Barry Lyndon (1975)

Sigh. Barry Lyndon, Barry Lyndon...where to begin. I must confess that I remain mystified as to why Kubrick's epic marathon of a period drama is suddenly being touted as his masterpiece (at least by the BFI).

Loosely based on a novel by Thackeray the film is divided into two parts. The first tells the story of how one Redmond Barry secures the title of Barry Lyndon, along with all the wealth and privilege that come with it. A litany of disasters characterizes the second part, with Redmond eventually losing virtually everything he has managed to steal, pilfer, charm, usurp and swindle. Kubrick treats the film, particularly the second half, as a series of tableaux vivant, an obsessive sequence of painterly images created to mimic 18th century art (The BFI notes that accompanied the screening had quotations from some sort of film academic waxing lyrical about 18th century modes of looking and whatnot). The film is also remarkable for being filmed almost entirely with natural lighting - if hundreds of candles can be said to constitute natural lighting.

Despite all this fanfare, the cinematography fails to impress. The film is admittedly a triumph when it comes to the casting of the supporting characters, however, almost all of whom have the most unusual and arresting faces. Or perhaps it's the costume designer and makeup artists who are the real stars with their ability to sieze on an actor's face and to meld it into a a strange vision of an 18th-century mask or something. Mask is a rather apt word seeing as there's not a lot of emotion on display generally speaking.

The most memorable scene occurs in a carriage as the newly entitled Barry Lyndon and his new wife travel to their palatial country home. Secure in his new position as the lady's husband, Barry subjects her to an intolderable level of cruel indifference. After a repeated request to stop smoking Barry slowly turns to his wife and coldly and very slowly blows smoke straight into her face. I also love the quote from Thackeray at the end, especially as I used it in my Zombie essay, "good or bad, handsome or ugly, rich or poor, they are all equal now"

[I've included a lot of images from the film because I think that a large selection is necessary to get a feel for it. And because the images actually seem much more interesting outside of the film than in it]