Directed by Stanley Kubrick
Written by Stanley Kubrick from the novel by William Makepeace Thackeray
1975/UK/US
IMDb page
First viewing/Amazon Prime rental
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
End Title card: EPILOGUE: It was in the reign of George III that the aforesaid personages lived and quarreled; good or bad, handsome or ugly, rich or poor they are all equal now.
Kubrick’s sumptuous production of 18th Century Europe is a must-see.
Richmond Barry (Ryan O’Neal) is an Irish young man of humble origins who lives with his widowed mother in the countryside. He is having a romance with his cousin Nora. But Nora’s family is deeply in debt and is trying to marry her off to a British officer of fortune. Nora does not appear to mind. The alway reckless Barry challenges the officer to a duel which he appears to win. He is shipped off to Dublin to avoid the law carrying his mother’s life savings. Barry is promptly stripped of this plus his horse and firearms by highwaymen.
Barry’s best remaining option is joining the English army which is fighting the Seven Years War. He is not cut out to be a soldier and takes the opportunity to desert when he is able to pilfer the uniform of an officer. He travels through Europe in this guise pretending to be carrying a dispatch to a British General. His ruse is quickly seen through by a Prussian captain and Barry is forced to enlist in the Prussian army. His fortune changes when he saves the captain’s life. He is then sent on a mission to spy on the Chevalier du Balibari, whom the Prussians believe to be a spy. But Balibari is actually an Irishman and the two become friends and fellow card sharks.
After a few years of cheating his way through Europe, Barry decides he is ready for the high life and sets upon seducing Lady Lyndon (Marisa Berenson), the wife of an extremely wealthy elderly English aristocrat. Fortune smiles of Barry when the Lord promptly dies and his wedding to the widow soon follows. With the widow, comes her young son Lord Bullington (Leon Vitali). Soon the pair have a son of their own whom they name Bryan.
Barry treats his wife like so much furniture and cruelly whips Lord Bullington for any indiscretion. Bullington grows to hate Barry heartily. Barry occupies the next several years with lavish purchases, gambling, and debauchery. The only love in his heart seems to be for his son Bryan. Barry richly deserves a comeuppance and will get a devastating one.
Every aspect of this movie is exquisitely beautiful. John Alcott’s cinematography, done using mostly natural light, is stunning. The story is interesting and well-told, though I wish Kubrick had picked up the pace a bit. Ryan O’Neal’s acting is very good but he seems oddly miscast to me. His flat American accent is jarring in this context. That said, every movie-lover should make a point of seeing this splendid production. Highly recommended.
Barry Lyndon won Oscars in the categories of Best Cinematorgraphy; Best Art Direction-Set Decoration; Best Costume Design; and Best Music, Scoring Original Song Score and/or Adaptation. It was nominated in the categories of Best Picture; Best Director; and Best Writing, Screenplay Adapted From Other Material.
Re-release trailer
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This movie bored me to tears.
I can see how many people would find it boring. Little action and it drags and Ryan O’Neal. I was fascinated by the look of the thing.
Thanks for the review – probably the most mainstream movie that I should see but, for whatever reason, still have not…………sort of off topic but on topic as well – (1) video 2 would be better labelled “The Famous Candlelit Scene”, I don’t think the uploader understood the dictionary meaning of “Infamous”. (2) hugely interesting to me personally was this comment on video 2 (thanks Sarah for a real eye opener – no pun intended LOL)
Sarah Millard
The first film to understand 18th century cosmetics (and earlier ages, too) – and how the face would just recede in candlelight without white lead (ceruse), rouge, beauty spots, mouse skin eyebrows and the like. A non-made up face, for men and women, and you would simply not appear present in a room so poorly lit.
That about the makeup is really interesting to me. I hadn’t seen Barry Lyndon either. The three plus hour run time wasn’t appealing. Also it’s pretty slow but so beautiful it kept my interest.
I think the casting of Ryan O’Neal worked very well.
I expected to be bored by BARRY LYNDON but I wasn’t. A great movie which I loved even more the second time around. I don’t think it’s too long. Kubrick wants to immerse the viewer completely in this world.
The way O’Neal slipped in and out of his accent kind of bugged me but his actual acting was good. I think the leisurely pace went with the times portrayed. I’ll see if I find it less slow the next time around.
I recall many beautiful images from BARRY LYNDON. I appreciated it more the second time I viewed it, many years after its release.
Some of the images really look like period paintings.
A friend in graduate school wrote a paper on BARRY LYNDON doing just that — comparing images to period paintings!
To me, that picture of Ryan O’Neal et al after a drunk looks exactly like something out of Hogarth.
This movie fitted so well with those books I have been reading. The cinematography is just stunning. I think you are right about the scenes looking like Hogarth paintings. Too bad the story itself failed to draw me in.
Ryan O’Neill was such a cad it was hard to care what happened to him.