Great Kubrick twist on the costume genre.

Rating: 8/10 (10 July 2002)

The film is visually flawless, and its scenic beauty is shaped and manipulated very well by Stanley Kubrick. The plot is of little consequence, a simple rise and fall story which Kubrick tries to add flare and satire too. His attention to symmetry, lighting, and cinematography is impeccable. However it lacks that feeling of bold experimentation and excitement that is found in his more well-known films such as "A Clockwork Orange" and "A Space Odyssey". It is definitely not the most interesting Kubrick film simply because the material was not as strong or moving. Yet the Kubrickan elements found in all his works are portrayed with great effort in "Barry Lyndon". Kubrick works within the genre to make a more unconventional comment on the aristocracy of the times and primal human nature in us all throughout all walks of life. Kubrick uses the actors as mere pawns of their social and natural barriers. It is a period film without significant love interest or much action, a rare thing in the genre. This works to add a twist to the often stuffy and trivial crap that most period films put forward. Kubrick had a greater design for the film as opposed making a by the numbers costume drama. Not his finest but a must for all Kubrick fans and someone interested on a different and interesting take on the genre.