Barry Lyndon
d. Stanley Kubrick, 1975
There's never been a film quite like Barry Lyndon. Sure, there's been plenty of period pieces, but none come close to achieving the kind of profound artistry found in Kubrick's film. It's easily one of the most beautiful color films ever made; the images are so striking that part of me doesn't really care whether it's a masterpiece on any other terms. However, Barry Lyndon is also an amazing achievement in storytelling and is as engaging as any film I've seen.
The story takes place in the late 1700s, it begins in Ireland with a young man, Redmond Barry (Ryan O'Neil), spending some time with the cousin he has fallen in love with. The voice-over narration brings us right into this narrative; a world that is as foreign as the one in Kubrick's last picture, the disappointing Clockwork Orange.
Barry is so taken with his cousin Nora, that he is willing to duel a Brittish officer who plans to marry her. He ends up killing him, and must flee to Dublin before the police come after him. Barry's voyage gets off to a rough start when he is stopped by a father and son team of criminals, who take his horse and all of his other possesions (being the gentlemen they are, however, he is allowed to keep his boots). With no money left, Barry is forced to join the army, which he subsequently abandons by disguising himself as a Brittish officer with important news to deliver somewhere far away.
A couple of Prussian soldiers call Barry out on his lie, and at this point he enlists in the Prussian army. After two years of fighting for them, the General trusts him enough to send him out on a very important mission. He is to spy on a fellow Irishman who is posing as a French aristocrat, and figure out whether the Chevalier de Balibari is a spy. As it turns out, Barry breaks down in front of his contryman and begins giving false reports to the Prussian.
The first part of the film (titled "By What Means Redmond Barry Aquired the Style and Title of Barry Lyndon") concludes with Barry and the Chevalier becoming prosporous gamblers who now live the good life. Barry spots Lady Lyndon in a garden, she is married to Sir Charles Lyndon, an old dying man. Upon his death, Barry marries Lady Lyndon - therefore aquiring the style and title of Barry Lyndon - and moves into her state, already housing Lady Lyndon's first son, Lord Bullingdon, who despises Barry.
The second part ("Containing an Account of the Misfortunes and Disasters Which Befell Barry Lyndon") is in my opinion the better of the two. This, I think, is mostly due to my own personal preferences. The first part has a lot of scenes dealing with wars and armies, while the second, more lavish part, is set mostly in and around the Lyndon estate as Barry's misfortunes fall upon him.
That the film ends sadly comes as no surprise, and Kubrick bravely eliminates all suspense from his story (with the exception of the final fantastic duel between Barry and Bullingdon) by both giving it away and through other subtler means, most notably the use of slow zoom-outs that distance the audience from the story - it is these zoom-outs that truly make Barry Lyndon a historical epic and such an amazing period piece.
Now that I've given away the entire story, it is important to talk about what truly makes the film such a breathtaking experience. First, John Alcott's color cinematography is, for my money, the best of any film. Every single frame of Barry Lyndon could stand as a fantastic photograph. Kubrick actually used paintings from the time to plan out some of his compositions, and the first time I saw the movie, I had to just kind of sit back dazzled by the lush colors and vibrant beauty. The indoor and night scenes may be even more amazing, special lenses developed by NASA had to be used for these scenes. Special lenses allowed Kubrick to shoot entire scenes lit by candlelight, giving it a beautiful kind of orange glow that I personally had never seen.
As an uncompromising artistic vision, Kubrick's Barry Lyndon is incomporable. It's exquisite, unbearable, and unforgettable.
