1975 Directed by Stanley Kubrick
In the Eighteenth Century, in a small village in Ireland, Redmond Barry is a young farm boy in love with his cousin Nora Brady. When Nora engages to the British Captain John Quin, Barry challenges him for a duel of pistols. He wins and escapes to Dublin, but is robbed on the road. Without any other alternative, Barry joins the British Army to fight in the Seven Years War.
Ryan O'Neal Marisa Berenson Hardy Krüger Diana Körner Frank Middlemass Arthur O'Sullivan Godfrey Quigley Leonard Rossiter Philip Stone Patrick Magee Steven Berkoff Gay Hamilton Marie Kean Murray Melvin André Morell Leon Vitali Billy Boyle John Bindon Roger Booth Jonathan Cecil Peter Cellier Geoffrey Chater Anthony Dawes Patrick Dawson Bernard Hepton Anthony Herrick Barry Jackson Wolf Kahler Pat Laffan Show All…
Showed this to my mom today. She thinks 2001: A Space Odyssey is the most boring film of all time, she walked out of A Clockwork Orange and she never ceases to complain about every aspect in Dr. Strangelove.....
And yet, she was utterly entranced for every second of Barry Lyndon, laughing and crying along with the ravishing imagery and the remarkable storytelling.
Ladies and gentlemen, there's a Stanley Kubrick film for everyone.
I was twigged to re-watch Barry Lyndon by some recent great reviews here. My personal goal for this viewing was to try to reconcile why Barry Lyndon works. Not as a masterpiece, but rather how it works at all. After all, it’s a 3 hour and 4 minute period piece based pretty literally on a 19th century text ... that stars Ryan O’Neil.
Cinematography. Let’s get this out of the way first. Kubrick’s ... er, John Alcott’s photography is breathtaking. As beautiful as the paintings of the period. The use of technical and cinematic technique is well covered by some other great reviews here on Letterboxd. Does it make the film work? I don’t think so. It contributes to it…
"He wants to step into my shoes...
HE WANTS TO STEP INTO MY SHOES!"
Three hours of being absolutely fucking enthralled.
Why didn't anybody ever tell me how hilarious this movie is?
Ah, and I guess the cinematography was passable... haha.
In all seriousness though, this might be my favorite Kubrick next to 2001: A Space Odyssey. An altogether fun, enjoyable and immensely beautiful experience. An accurate aesthetic, a pitch perfect score, wonderful narration and the best performance of Ryan O'Neal's career contribute to making this an unforgettable masterpiece.
I maintain now and always that this is one of the great comedies, a slow burn of greed, cowardice and arrogance that depicts an aristocratic structure that creates arbitrary divisions among European nations united in the absurdity of their power hierarchies. The film suggests that the entire aristocracy of Europe is maintained by interbred families and brazen confidence tricks perpetuated by both pretenders and genuine members of the ruling class. Watching this, it's a wonder how WWI took as long as it did to break out. That it is one of the most rapturously photographed films ever made is almost a mere bonus.
Of all the classics that Stanley Kubrick enriched us with throughout his filmmaking career, Barry Lyndon is the only one I wasn't looking forward to with excitement. Period dramas aren't really my thing, for I find this genre far too preoccupied with its lush set pieces, period-specific make-up & antique costumes than the main story at hand, and while this film does checkmark all those elements, there is something about it that sets it apart.
From the moment the famous classical composition, Sarabande, by Handel opens the film by accompanying that Warner Bros. logo, Barry Lyndon had my attention. But what eventually left me absolutely spellbound was just how extraordinarily beautiful its images were from the first frame to the last.…
I only saw this for the first time tonight, having put it off for so long. Not sure the reason, but perhaps several: Not as well regarded (though I felt it's stature rise in the twenty years since I was first aware of it), the 3 hour runtime for a period drama, and Ryan O'Neal. O'Neal blows, as always. When is #metoo going to sweep him up already. The cinematography, as is well known and established, is exquisite. I liked Act I much more, where his livelihood changed throughout but grew weary of Act II. This film is merely good, not great, and I tend to agree with the initial critical assessment. And Ryan O'Neal still sucks.
I'm a huge fan of Kubrick and he is my favorite director. I have enjoyed just about everything that he has ever made. This one has been on my list and I'm glad I was finally able to check it out.
It's definitely a slow movie. But I don't think it was intended to be a very exciting epic. It is a well constructed and we'll thought out character drama. The cinematography is breathtaking and this one definitely has Kubrick written all over it, especially the score and camerawork.
i actually didn't like this film as much as i thought i would. i know very well that it's considered a masterpiece, but i just didn't find it as captivating as kubrick's other films.
So like a British Ivan Ilych, right?
Honestly can't tell if we're dealing with extremely miserable gentility or extremely genteel misery, but I knew we were in for a treat when that lady stuffed her choker in her bra and told her cousin to fish it out ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
kayla 157 films
Yes I am aware some super old ones I literally will not be able to watch. These are the ones…
Peter Stanley 1,210 films
All the films from all the editions, including those subsequently removed, presently totalling 1210. An easy way of seeing how…
Ben_Macdonald 335 films
Complete list of the films Guillermo del Toro has recommended on twitter. Click the 'Read notes' button to see his…
