Barry Lyndon

Rating:
Summary: A beautiful historic costume epic, but a so-so DVD
Review: The great Stanley Kubrick was a bit of a cinematic chameleon. None of his films looked anything like the next one. For the most part, they were all of different film genres and generally set a standard for that particular genre. Barry Lyndon, then, is Stanley Kubrick's take on the historical costume genre. Over the years, unfortunately, people have come to regard this film as lesser Kubrick, not up to par with 2001 or Dr. Strangelove.

When I first saw Barry Lyndon in college, I must admit I thought the film was a little long and somewhat boring. But something about the film nevertheless fascinated me. A year back, I decided, on a whim, to purchase the Barry Lyndon DVD and re-watch this film. I'm glad I did.

Yes, Barry Lyndon is almost 3 hours long, and Kubrick's deliberate, methodical pacing will dearly try the patience of those of us weaned on fast MTV-style editing. Yet, the film is glorious to watch. The cinematography of the film is absolutely breath-taking. In countless scene after scene, Kubrick has created images that, if paused on your DVD player, could easily pass for a period painting of the era. The film is *that* beautiful. And he created a special lens that was able to photograph in natural light and candle light - not a great feat nowadays but an astounding achievement 25 years ago when this film was created. The film won a well-deserved Oscar for cinematography, as well as for costume design and art direction and musical scoring. As far as the Academy Awards are concerned, this is probably Kubrick's most decorated film.

The plot follows the rise and fall of one Redmond Barry and how he achieves great wealth and power only to lose it all by the end of the film. Ryan O'Neil is Redmond Barry, and while some people may scoff at this casting choice, he does a decent job in the role. Marisa Berenson, regarded in the 1970s as an international beauty, portrayed the Countess Lyndon whom Redmond Barry marries for wealth.

There are numerous stand-out scenes in the film, thanks to Kubrick's perfectionist strive. The gun-duels, especially the last one, are suspenseful and superbly filmed. The battle scenes, while sterile and blood-less in comparison to recent films like The Patriot or Braveheart, are well-done. And the romance scenes (in a Kubrick film? But yes!) are sweet or amusing or lustful, depending on Kubrick's intentions. The great thing about a DVD is that it allows you to watch your favorite scene over and over again, and Barry Lyndon is a film filled with scenes that can be appreciated in such a fashion.

Now...a word about the Warner Brothers DVD. Warner Brothers has gotten a lot of grief about the haste with which they produced these Kubrick DVDs in the wake of the director's death. Most are bare-bones and don't have the best transfers, to be polite. Such is the case with the Barry Lyndon DVD. The DVD includes only from production notes, a trailer, subtitles, and a list of awards. That's about it. And the image quality, while certainly better than VHS, is not as good as it could have been. In other words, Warner Brothers transfered a decent print but made NO effort to restore it. The DVD still looks good, but it could have looked a LOT better, too. The sound is monophonic, as Kubrick usually preferred, so that's what you get on the DVD. Still, I think Warner Brothers could have put in some effort, like was done with the restoration for Vertigo DVD for example, and produced a really high quality DVD. Kubrick is one of our greatest directors; he deserved better treatment.

Anyways, so the film is great, but the DVD is so-so. At least it's a budget DVD. If you enjoy this film, you may either purchase it cheaply now....or wait indefinitely until Warner Brothers decides to produce a special edition of Barry Lyndon in the inconceivable future.

Rating:
Summary: Easily Worth A Thousand Viewings
Review: Some people may complain about the slower pacing of "Barry Lyndon". They are missing the point : this film is not about moving from plot point A to plot point B in the most efficient way possible - you want that, go see a Ron Bass movie.

"Barry Lyndon", unlike many movies which trip all over themselves to twist the audiences expectations, does take it's time; but it is for the journey that we must embark. Every character, every set, every line of dialogue, every frame has been touched by a craftman unequaled in his lifetime. From the highly detailed production design to the flowery, and at times, comical dialogue Kubrick has created a true vision of life in aristocratic Europe.

