I hate being wrong. I especially hate being wrong after I see a movie five times, read numerous anaysis of it, have written a paper on a scene I took apart shot-by-shot, and said movie is by my second favorite director of all time. But yes, I was wrong- Barry Lyndon is a masterpiece, meaning that I now like every single film Kubrick has made. Even Coppola can't match that.
I think I know why I didn't like it though-Barry Lyndon is the most esoteric and difficult of Kubrick's films (it's noteworthy that after some criticized this film as being to subtle, some critized his next film, The Shining, as being too obvious). It requires a relitivley indepth knowlege of 18th century European history to totally "get it." I don't know anywhere near as much as I should about that topic, but I know more than I did when the first five times as watched the film. Also, the movie really needs to be seen on a big screen. The reason is not only for the absoluley georgeous photography (I once told a friend that this film probably had the greatest color cinematography ever, and that was when I didn't like it), it's because you need to pay extreamly close attention to the film. This is not only to follow the complex, labrynth plot and many, many characters, but in order to see them commuincate.
Before, I thought that the title was a misnomer and Kubrick didn't really care about the characters. The way the characters interact is so subtle that you need to be totally enveloped in the world of the film to get it. Aside from Lord Bullingdon (Leon Vitali), Captain Quinn (Leonard Rossiter) and Captain Grogan (Godfrey Quigley), almost no one in this movie says what they are really thinking or feeling, a continous Kubrick theme. The acting is all excellent, with Ryan O'Neil, often thought to be a weak thespian, giving the best performance of his carreer as the complex title character. Everyone is great in this film, but Marisa Barenson as Lady Lyndon and the aforementioned Leonard Rossiter particularly stand out.
Oh, and what is the plot, you may ask? Like everything else about this film, it's unconventional. The movie is split into two distinct parts, with Part One a nominal adventure (although a very, very cerebral one) recouting Redmond Barry's rise and Part Two a drama describing his fall, until his new name, Barry Lyndon. A poor Irish boy in the 18th century, Redmond wants to move up in the world, keeping his honor intact, but he falls into numerous adventures he didn't plan on, when he is forced by circumstance to join the British Army in the Seven Years War.
In addition to this bizzare, two act instead of three act strucutre, there is also the omnicient Narrator (Michael Horden). One reason why many people hate the movie is that there is no suspense as the Narrator tells us exactly what's going to happen before we see it. At first I thought this was annoying but now I see that it creats a sense of dread (I am reminded of Titanic and Revenge of the Sith as similer examples).
Barry Lyndon is most unique film from an extreamly unique director. It takes awhile to get into it, but it's extreamly rewarding. It kind of says something that I wanted to watch this three hour film again the night after I watched for the sixth time.
Barry Lyndon (1975)