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| The simple, elegant poster for Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon |
Barry Lyndon is an adaption of a 1844 novel by William Makepeace Thackeray titled The Luck of Barry Lyndon. It is the second of American master director Stanley Kubrick's (Spartacus (1960)) two 1970's movies, the previous one being A Clockwork Orange (1971). He would make only three more films in his career after Lyndon: The Shining (1980), his greatest film of them all, and the great Full Metal Jacket (1987) and Eyes Wide Shut (1999).
Barry Lyndon is a young Irishman in the early 19th century, who falls in love and jumps head-strong into trouble, as the object of his affection is to marry an English captain. This begins the tale of his life's adventure, which leads him around Europe as an opportunistic charmer, until he, somewhat disillusioned, marries a beautiful and wealthy countess, whom he doesn't love, and starts to squander his life thus.
This grand period drama, arranged in two parts with an intermission in between, captivates with its smart writing, incredibly beautiful images and Ryan O'Neal (What's Up, Doc? (1972)) in the title lead as the sympathetic, emotional Lyndon, whom most of us will like at times and dislike at others, but always want to follow due to O'Neal's sincere performance. Lyndon is a man who, for most of the story, seems to just follow his luck and do what seems to be the best thing for himself at any given moment. (Which is something most will probably be able to feel empathic about.)
Backing him up are some wonderful performers: Marisa Berenson (Death in Venice (1971)) is perfect as his unfulfilled, melancholic wife the countess, and Murray Melvin (A Taste of Honey (1961)) is equally audacious as Reverend Samuel Runt. Their facial qualities are heightened to great effect by exquisite make-up, hair, wigs, and costumes of supreme level, and it is no wonder that the film won an Oscar for Best Costumes (besides for Best Music, Cinematography and Art-Direction/Set-Decoration.)
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| Murray Melvin in the middle and Marisa Berenson to the right in this still of one of the solely candle-lit scenes in Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon |
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| Ryan O'Neal and Marisa Berenson, majestically attired in another still with much more light and therefore details from Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon |
The details:
Michael Hordern (Labyrinth (1986)) lends his pleasant, great voice to the film as its narrator, who is sometimes declared unreliable, (by film critics or scholars.) He certainly sets a knowing, darkly humorous, and later a little sad tone for the epic.
Barry Lyndon is remarkable also for its impressive ambition to be shot without electrical lights, which seemed to have been mostly kept during its production, where some scenes are only lid by candlelights, which drastically diminishes the quality of the images a camera can shoot. The challenging idea is carried out masterfully by Oscar-winning cinematographer John Alcott (The Shining (1980)).
Barry Lyndon has stunning, picturesque images, an accomplishment which relies on a mix of careful production, composition and visual inspiration. The film also delights with Kubrick's choice of great classical masterworks by composers like Handel, Bach, Mozart, Schubert, Paisiello, Vivaldi as well as Irish folk songs. All this music isn't crammed into the picture, because there's time:
At 184 minutes, Barry Lyndon is a long film, and it's 3rd act also is a bit longer than it ought to be in my opinion.
Still, duels, tableaus, incredible horse-shots and all, Barry Lyndon is a tremendously fine experience, well-acted, realistic as a period depiction, and with heavy literary and picturesque qualities.
Related reviews:
Stanley Kubrick: A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) - A robot fairytale with both heart and mind (concept only)
The Shining (1980) - Kubrick's descent into madness is a timeless masterpiece
Top 10: The best adaptations reviewed by Film Excess to date
A Clockwork Orange (1971) or, Outrage! The intellectual sci-fi-prison-crime-drama Shocker!
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) or, Humanity and Space
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| England goes to war! In Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon |
Watch the braggadocio trailer here
Cost: Est. 11 mil. $
Box office: Reported 20.1 mil. $
= Big flop
What do you think of Barry Lyndon?
What is Kubrick's greatest film in your opinion?
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