But instead of celebrating the chivalry and heroism of the period Kubrick peels away the layers of legend to reveal the true nature of kings and generals. He satirically castigating royalty and soldiers alike as petty and decadant rogues, who pay lip service to honor while stealing all they can to support their lifestyle (or "the manner with which they'd become accustomed"). And Barry, being from humble roots, is all too eager to play the game in exchange for a place at the table.

The film is both a literary and visual masterpiece. The former is likely due to the abilities of W.M. Thacker who wrote the book upon which the movie was based. Only a novel could be so rich in detail while mantaining it's overall theme. The latter, is all Kubrick - always a visual genius, the man invented a new lens system so he could film the whole thing with natural light. Amazing. At certain points in the movie, you will be wondering if that river or meadow in the background is a matte painting or if, in fact, a place that scenic does indeed exist.

I've seen the movie three or four times, I watch key scenes over and over again. To me, it's one of the funniest movies ever made. The fact that Kubrick made it also makes it one of the best.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful Photographs of Pale Rich Euros
Review: "Barry Lyndon" is Stanley Kubrick's forgotten "masterpiece". Sandwiched chronologically between "A Clockwork Orange" (1971) and "The Shining" (1980), it has received less adulation from the press and public than some of Kubrick's other triumphs ("Dr. Strangelove"; "2001: A Space Odyssey") and did poorly at the box office upon its initial release in 1975.

Based on the 1844 William Makepeace Thackeray novel "The Luck of Barry Lyndon" (with some of the usual artistic liberties that Kubrick often took with his adaptations of books) this film follows the travails of Redmond Barry, an 18th century, hot-headed, charmingly unscrupulous Irish rapscallion who will stop at nothing to join the ranks of the British aristocracy.

Through a series of mishaps and misadventures, we follow Barry from his native Ireland through the Seven Years' War (1756-63), through the grand gambling palaces of Europe where he eventually woos and marries the beautiful and wealthy Lady Lyndon and adopts her name, much to the chagrin of her son Lord Bullingdon, who vows never to let Barry achieve his dream of joining the gentry.

Kubrick's ace-in-the-hole is his D.P. John Alcott who deservedly won an Oscar for Best Cinematography. Shot in Ireland, Germany and England, the viewer constantly gets the feeling of viewing a classic 18th century painting. It never gets dull watching the absolute beauty of this film, and I personally marvelled at all the hard work that must have gone into making it.

The music is also wonderful, as Kubrick once again shows excellent taste in which music fits a particular scene. The film's opening scenes have gorgeous Irish folk music from The Chieftains, and its later passages are eloquently followed by the works of J.S. Bach and Vivaldi...and are repeated so often it's impossible for their concertos not to get stuck in your head!

The acting itself is above average, but somewhat mixed. Ryan O'Neal is adequate as Barry Lyndon, although his attempts at an Irish accent are so-so at best. He frequently fades into his SoCal drawl during the film. He manages to hold the film together, but he is not its strongest performer. Marisa Berenson (Lady Lyndon) isn't given much to do here, but she makes the most of her isolation and melancholy. The true stars are Leon Vitali (disgustingly weasely and sadly sympathetic as the adult Lord Bullingdon) and Murray Melvin (the cold, restrained Reverand Runt). Both actors steal every scene which features them. I got the feeling that Kubrick focused so much on the photography of "Barry Lyndon" that the film's acting suffered as a result. Maybe Kubrick wanted to illustrate the coldness of the British upper classes. If so, then mission accomplished.

Much has been noted of this film's "coldness" and much of it is deserved. Michael Hordern's narration helps explain the historical context to the viewer and gives a human perspective to things, but sometimes takes away from some of the film's drama. Despite the valid accusations of coldness, it should be noted that there is restrained passion here in certain scenes (especially between the young Redmond Barry and his first love, his cousin Nora Brady) and that you'll be hard-pressed to find ANY Kubrick film with large amounts of emotional warmth.

