This is part 9 of 12 of my retrospective of Stanley Kubrick’s career.
Because of its lack of controversy, "Barry Lyndon" may be the least appreciated of Kubrick's movies. You can't fault him for trying to avoid controversy, considering the shocking reaction that followed A Clockwork Orange, which eventually led to personal death threats and him banning the movie in England until his death.
This movie is a great departure and sign of maturity compared to his script Napoleon of ten years earlier. It focuses less on "thrills" and more on the emotional journey of Redmond Barry as he rose from a money-less man running from the law to the heights of 18th century British aristocracy. While the pacing seem slow at times, it follows well the kind of pacing you'd normally associate only with novels, and it does give you the time to absorb the drama.
While few sets were constructed for this movie, you can still clearly feel the great attention to the artistic detail. Watching this on Blu-ray gave great life to the picturesque vistas, the exquisite natural lighting, the finely crafted costumes and the extravagant hairstyles and make-up of the 18th century aristocrats. The music is a bit too heavy at times, but as usual is finely selected.
In short, this is an incredibly beautiful movie, with an engaging story and good acting. While I admit that ten years ago, with my still-limited comprehension of Irish and British accents, I barely understood what was going on in that movie, the settings and moods it presented clearly stayed in my memory. All to say that even without controversy, Kubrick is a masterful filmmaker.
Published on June 17, 2012 at 21:52 EDT
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