'secret treaty', but the publisher was sent to jail and this document was immediately announced to be a fabrication across Europe.

The Secret Treaty of Verona was an alleged agreement between European powers (Austria, France, Prussia, Russia) to suppress representative governments and press freedoms across Europe.

Article 2 of the treaty pledged that the high contracting powers would suppress the liberty of the press to protect monarchical rule from democratic movements across Europe.

Almost a century later, this document appeared again in history as it was brought to the attention of the US Senate in 1916.

The concept of control/freedom of press seems to be linked to the newspaper Bill buys from the kiosk.

https://preview.redd.it/qzwpr38hg5vg1.jpg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8f7be84b58a23fca6a016c23480b597435e49852

The cover reads: "Lucky To Be Alive" (strangely describing Bill's recent situation) and the news article about Mandy's death portrays it as an incident of accidental/suicidal overdose (while still including some subtle hints of foulplay as it mentions 'two men' taking her to the hotel room)

The same newspaper New York Post and the same writer Larry Celona is known to publish about Epstein's 'suicide'.

Another link to the notion of press freedom/control in the kiosk scene is the "§ 2.30" sign on the glass:

https://preview.redd.it/hgk52ncdg5vg1.jpg?width=700&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f2f2ed5d9e3b92d885f7f3cd0bd9f4339f60654d

Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 (47 U.S.C. § 230***) is a foundational US law that shields interactive computer services (like websites and social media platforms) from liability for third-party content. Enacted on February 8, 1996, it establishes that providers are not treated as the publisher or speaker of information provided by users.***

(Section 230 has recently returned to the spotlight as lawsuits against major social media platforms, including Meta, have raised questions about the extent of legal immunity these companies should receive.)

In short, the Verona Restaurant scene overall seems to allude to the theme of controlled/manipulated media.

What do you think?