1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die- Barry Lyndon

#613- Barry Lyndon (1975)
Starring: Ryan O'Neal, Marisa Berenson, Patrick Magee
Directed by: Stanley Kubrick


Plot Summary: As a teenager, young Redmond Barry becomes fond of his cousin Nora, who has chosen to be with English Captain John Quin. In a fit of jealousy, Barry engages in a duel and shoots Quin. Thinking he has killed the Captain, Barry is advised to run away. On his journey, he is robbed of all the money he has left and enlists in the British Army. During the Battle of Minden, Barry flees the army and enlists in the Prussian Army. During his times after the war, he becomes close friends with the Chevalier de Balibari, is accused of being a spy, and encounters the Countess of Lyndon. After the death of her husband, Barry marries her, takes the last name of Lyndon, and plans to enjoy his wealth and settle in England.


Pardon me if my review of Barry Lyndon is short, but honestly, this one was REALLY hard to do. Much like how I felt about Spartacus and 2001: A Space Odyssey, I couldn't stomach the lengthy epics Stanley Kubrick tries to make. I prefer his artsy films to be somewhere around 2 hours. With a 3 HOUR LENGTH, there is only so long I can sit through this kind of movie. If it wasn't for the Plot Summary paragraph, I couldn't tell you what this movie was about. I had to try 3 DIFFERENT TIMES to sit through this, but I knew if I made it through this one I could get to 3 I really wanted to see. I'm sure I'm gonna have to watch this one again in life to appreciate its value, but it is not this day...

Ryan O'Neal stars as the titular character of Barry Lyndon (formerly Redmond Barry). Barry isn't a bad character, and O'Neal doesn't do a bad job at portraying him, but I never felt like he stood out as an iconic character in Kubrick's filmography. He's no Colonel Dax or Alex. He's just sort of this bland character that you expect to do everything he does. You get to see so much of his life, but you never see any twists or turns that really shock you (well, maybe one thing), but he also moves so casually at a pace where you are never allowed to empathize with him. With 3 hours, they cram so many life events, but it goes by rapid fire. If you're gonna have a 3 hour movie, at least do it with a steady narrative for the main protagonist.

I will give one REALLY big piece of credit to the film. It looks absolutely stunning. Every shot in this film looks like something out of a portrait. It's beautiful and that can't be denied. Now, I'm sure many are wondering if I have the same feelings for this type of artsy filmmaking as I do for movies that are all about special effects. The answer is no. Kubrick is an artsy director, and his films are art projects. That's what you get. You want a film that has picturesque scenery? Here it is. I can't even fault that.

Another thing that works in the movie's favor is the music. The score includes music by Vivaldi, Mozart, and Bach, and set's the perfect tone for the time period. Apart from that and the scenery, there was not much else I really liked about this film.

Like I said, for 3 hours, this film REALLY drags. I understand there is a large amount of scope for the scenery and the extras used, but DANG! I didn't expect it to take me multiple attempts to watch this flick, but it did. I was THAT bored. Out of my mind. I felt like I was watching one of those bad PBS adaptations of a British novel (you know what I'm talking about). Have you ever read a novel from this era? Something like Johnny Tremain or The Scarlet Letter? Ok, this film was like having someone read a book to me on screen for three hours. And yes, I get it's a book to film adaptation, but it still shouldn't be this drab.

Am I being too harsh? Possibly. I'm sure in time I can grow an appreciation for it. Heck, even Kubrick didn't think it was a good movie until late in his life, and he DIRECTED the thing. This one will probably need reassessment later on in life, but for now, I gotta call it like I see it. Barry Lyndon, for me, was a boring movie to sit through, but it had a grand scope and beautiful scenery, and a musically pleasing score.


Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

It's really tough for me to recommend Barry Lyndon to the casual moviegoer. It really, REALLY is. There are more iconic Kubrick movies out there that offer his unique visual style at a much more appropriate runtime. If you are a die-hard movie buff, keep this as a one-time rental, that's probably as much as you can handle it.

Barry Lyndon and movie images are copyrighted by Warner Bros.