Cult Movies 48

Rating: 8/10 (2 January 1999)

48. BARRY LYNDON. adventure-drama, 1975: Ambitious but naive, Barry (RyanO'Neil) is determined to gain a higher place in 17th-century European society. However, his hot-tempered manner gets him into trouble early in life when a loveless romance ends in tragedy. Forced to flee his home, he enlists in the British army. Deserting, he finds success with a shrewd cardsharper that takes him under his wing. At last, having dispelled the notions of love and mastering the disguise of a 'gentleman', he courts the Countess of Lyndon (Marisa Berenson). They marry and he inherits her vast wealth, along with great troubles.
Critique: Stanley Kubrik's overlong, ambitious epic stopped a run of critical and commercial hits (that started with 'The Killing'(1956). Kubrik's forte has always rested on his thematic storytelling and eccentric camera-work. Though intricately plotted and lavishly produced, the film suffers from these same excesses.
The first 'part' of the film is a complete bore, without any of Kubrik's wit and imagination. However, it is considerably lifted when the lovely Marisa Berenson appears as the Countess of Lyndon. Her courting scene is one of the most hypnotic, expertly filmed sequences in cinema history.
The rest of the performances are adequate at best, and Kubrik's vision is still wonderful to watch. The music (as in every Kubrik film) is beautifully resonant. The film's slow pace and artistic excesses by Kubrick, makes it not for all tastes.
QUOTES: Narrator: "The doctors were called. But what does a doctor avail in the contest with the grim, Invincible enemy."