An exuberant rush to the senses

Rating: 10/10 (5 July 2009)

Barry Lyndon isn't Stanley Kubrick's best film, far from it, but I may say that I got to know Stanley Kubrick as an artist the best from Barry Lyndon above any of his other films. It is a masterpiece of epic proportions. No other film in Kubrick's body of work looks as good as Barry Lyndon does. It is a magnificent sight for the eyes and the ears.
Kubrick is famous to the mainstream and uneducated movie goer more so for the rumors of his eccentricities than his actual body of work. My personal favorite story of his over perfectionist view is that he would spend painstaking time on a shot just to make sure every conceivable sharp pin point detail was perfect. Of course there is probably little actual truth to this rumor but with Lyndon you might actually believe it. It is a gorgeous picture to look at. Kubrick brought us to space, hell, and the jungles of Vietnam but Barry Lyndon is by far the most amazing setting he ever dealt with. It's not merely a period picture, calling it this wouldn't be doing it justice. Stanley Kubrick has created the most authentic feeling historic film of all time despite having the story being lavish and times very over the top. It's easy for a director to simply show a shot of a castle or a reenactment of an eighteenth century battle. Kubrick doesn't do this, the vocal point of every scene brings us into the life of Redmond Barry and how his life is intertwined with the times. The period piece can only work if we feel that we belong in this period. And we belong, the candle light scenes prove it, Like 'A Clockwork Orange' music gives this film it's pulse. Leonard Rosenman's score is by far Kubrick's best soundtrack. I can't imagine Barry Lyndon having the same effect with a different score. Not only does the score feel authentic with pieces by the brilliant Bach and Handel but it gives the film so much more life than a lot of soundtracks do. A good soundtrack will make a picture better, but in Barry Lyndon's case the soundtrack is a living part of the picture that it manifests it's own character.
What really amazes me about Barry Lyndon is that it is by far one of the weakest stories Kubrick ever adapted. All though well respected in his time Thackerby is usually only remembered for Vanity Fair. The original novel is all most all but forgotten except for being the basis for Kubrick's film. Lyndon isn't all that intriguing of a character, his motives are clear cut,become a rich Lord by all means necessary. For the most part the character is not all that likable and yet Kubrick and to a lesser degree Ryan O'Neil make this character dimensional and intriguing. We are asked by Kubrick in several scenes to look at him and judge his worthiness. Redmond Barry wants to succeed in life and for a lost Irishmen in exile he goes the way of the trickster. Would he have gained any sense of credibility had he not sought Lady Lyndon's hand in marriage? An Irishman seeking to be noble is not looked kindly upon in this society. I can't think of a better way to end the picture than what Kubrick did. The climatic duel is by far one of Kubrick's strongest scenes, which truly does offer strong sympathy to Barry. We never know what becomes of him, ashamed and ruined of any sense of dignity we ask "Did he really deserve this fate?" One improvement I notice is that Kubrick does not have O'Neal himself narrate the story. He doesn't want the audience to be distracted by Barry's own account and to be swayed in one direction or another. Lady Lyndon's last scene as she signs the check for Barry's yearly sum is a brilliant shot and it engages the viewer. Does she still love him? Kubrick knew how to make you think and choose the complexities in any story he was adapting.