Director: Stanley Kubrick
Screenplay: Stanley Kubrick, based on the novel The Luck of Barry Lyndon by William Makepeace Thackeray
Starring: Ryan O'Neal, Marisa Berenson, Patrick Magee, Hardy Krüger, Diana Koerner, Gay Hamilton
Running Time: 187 minutes
Genre: Period drama
In 18th Century Ireland, headstrong Redmond Barry (O'Neal), believing that he has killed an English officer in a duel, leaves his home to seek his fortune. He embarks on many adventures as a soldier, spy, professional gambler, con-man in his quest to become one of the gentry.
This is possibly Stanley Kubrick's most underrated film, coming between the controversial A Clockwork Orange (1971) and the horror classic The Shining (1980). However, this ravishingly beautiful period drama is one of Kubrick's finest works, and in my opinion it is a masterpiece. It's based on the 1844 novel The Luck of Barry Lyndon by William Makepeace Thackeray, who is possibly best known for writing Vanity Fair (1848). Kubrick turned to the book when his planned film about the life of Napoleon Bonaparte fell apart, and was able to incorporate that he had already done about the 1800s into this film. It's a film of two parts, divided by chapter headings, the first part dealing with Barry's scheming and adventures to achieve wealth and status, and the much darker second part is more of a domestic drama as everything falls apart. While this stately film may not be as obviously groundbreaking as other Kubrick films, it is still innovative is several respects, perhaps most notably the technique filmmakers devised to allow scenes to be lit solely by candlelight. Almost every scene in the film is like a painting you feel you could hang on your wall. Ryan O'Neal plays Barry from a gauche, reckless young man, to cynical antihero, and ultimately tragic figure, with a kind of icy charisma, Marisa Berenson plays the unlucky Lady Lyndon as a fragile, tragic character, hiding depths behind her blank, mask-like face. Barry's stepson Lord Bullingdon is played by Leon Vitali, who would later become Kubrick's assistant, and if you have any interest at all in Kubrick or film-making, the documentary about Vitali, Filmworker (2017), is a must-see. Michael Hordern's narration provides a witty, ironic commentary on the events on screen, a departure from the novel which is narrated by Barry himself. The soundtrack uses classical music from Bach, Handel, Vivaldi and Schubert among others, and Irish folk music
"It was in the reign of George III that these personages lived and quarreled. Good or bad, beautiful or ugly, rich or poor, they are all equal now."
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