A period film like no other . . .

Rating: Null/10 (13 September 1999)

Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon is a period film like no other, a slow yet utterly mesmerising tale of an Irish upstart whose minor triumphs and major calamities take in the Seven Years' War, the gambling houses of Europe and marriage into the aristocracy. Filmed over 18 tumultuous months without a real script, it stars Ryan O'Neal as well as former model Marisa Berenson, whose limited acting ability is in fact a strength rather than a weakness as the characters become mere figures in a Hogarth-like canvas. Flesh and blood is provided by the likes of Leonard Rossiter and, best of all, Leon Vitali as O'Neal's maltreated stepson. The film features a definitive duel scene (perhaps second only to that in The Duellists), sly narration from Michael Hordern, splendid music ranging from Handel to Schubert and sublime backdrops courtesy of Castle Howard and Blenheim. Give it time, adjust to the pace and enjoy Kubrick's grandest gamble and greatest film.