What's luck go to do with it? Kubrick strikes again

Rating: 9/10 (21 September 2012)

Don't let the powdered wigs fool you â€” "Barry Lyndon" is a Stanley Kubrick film through and through. To many it comes off as the filmmaker's period stepchild, but his hallmarks shine in this portrait-esque telling of an Irishman's rise and fall in social status at the hands of what can only be considered luck.
This biographical epic derives from William Makepeace Thackeray's 19th Century novel loosely based on legendary Irish fortune-hunter Andrew Robinson Stoney. Published in serial form and then turned into a novel, Thackeray's tale is said to be one of literature's very first instances of an unlikeable hero.
But Redmond Barry (Ryan O'Neal) wasn't always that way. In fact, it's not until Act II when he assumes the mantle of Barry Lyndon that he becomes a figure one might not be so inclined to root for. Even with his brazen ways in the beginning as he leaves Ireland and finds himself in both the British and Prussian militaries during the Seven Years War, you can't help but hope fortune looks kindly upon him after his early-life woes.
Kubrick's lengthy telling of this tale allows us to see the complete rise and fall of Barry without skipping many beats. His pursuit of a wealthy lifestyle begins as a teenager when he falls in love with his cousin who ditches him for a wealthy military captain who will bring the Barry family lots of wealth. In a jealous rage, he challenges the man to a duel and kills him, forcing him to flee the area, but he finds out not much later that the ball was a dummy round of sorts. Redmond was set up so that the family could keep him out of the way of the marriage. At this point a Red Coat himself, he determines to climb his way to the top by any means necessary.
Despite the period look, "Barry Lyndon" plays out more as an 18th Century fantasy adventure. Redmond is never in the same place for long until he marries Lady Lyndon (Marisa Berenson) at the start of the second act and his misadventures have a humorous bent to them. He finds himself in all kinds of predicaments and dealing with all manner of people. Instinct and luck lead him on a roller coaster that peaks at his achievement of wealth by marrying the Lady Honoria. Then, of course, it goes straight down.
Guiding the film is an omniscient narrator who both foreshadows and offers keen insights, especially into the themes and ideas at play in the film. It also helps to frame the film as a portrait of a man's life. Kubrick's visuals echo this concept in the way he films every scene as if it's a painting. Only a few scenes, namely the more visceral ones in which there's fighting or something of that nature influences him to move his camera freely about. The technical aspects of the film are among the best of any of Kubrick's works. The costumes, cinematography and music create this moving tableau that keeps the film exciting even if a particular part of the story dulls momentarily.
The performances are among the least memorable of Kubrick's films, but that's not to say they're poor. O'Neal has the challenge of always being 30 years old in real life but acting like Barry at different stages of his life. The blend between these stages lacks the necessary smoothness, but O'Neal excels at the all the emotional high points and finds ways to generate our sympathy in spite of Barry's inherent flaws.
The rest of the cast either have or are made up with striking visual features. Kubrick and frequent casting director James Liggat find actors who really stand out, an important feature in both creating the tall-tale effect of the film but also in helping keep multiple characters separate in a time period in which conformity was the style. Murray Melvin as Reverend Runt, for example, has such a distinguished face that simply enhances the film. Of course it helps that Kubrick was a master of close-ups on faces.
"Barry Lyndon" shares some story characteristics with Kubrick's other films, namely in a man's transformation, a character or mankind's corruption, over time. Many of his works detail how war or violence ruins men, and while that's here too, it's told in a more biographical manner with an emphasis on luck and fortune or misfortune.
What we discover at the latest by the film's one-sentence epilogue is that Kubrick didn't necessarily believe in luck's influence on the whole story, but he was nonetheless fascinated by how in this time period, the actions of men could be misconstrued as just luck one way or another. The social hierarchy, if you will, created a perception of powerlessness in one's own life to change social circumstances. Kubrick loads the film with innumerable scenes featuring duels and card games, but based on the outcomes, the characters involved always seem to make their own luck.
Sure, "Barry Lyndon" could be considered the least commercially viable of Kubrick's films, but it is their equal as far as the director's mastery.
~Steven C
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