A great movie - but not Kubricks greatest.

Rating: 8/10 (26 January 2008)

I did not really know what to expect from Barry Lyndon, but as I am a huge Stanley Kubrick fan I was quite excited about the prospect.
I found Barry Lyndon to be a great movie but a little hard to follow in its approach. The first half has Redmond Barry (as Barry Lyndon was then known) as an innocent and somewhat naive young man who is taken advantage of by various people. He seems to have remained an innocent even after he leaves the Prussian army where he is portrayed as having been exposed to all manner of deprivation.
However in the second half of the movie he suddenly becomes a downright evil character. I found the transformation somewhat unexpected and at odds with the way the plot had developed up until then.
Apart from that I really enjoyed the movie. The settings are fabulous with lots of color and big panoramic shots, and the acting is of a high standard despite most of the case being relatively unknown except for Ryan O'Neal. This music is also very memorable.
Excellent movie.