Barry Lyndon

  After spending over half a year at home on my desk, I finally made time to sit down and watch Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon. The film, an 18th century English period drama tells the relativley simple story of one's man's rise and demise up the social latter of life. Ryan O'Neal stars as Barry, a man not born into wealth but has an unstoppable appetite to obtain it. After his time in the army he decides to marry into wealth. Once inn this family a rivalry quickly starts up between him and his new step-son. A rivalry that's played out all the way to the very end. 

  Now, Stanley Kubrick is widely considered to be one of the greatest men ever to set foot behind a camera. His attention to even the smallest detail is legendary as is his infamous tracking shots, cold characters, beautiful cinematography, lavish set pieces, and his curious desire to always tackle provocative material. Here with Lyndon we see Kubrick at his most tame. He makes Barry into a real flesh and blood person who just by coincidence we feel happens to have a three hour movie about them. Barry is not a very complex individual and not a very likeable one as well, but it's precisely for this very reason the Barry Lyndon is so remarkable. It's the kind of film was has to completely surrender to in order for it to have any impact. This to some may sound like a perfect recipe for boredom, but to more daring filmgoers a clear example of a bold artistic vision made by a man most would cinephiles only envy.  

B

1975