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Barry Lyndon

Barry Lyndon

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Not the Best Kubrick film, but depend on what your favorite.
Review: An Eighteenth-Century Rogue named Barry Lyndon (Ryan O`Neal in a fine role) tries his best between fighting in the Battlefields of War and Parlors in Eupore going though Seduction, Gambling, Dueling and having a family of his own, in the life and times of Lyndon.

Directed by Stanley Kubrick (The Shining, Full Metal Jacket, Eyes Wide Shut) is a well made film but it`s a Flawed (at times too long) Masterpiece. The Film is Winner of Four Adacemy Awards-Including:Best Art Direction-Set Direction, Best Cineamtography, Best Costume Design and Best Score. The Film was also Nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director and Best Picture all by Stanley Kybrick. The Best Thing about this Film is the exquisitely lush cinematography by John Alcott (Terror Train). Based on the Novel by William Makepeace Thackeray. DVD`s has an clean non-anamorphic Widescreen (1.66:1) transfer and an OK Dolby Digital 1.0 Mono Sound. Die-Hard fans of Kubrick will love this one. Grade:B+.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Watching grass grow is more fun
Review: After the success of A Clockwork Orange Kubrick made this dud. It is based on a minor Thackery novel about a man who aquires wealth but is not accepted by the landed gentry. He spends huge amounts of money trying to get a title, and in the end loses everthing including a leg. Yes it has no contemporary relevance to anything.

The strong point of the film is the photography. The sets, the costumes are all great. However it is like a slow moving tableau rather than a film. The things which make films interesting are some plot, a bit of pace and maybee some issues which are interesting.

This film seems to go for at least three hours, maybee it goes for two. It is hard to work up any enthusiasm for the hero as he is such a groveller to the upper class. I mean other people did different things in the time it was set. They could enter politics, go to India or write small satyrical journals. Lyndon just slobs around and gets upset about his non acceptance.

The humour is also dreadful. As a service to humanity all existing copies of the DVD should be destroyed.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Rogues World
Review: I love this film because it is like watching several films at one time. There is the picaresque story of Barry Lyndon, full of love, duels, highway robbery, war, card sharping, and swindling the rich. But while Barry is busy being victim to roguery and then becoming one himself Kubrick also sets out to study society which in his view is completely corrupt from top to bottom. So there is a kind of comedy and tragedy going on simultaneously. Its brilliantly well blended. You find yourself laughing at Barrys antics one minute and then that famous Kubrick camera will pull back and show you the rest of the larger picture quite literally. It is about as unsentimental a potrait of society and human nature as exists on film. Perhaps Kubrick is saying that it is the society we are born into that does the corrupting or perhaps he is saying we are all by nature corrupt, you can make up you own mind. You will have plenty of time to decide(3+ hours) but you will not be bored. As costume epics go this one has plenty of adventure, from battlefield scenes to drawing room intrigue, and all takes place in a period detail rich atmosphere. Most period dramas feel like they over romanticize the epoch they are recreating this does just the opposite. Kubrick shows the literal dirt as well as the dirty underside of his characters. The music is perfect too, as it always is in Kubrick works. Schuberts Trio in E-flat has been used in other movies but I believe nowhere has it been used more appropriately, here it is the sound of life naturally and inevitably following its predetermined course. A predictable course is the human course in this film because human nature is without fail drawn away from light and into dark deceit. Barry begins so innocently and in the beginning he is so easily duped but by the end he has learned that there are only two kinds of humans, those who deceive and those who are deceived. Not my world view but it does make for an intensely enjoyable few hours. One of those movies that are so good you want to compare the experience to reading but of course Kubrick says as much with the way he frames his shots as many novelists do with words. Great cinema. Ryan Oneal doesn't seem the obvious choice for this role but its hard to think of someone who could have done it better. You can't help but like him because you believe he does what he does and becomes what he becomes because he just doesn't know any better. Ryan Oneal has that kind of untouched by the world innocence, and also a very good confused and hopelessly lost look. Both are crucial for the role. Each character actor, and there are many, is better than the last. And Marisa Berenson a very memorable beauty.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Beautiful yes, but flawed
Review: I was curious to see "Barry Lyndon" because it was accorded a rare one-week run at Film Forum in Manhattan; I wasn't able to see it at that time, but I rented it soon after, in spite of the fact that I remember it's being something of a failure at the time of its initial release.

Well! I was quite blown away by the beautiful photography and sensitive handling of every scene in the first half of this film. It's everything the other reviewers have said of its remarkable evocation of bygone era. I was enthusiastic about it, and so were my fellows watching it with me, all the way up through the intermission period. Then, I put in the second half.

Although it is true that we always know Barry to be a rogue, I did not dislike him through that first half. However, his character deteriorated sharply in the second half, and I for one could not trace a logical evolution for this. Yes, I understand the IDEA that he let it go all to his head and became too much of an overreacher. But it seemed too much of an on off switch--first he was a nice rascal, then he was a mean one. So the second half seemed unmotivated for me, and I was sad to see that happen.

