Check Out the Trailer
Director Stanley Kubrick tackles all types of cinema. From war to sci-fi to horror, he has tapped into many genres. Here he adapts a period novel by William Makepeace Thackeray, the writer of VANITY FAIR. In many ways, BARRY LYNDON is the male version of VANITY FAIR.
The story chronicles the rise and fall of Redmond Barry (Ryan O’Neal, LOVE STORY) and how he becomes Barry Lyndon. He is a poor Irish boy who has a grand love for his cousin Nora Brady (Gay Hamilton, THE DUELLISTS), who seduces him, but decides to go for the older solider John Quinn (Leonard Rossiter, OLIVER!). Eventually, Barry challenges Quinn to a duel, which leads Barry to have to flee to Dublin, where he to forced to join the British army, which leads to Barry being forced into the Persian army, which leads Barry to becoming a gambling partner to The Chevalier de Balibari (Patrick Magee, CHARIOTS OF FIRE), which leads to Barry meeting Lady Lyndon (Marisa Berenson, S.O.B.), which leads to Barry becoming Barry Lyndon. Get all that?
The film has a kind of sardonic and pessimistic look on life. Barry starts the film as an idealistic youth, but the reality of his time and place in the world sours him to the noble causes of love and war. However, his loss of these ideals is also the beginning of his eventual downfall.
Kubrick is very deliberate in the way he constructs the film. It starts with the first title: Part I. By What Means Redmond Barry Acquired the Style and Title of Barry Lyndon. Midway through the film the second title reads: Part II. Containing an Account of the Misfortunes and Disasters Which Befell Barry Lyndon. Kubrick is telling us what will happen. This film is clearly a portrait of a life already lived. However, because we know what will happen, we are captivated by how it will happen.
Throughout the film Kubrick uses a still frame or slow zoom in scenes that are lit in a soft light. They often look like oil paintings. It an intriguing choice being that the film is a period piece. The humor in the film is very dry, which fits the roguish characters perfectly. Much of the humor comes from the film’s narrator (Michael Horden, GANDHI). It’s so interesting that when Barry is young and idealistic his misfortunes are not of his own making, but when his misfortunes make him lose his innocence his future misfortunes are all of his own making.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