Another thing that merits mentioning is the film's pacing and length. It clocks in at 3 hours and 4 minutes, and the final climax between Barry Lyndon and Lord Bullingdon is UNBELIEVEABLY slow. I highly recommend taking a snack break or a quick walk during the film's intermission. If you're looking for fast-paced action, this is not the place to find it. However, if you are willing to be challenged and allow yourself to slowly follow the 18th century aristocratic pace of life, you will enjoy this film.

Perhaps ironically for such an ornate film, the DVD itself does not come with many frills aside from a theatrical trailer. No commentaries, no behind-the-scenes documentaries, no cast biographies.

Overall, "Barry Lyndon" is definitely quality viewing for the Stanley Kubrick enthusiast. This movie is decidedly NOT mainstream Hollywood fare, and is a challenging and beautiful examination of the mores and prejudices of 18th century European high society.

Rating:
Summary: The most beautiful movie ever made!
Review: This movie took more than 3 years in the making. Kubrick decided to film it instead of Napoleon, a project wich proved to be too expensive for the movie industry (he planned to shoot battles with 40000 men). Barry Lyndon tels the story of a poor Irish man who climbs the stairs of society in a ruthless pursuit of power. This is, in my opinion, the most beautifully photographed film ever made. Kubrick made every scene look like a 18th century painting, and payed U$200.000 for special lenses that allowed to shoot scenes with candle light only. The beauty, however, is not in the service of emotion, it'd disdainful of it. The movie's main message is that we live in a cruel, brutal, competitive, dehumanized world, a recurrent theme in kubrick's work. When, for the first time, Barry makes a generous gesture towards a person he loses everything he conquered. You MUST see this movie. It's an unforgettable experience.

Rating:
Summary: Eighteenth Century Comes to Life
Review: I saw this movie when it come out on the big screen, and I was blown away. I love Stanley Kubrick, but at the time, I really despised Ryan O'Neill so I hesitated to see the movie. Boy, was I glad I did.
I've read Thackeray's novel, and I really think that Kubrick was true to the story, almost to the letter of the book. Even though the movie was long, it was so beautiful to look at, that I found it to be a pleasure, and the 3 plus hours just flew by.
I especially loved the use of all natural light, including filming in candelight, and like other folks who have reviewed this movie, the frames were like pictures that had come to life. Lady Lyndon looked just like one of Gainsborough's peaches & cream wind-blown beauties, it was breathtaking.
The worst part of the movie was Ryan O'Neill, he's a rotten actor, really wooden, and his frat boy looks were not consistent with my mind's picture of Redmond Barry.
But even he did ok under Kubrick's guidance. I wonder how this movie would have turned out if there had been a really good young actor in the lead role.
In any event, Barry Lyndon is a masterpeice, and should not be missed.

Rating:
Summary: A Worthy Masterpiece
Review: If you appreciate good filmmaking you must watch this film! This is an artistic masterpiece for those who appreciation the visual arts. Some reviewers might complain as to the lack of character development, which I agree with, but I don't think it was in Kubrick's interest to have the viewer identify with Ryan O'neal, that focus would do a disservice to the viewer in that it would make him ignore the films more aesthetic qualities. Like a great masterpiece Barry Lyndon's magic does not lie with a single character but with the work itself. Barry Lyndon's strengths lie in the totality of the film and in the immense beauty that is found in every scene. This film is grandeur immortalized, a picturesque view of 18th century Europe. This is a delightful film, and cannot be measured in terms of success and mass appeal, this film is well beyond that.

Rating:
Summary: Unique
Review: "Barry Lyndon" is the film Kubrick made between "A Clockwork Orange" and "The Shining" and it finds him at the height of his powers.