Be that as it may, I would certainly recommend anyone with an interest in period furniture, art, history, whatever to see "Barry Lyndon". It is a painting come to life, and I only wish I had been able to enjoy the second half as much as I had the first.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A MASTERPIECE
Review: When you watch this movie, it's unbelievable, it's such a piece of art in so many senses, that it seems you're watching and Eighteenth Century painting by Van Dyck, actually moving. The settings, the décors, the cinematography, the costumes, everything is awesome and so meticously right!! Let's talk about attention to Period Detail!!, and here we have a masterpiece. Besides, it is a sensitive, excellently told, touching story....the rise and fall of Redmond Barry(-Lyndon). Ryan O'Neal has never been better, I wouldn't have dared to thought he could be so effective in a film role. Marisa Berenson, designer Elsa Schiapparelli's grandadughter and former model, is like a living-suffering vision, she looks stunning, and she's perfectly directed by the master Kubrick; her role requires almost nothing of dialogue, only the transmission of her emotions and feelings to the public without saying a word!! And really, she does an excellent job. The rest of the cast is very good. Although it may seem slow-paced to some viewers, the story never, never gets boring, because the film is so perfectly edited. I can't say enough about this film. All period films I've seen, really can't compare to this work of art.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: An acquired taste, but still worth a look.
Review: "Barry Lyndon" is a handsomely-produced, stunningly photographed movie that ranks among Kubrick's best-looking films. This film cost $11 million to make (a huge budget for a 1975 film), and you can see exactly how the money was spent. Kubrick, a photagrapher himself, used natural lighting when shooting interiors, and you can see the attention to detail from the first frame to the last. But while it may be Kubrick's most visually stunning film, it's also among his weakest. Ryan O'Neil is miscast as Redmond Barry, the Irishman who manipulates his way from poverty to wealth during this 3 hour film. His performance has a few bright spots but is otherwise blank in expression. The rest of the supporting cast fares much better. But don't let its flaws or its length discourage you. While this film pales in comparison to his classics like "A Clockwork Orange" and "2001: A Space Odyssey," "Barry Lyndon" has virtues of its own to make it watchable. View with an open mind, and you will be rewarded.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Exquisite.
Review: Watching "BARRY LYNDON" reminds me of reading those long epic novels in English Lit. Class in High School. While some critic have accused Kubrick of being excessive in his slow-paced, long and detailed directing method, I found this film to be perfectly paced and quite rewarding. Of course, I'm biased because I love Kubrick's work, but anyone who enjoys great storytelling, fine performances and flawless direction will be more than amply fed with several viewings of "Barry Lyndon". Part of Kubrick's genius and the finely understated acting of Ryan O'Neal is how we feel sorry for Redmond at the start of the film, but loathe him by the end. This film must be seen to be truly appeciated.
A masterpiece.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Magnificent Transfer
Review: This great film has been marvelously restored and transferred to DVD, it's the best of the recent transfers from warner of Kubrick films, the wordt being The Shining, even that wasn't too bad but suffered from some artifacing problems. not Barry Lyndon though the Transfer is Flawless :)

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: PRETTY AS A PICTURE
Review: Stanley Kubricks's long picturesque saga of an Irish rogue in 18th Century Europe is certainly the most entertaining costume drama ever made. Each frame of the film is filled with visual splendor as meticulous as a classic painting. Panoramic battle scenes and richly detailed costume and set designs come alive as from an artist's palette. Ryan O'Neal's bogus Irish accent is easily forgiven as he seems merely a prop in the center of Kubrick's vision of European aristocracy in conflict with an Irishman's independence. The pistol dueling scenes are outstanding.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Is it or isn't it???
Review: Firstly, I would like to say that I recognize Kubrick as a director with an amazing vision of how films should look, and he certainly portrays Redmond Barry's world with extreme beauty and an attention to detail never since achieved in any costume drama.

However, I must say that this is probably one of the most self-indulgent films I have ever seen. Kubrick films exude his unique style, however that is all there is to this film, Kubrick style. That is why I have given this film 3 stars. His talent for cinematography is unrivalled, and just for that this picture is worth three stars.

Films, however, need more than just a great score and cinematic artistry. They also need interesting(not necessarily likebale) characters whom engage the audience. I was at odds to find a character who earned my sympathy at all, even Barry's wife, whom is treated so abysmally by the protagonist, fails to gain any sympathy at all.

The character of Barry is unlikebale at best, and throughout the film, his success and rise into the upper echelons of society is given to the fact that he is full of energy and determination. However O'Neal exhibits such a minute range of emotions that his energy is just non-existent. It's as if Kubrick told O'Neal just to make sure he looked gormless for three hours in order to repulse the audience.

This film is watchable because of Kubrick's talent, and unfortunately that is not quite enough for a film to hold one's attention for three hours. The story is so deliberately paced that I would only recommend this film to Kubrick fans interested in viewing his ability to create the world of Redmond Barry, albeit a very dull one.


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