Barry Lyndon (1975)

A lady who sets her heart upon a lad in uniform must prepare to change lovers pretty quickly, or her life will be but a sad one.

First thing that is patently obvious is that as a visual piece of work the film has few peers, from stunning shots of rolling hills to the lavish period detail, it quite literally is breath taking. The attention to detail by director Stanley Kubrick and cinematographer John Alcott is admirable, whilst the costumes are of the highest order. I have never read the novel by William Makepeace Thackeray so have no frame of reference as regards the portrayals we witness unfolding. I have read that many find the film lacking in the humorous wit that is rife in Thackeray's page turner, yet Kubrick's take is full of satire surrounding the social standing that is the core beat of the story - well it certainly had me smiling anyways.

The film is pretty downbeat, thus, for a three hour movie it can bog down many a viewers patience. Which puts this into the movie for mood scenario bracket - because I personally wouldn't want to watch it if I was having a particularly blue day, so that is something newcomers to the film might want to bear in mind. There seems to be much division as regards Ryan O'Neal's performance in the film, and again having not read the novel I couldn't tell you if he nailed it. What I do know is that he seems perfect for the tone of the movie, and that really shouldn't be seen as a negative in my opinion. My only gripe really with it is that as a story it really doesn't engage me, I really didn't care about what happened to our title character or the assorted people close in his rapidly annoying world. Is that Kubrick's fault? Well he did his job with much style, the story just doesn't warrant a three hour epic, even when it's dressed up as splendidly as this most assuredly is. 8/10

Loved-up “Redmond Barry” (Ryan O’Neal) has a crush on his cousin “Nora” (Gay Hamilton) but her family are in need of the £1,500 a year from “Capt. Quin” (Leonard Rossiter) so they engineer a situation that sees this young man heading off for the bright lights of Dublin.  Along the way, he encounters a highwayman and that necessitates him joining the army. That has it’s advantages, though, as it takes him on a few adventures on the continent where he espies the fabulously wealthy “Lady Lyndon” (Marisa Berenson). She is married to a decrepit British parliamentarian, already has a young son, and isn’t exactly fulfilled. With an opportunity beckoning, the unscrupulous “Barry” steps up his game and is soon living the life of luxury with a wife, their own son “Brian” upon whom he dotes and a stepson who increasingly manages to see through his venal and profligate step-father. This latter character is too young, and too spineless, to take any action, but with his inheritance being squandered at an alarming rate, how long before he is compelled to take action? This is a slow burn of a film, and at times is a little too episodic, but in the main it allows O’Neal to demonstrate his skills portraying a lovable rogue kind turned nasty piece of work and it also sees Berenson on great form depicting a woman treading on the eggshells of sanity with less and less confidence. When a true tragedy befalls their family, the toxicity reaches a palpable level and Stanley Kubrick attains then sustains that without excess or violence as the psychology, jealousy and fear come into play. The production design is pristine, with authentic looking costumes and sets ranging from the hovel to Blenheim and Chatsworth really helping to bring the photography alive. The story in a Pitney hybrid of green-eyed monster meets be careful what you wish for, and is well worth three hours on a big screen if you can.