It is technically superb and stunning to look at - Kubrick had special lenses invented especially for the film that allowed him to film in natural light, without a lighting rig. He also organised his compositions to directly resemble oil paintings from the era. This gives the movie a unique look. It is, as I've read another reviewer claim, "like seeing paintings come to life."

It's a curiously muted piece, emotionally speaking. Like its predecessor "2001", it is split into sections, and - although it has much more dialogue and narrative than his sci-fi masterpiece - "Barry Lyndon" can almost be regarded as "2001" in the eighteenth century - a vast, ambitious tour through an era. It's a movie that is intent on showing us things, on exploring an environment. The great critic for the New Yorker commented in her review of it, "Barry Lyndon shows us that objects are beautiful and people are ugly." (Or something like that). There is a truth to this. There aren't really any sympathetic characters in "Barry Lyndon". Everyone has an agenda, everyone is out for themselves. We aren't asked to like the title character (An understated Ryan O'Neal).

I wouldn't go as far as to say the story of "Barry Lyndon", which follows a poor young Irish lad's ascent into the British gentry, by way of volunteering for the armed forces, gambling, skullduggery and gradual skullduggery is irrelevant, but Kubrick seems more concerned here with individual scenes than with the tale as a whole.

Kubrick made films in many different genres and never really repeated himself. However, from the War Room of "Strangelove", through the mansion of "The Shining" to the boot camp of "Full Metal Jacket" one recurring theme emerges: dehumanisation. Kubrick points up the differences between society then and society now better than anyone in the cinema has been able to, but "Barry Lyndon" again deals with this theme of dehumanisation. It seems to suggest that some things never change. People were on the make in the eighteenth century as they are today, people have been casually cruel to their fellow man throughout human history.

It's technically flawless, the music is beautiful, and despite being one of Kubrick's less celebrated films, it is one of his best, and probably the one that is most characteristic of his cinematic vision.

Unique.

Rating:
Summary: A Beautifully-Photographed Kubrick Period Piece
Review: I saw this film a long while back, at the peak of my Stanley Kubrick fandom, so I do admit to a certain amount of bias with the following review. As in any Kubrick film, the photography is gorgeous. The images gracefully flow along to handpicked music selections. Another impressive aspect of Barry Lyndon that I'd like to note is that Kubrick dared to take the authentic costumes outside: when in most period films this leads to drab colors and muddiness, Barry Lyndon always knows how to keep it ornate and very well-lit (naturally). There are many people that hate this movie and even more that adore it, mainly because of its length and somewhat controversial casting: I am apparently part of a minority that thinks that Ryan O'Neal's performance was an appropriate one. Anyway, whatever arguments are made, the film has a glorious style to it which open minds will appreciate.

Rating:
Summary: Stunning Cinematography For a Subtle Tragedy
Review: _Barry Lyndon_ is absolutely stunning to watch. Kubrick's masterful hand at orchestrating sweeping views of naturally lit countryside transports the audience into the 18th century and alongside our characters. Some complain that Kubrick, while commanding the visual aspects of the film, allows the acting to fall by the wayside. Ryan O'Neill does not do an adequate job as Lyndon, it is claimed, failing to capture the character's motivation and nature. I disagree most strongly on this point. Kubrick and O'Neill have managed to capture a human being, one who defies the trend of most Hollywood films and popular fiction. Lyndon is not the loveable character-his rise to power is not paved with nobility and honor, nor is his downfall laced with a deep sense of tragedy. Yet, I still feel for Lyndon's character in the declining stages of his life. Just as he is not completely approachable, he is not repulsive either. By allowing this level of subtlety to emerge from the character, Kubrick and O'Neill have managed to create a tragedy more along the lines of Shakespeare's _Coriolanus_ than some sentimental special on the Hallmark channel.

