Synopsis
An Irish rogue wins the heart of a rich widow and assumes her dead husband’s aristocratic position in 18th-century England.
Reflections
Review ★★★★★
Absolutely loved this movie! It’s a bit over three hours long but it was so captivating! Redmon Barry is a disgusting con artist who doesn’t seem to have any morals, yet, his presence is admirable. As Ebert mentioned (in lieu of Kubrick’s other movies - 2001 A Space Odyssey or A Clockwork Orange):
“He likes to take organic subjects and disassemble them as if they were mechanical. It’s not just that he wants to know what makes us tick; he wants to demonstrate that we do all tick.”
Other quotes from Ebert:
“This must be one of the most beautiful films ever made, and yet the beauty isn’t in the service of emotion. Against magnificent settings, the characters play at intrigues and scandals. They cheat at cards and marriage, they fight ridiculous duels. This is a film with a backdrop of the Seven Years’ War that engulfed Europe, and it hardly seems to think the war worth noticing, except as a series of challenges posed for Barry Lyndon. By placing such small characters on such a big stage, by forcing our detachment from them, Kubrick supplies a philosophical position just as clearly as if he’d put speeches in his characters’ mouths.”
“Some people find “Barry Lyndon” a fascinating, if cold, exercise in masterful filmmaking; others find it a terrific bore. I have little sympathy for the second opinion; how can anyone be bored by such an audacious film? “Barry Lyndon” isn’t a great entertainment in the usual way, but it’s a great example of directorial vision: Kubrick saying he’s going to make this material function as an illustration of the way he sees the world.”