Review of Barry Lyndon (1975) by Leonardo B — 20 Mar 2010

Barry Lyndon might have the distinction of being the most realistic portrayal of a period setting while at the same time being a completely contemporary film. Stanley Kubrick famously went for extreme realism by shooting the night scenes completely by candlelight, with no outside lighting used and the daylight scenes used highly minimal lighting as well.

A camera with a severely wide aperture (the widest ever used in a film) was utilized in order to achieve this. At the same time, the constant zooms and tracking in the film harkens to a more contemporary style.

But even this enhances the look of the film; the zooming out creates a very artsy effect, making these period images resemble a distinguished painting. There are several scenes in this film that resemble a Seurat painting, and overall the film is beautifully shot.

The story itself is acted out in a muted format to assist the visuals and to enhance the satirical quality. Ryan O'Neal has a very restrained performance as a hero with no heroic qualities. Selfish, self-centered, dishonest, and impulsive, he is a man who doesn't seem to care about anyone but himself, and his emotional response is even minimal in that regard.

The film informs us at a pretty early stage that Barry will fall disastrously from grace, but oh how far that fall becomes with each progressing moment in the film. We see Barry do everything possible to ascend in society and never caring of the consequences or who is harmed in the process, and by the time an event occurs that successfully wounds him as a result of his avarice, his soul has long been corrupted beyond repair.

It has always been considered bizarre that Kubrick pursued this film, but it is apparent its Kubrick's type of story in almost every scene. The technique, the considerably dark view of man, the savage sense of humor, and the kinetic style of the film is quintessential Kubrick.