Stanley Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon, based on William Makepeace Thackeray’s quasi-obscure novel set in the eighteenth century, represented a bold experiment at adapting a novel to the screen.
Endowed with a breathtaking visual vision, the film won four Oscar Awards, one for John Alcott’s distinguished photography.
Grade: A (***** out of *****)
The film is marked by Kubrick’s meticulous attention to detail, deliberate pacing, and above all, modernist-parodic approach to Thackeray’s picaresque novel through voice-over narration.
Narrative Structure:
Part I: By What Means Redmond Barry Acquired the Style and Title of Barry Lyndon
In 1750s Ireland, Redmond Barry’s father is killed in a duel. Barry becomes infatuated with his cousin Nora Brady, and shoots in a duel her suitor British Army captain John Quin. He then flees but is robbed by highwayman on his way to Dublin.
Penniless, Barry enlists in the British Army. Family friend Captain Grogan informs him that Quin is not dead: the duel was staged so that Nora’s family can get rid of Barry and improve their finances through her marriage to Quin.
Part II: Containing Account of the Misfortunes and Disasters Which Befell Barry Lyndon
In 1773, Barry marries Lady Lyndon, takes her last name and settles in England. Lord Bullingdon, Lady Lyndon’s ten-year-old son by Sir Charles, despises Barry. Barry responds by physically abusing him. The Countess bears Barry a son, Bryan Patrick, but the marriage is unhappy: Barry is openly unfaithful and squanders his wife’s wealth while keeping her in seclusion.
After Bullingdon nervously misfires the first shot, Barry magnanimously fires inti the ground. Bullingdon refuses to end the duel and shoots Barry in the leg, forcing the leg to be amputated. While Barry is recovering, Bullingdon takes control of the Lyndon estate. He offers Barry money on the condition that he leaves England forever, and, with his credit exhausted, Barry accepts. Barry resumes his gambling profession, though without his former success.
The tale ends in December 1789, with the middle-aged Lady Lyndon signs Barry’s annuity cheque as her son looks on.
Unfortunately, the movie was panned by most critics when it was initially released, in 1975. Some criticized the saga’s lengthy running time, claiming that it was overindulgent, while others faulted the film for its lack of dramatic momentum and excessive reliance on a fractured, episodic narrative. Even Ryan O’Neil, who was nominated for an Oscar for the schmaltzy “Love Story,” in 1970, failed to get credit for a much more audacious and original performance.
Nonetheless, seen from today’s perspective, “Barry Lyndon” is nothing short of a masterpiece, a brilliant film from start to finish, in which every single frame is gorgeous to watch and savor.
Some art historians, who have studied the film extensively, have been able to identify no less than 271 individual paintings, which had inspired the visual conception of Kubrick and his team of designers.
Defining Attributes:
The film is an advanced experiment in cinematic narrative structure and design
Contemplative pacing
Extraordinary images
The movie tested Kubrick’s commercial position as a director able to get backing for such an unusual project.
Critical Status
Although some critics took issue with the film’s slow pace and restrained emotion, its reputation, like that of many of Kubrick’s works, has grown over time.
Indeed, in the 2022 Sight & Sound “Greatest Films of All Time” poll, Barry Lyndon placed 12th in the directors’ poll and 45th in the critics’ poll.
A Christmas release, the movie was moderately popular at the box office, recouping its production budget of $11 million.
My Oscar Book:
Oscar Nominations: 7
Picture, produced by Stanley Kubrick
Director: Kubrick
Screenplay (Adapted): Kubrick
Cinematography (color): John Alcott
Art Direction-Set Decoration (color: Ken Adam and Roy Walker; Vernon Dixon
Costume Design: Ulla-Britt Soderlund and Milena Canonero
Original Song Score: Leonard Rosenman
Oscar Awards: 4
Cinematography
Art Direction-Set Decoration
Costume Design
Scoring
Oscar Context
The most-nominated film in 1975 was “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” which received 9 nods, and won 5, including Best Picture, Director, Actor, and Actress. “Barry Lyndon” was the next most honored film, with 7 nominations, followed by Dog Day Afternoon,” with 6, “Nashville,” with 5, and “Jaws” with 4.
Cast
Michael Hordern (voice) as Narrator
Ryan O’Neal as Redmond Barry (later Redmond Barry Lyndon)
Marisa Berenson as Lady Lyndon
Patrick Magee as the Chevalier de Balibari
Hardy Krüger as Captain Potzdorf
Gay Hamilton as Nora Brady
Godfrey Quigley as Captain Grogan
Steven Berkoff as Lord Ludd
Marie Kean as Belle, Barry’s mother
Murray Melvin as Reverend Samuel Runt
Frank Middlemass as Sir Charles Reginald Lyndon
Leon Vitali as Lord Bullingdon
Dominic Savage as young Bullingdon
Leonard Rossiter as Captain John Quin
André Morell as Lord Wendover
Anthony Sharp as Lord Hallam
Philip Stone as Graham
David Morley as Bryan Patrick Lyndon
Diana Koerner as Lieschen (German Girl)
Arthur O’Sullivan as Captain Feeney
Billy Boyle as Seamus Feeney
Jonathan Cecil as Lt. Jonathan Fakenham
Peter Cellier as Sir Richard Brevis
Geoffrey Chater as Dr Broughton
Wolf Kahler as Prince of Tübingen
Liam Redmond as Mr Brady
Roger Booth as King George III
Ferdy Mayne as Colonel Bulow
John Sharp as Doohan
Pat Roach as Corporal Toole
Hans Meyer as Schulffen
Credits
Directed, produced by Stanley Kubrick
Screenplay by Kubrick, based on “The Luck of Barry Lyndon,” by William Makepeace Thackeray
Produced by Stanley Kubrick
Narrated by Michael Hordern
Cinematography John Alcott
Edited by Tony Lawson
Production: Hawk Films, Peregrine Productions
Distributed by Warner Bros. (US)
Release date: December 18, 1975
Running time 185 minutes
Budget $11 million
Box office $31.5 million