_Barry Lyndon_ clocks in at just over three hours, breaking once in the middle for an intermission. For its visual appeal, it is worthy every penny, though it may leave some members of the audience wishing for quicker pacing and a plotline that is easier to digest. If you have the time and are a fan of Kubrick's masterpieces, I could not recommend this film more highly-just make some popcorn during the intermission and stretch your legs.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful Photographs of Pale Rich Euros
Review: "Barry Lyndon" is Stanley Kubrick's forgotten "masterpiece". Sandwiched chronologically between "A Clockwork Orange" (1971) and "The Shining" (1980), it has received less adulation from the press and public than some of Kubrick's other triumphs ("Dr. Strangelove"; "2001: A Space Odyssey") and did poorly at the box office upon its initial release in 1975.

Based on the 1844 William Makepeace Thackeray novel "The Luck of Barry Lyndon" (with some of the usual artistic liberties that Kubrick often took with his adaptations of books) this film follows the travails of Redmond Barry, an 18th century, hot-headed, charmingly unscrupulous Irish rapscallion who will stop at nothing to join the ranks of the British aristocracy.

Through a series of mishaps and misadventures, we follow Barry from his native Ireland through the Seven Years' War (1756-63), through the grand gambling palaces of Europe where he eventually woos and marries the beautiful and wealthy Lady Lyndon and adopts her name, much to the chagrin of her son Lord Bullingdon, who vows never to let Barry achieve his dream of joining the gentry.

Kubrick's ace-in-the-hole is his D.P. John Alcott who deservedly won an Oscar for Best Cinematography. Shot in Ireland, Germany and England, the viewer constantly gets the feeling of viewing a classic 18th century painting. It never gets dull watching the absolute beauty of this film, and I personally marvelled at all the hard work that must have gone into making it.

The music is also wonderful, as Kubrick once again shows excellent taste in which music fits a particular scene. The film's opening scenes have gorgeous Irish folk music from The Chieftains, and its later passages are eloquently followed by the works of J.S. Bach and Vivaldi...and are repeated so often it's impossible for their concertos not to get stuck in your head!

The acting itself is above average, but somewhat mixed. Ryan O'Neal is adequate as Barry Lyndon, although his attempts at an Irish accent are so-so at best. He frequently fades into his SoCal drawl during the film. He manages to hold the film together, but he is not its strongest performer. Marisa Berenson (Lady Lyndon) isn't given much to do here, but she makes the most of her isolation and melancholy. The true stars are Leon Vitali (disgustingly weasely and sadly sympathetic as the adult Lord Bullingdon) and Murray Melvin (the cold, restrained Reverand Runt). Both actors steal every scene which features them. I got the feeling that Kubrick focused so much on the photography of "Barry Lyndon" that the film's acting suffered as a result. Maybe Kubrick wanted to illustrate the coldness of the British upper classes. If so, then mission accomplished.

Much has been noted of this film's "coldness" and much of it is deserved. Michael Hordern's narration helps explain the historical context to the viewer and gives a human perspective to things, but sometimes takes away from some of the film's drama. Despite the valid accusations of coldness, it should be noted that there is restrained passion here in certain scenes (especially between the young Redmond Barry and his first love, his cousin Nora Brady) and that you'll be hard-pressed to find ANY Kubrick film with large amounts of emotional warmth.

Another thing that merits mentioning is the film's pacing and length. It clocks in at 3 hours and 4 minutes, and the final climax between Barry Lyndon and Lord Bullingdon is UNBELIEVEABLY slow. I highly recommend taking a snack break or a quick walk during the film's intermission. If you're looking for fast-paced action, this is not the place to find it. However, if you are willing to be challenged and allow yourself to slowly follow the 18th century aristocratic pace of life, you will enjoy this film.

Perhaps ironically for such an ornate film, the DVD itself does not come with many frills aside from a theatrical trailer. No commentaries, no behind-the-scenes documentaries, no cast biographies.

Overall, "Barry Lyndon" is definitely quality viewing for the Stanley Kubrick enthusiast. This movie is decidedly NOT mainstream Hollywood fare, and is a challenging and beautiful examination of the mores and prejudices of 18th century European high society.