Barry Lyndon (1975)

Barry Lyndon: Directed by Stanley Kubrick. With Ryan O’Neal, Marisa Berenson, Patrick Magee, Hardy Krüger. An Irish rogue wins the heart of a rich widow and assumes her dead husband’s aristocratic position in 18th-century England.

“Some movies – I wish there were more of them – simply look like a series of great paintings. This film has that look. You could freeze-frame many of the scenes and swear you were looking at a Gainsborough, a Vermeer, a Hogarth or similar work of art by one the great artists of three to five centuries ago. Itu0026#39;s just beautiful.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eFor that, we have Director Stanley Kubrick and Photographer John Alcott to thank. Being a three-hour movie, there are plenty of wonderful shots to admire, too. In addition, the costumes are lavish and authentic and the scoring is notable. Itu0026#39;s no accident that Oscars were garnered for art/set direction, cinematography, costume design and scoring. Yeah, if you enjoy classical music, youu0026#39;ll really enjoy the soundtrack, too, under the guidance of conductor Leonard Roseman.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eNot to be overlooked is the fine acting and the interesting and underrated story. I say u0026quot;underratedu0026quot; because this film, from what Iu0026#39;ve read, bored a lot of people and and it was a box-office flop. Thatu0026#39;s too bad because, frankly, I found the story (outside of the first 10–15 minutes) to be fascinating. As I watched, I kept wondering what strange occurrences will happen next to the lead character, u0026quot;Redmond Barry/Barry Lyndon,u0026quot; played beautifully by Ryan Ou0026#39;Neal. (For most of the movie, heu0026#39;s called u0026quot;Redmond Barry,u0026quot; so I will refer to him as that.) u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eOverall, this was a low-key adventure story about the rise-and-fall of a u0026quot;scoundrelu0026quot; back in late 18th century Englishman. u0026quot;Mr. Barryu0026quot; is an Irishmen living in England who winds up dealing with a number of people: Irish, English, Prussian, French. His dealings with these people are bizarre at times. While he mainly is shown doing what he can to promote himself, for either monetary gain and prestige of a name and power, heu0026#39;s not all bad. There is a compassionate side to him, but it only shows itself in small doses. It makes him all the more interesting to watch, because you donu0026#39;t always know how heu0026#39;s going to react to his circumstances, which change radically every few years.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWe witness his rise to prominence and then his fall when his u0026quot;sins begin to find him out,u0026quot; as the Bible would describe. Itu0026#39;s quite a roller coaster ride.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis is an emotional, involving story, and a feast for the eyes and ears. Itu0026#39;s quite different, too, certainly not the average fare from Kubrick. I can only hope this comes out on a high-definition disc some day. Admirers of this film need to see this in all its glory.”