I watched “Barry Lyndon” for the first time last night. I read that it was one of Stanley Kubrick’s masterpieces. And I do respect Kubrick’s art. But after watching it I realize that a masterpiece can be terrible entertainment.
(Spoiler Alert – Skip down to last paragraph to avoid spoilers and read recommendation)
The movie is the story of the career of Redmond Barry an Irish man who allowed his passions to dictate his fate to a degree that is painful to watch. He gets into a duel over a girl (his cousin) and this forces him to flee his home to avoid legal prosecution and then he joins the British Army during the Seven Years’ War and by deserting his service he ends up in the Prussian Army and after that he becomes first a spy and then a crooked gambler. And finally, he marries a rich English widow and attempts to become part of the nobility. And while attempting this he allows his philandering to alienate his wife and step-son and eventually lands him in a duel with this step-son in which Redmond loses a leg. Along the way his wife presents him with a son of his own and the little boy is tragically killed in a riding accident. He ends his life in exile returning to Europe to attempt to live off his ability to cheat at cards.
If this sounds like a ridiculous plot for a movie, it’s because, it is!
Ryan O’Neal plays Redmond and Kubrick directs the film as a straightforward narrative with very little dialog and only a few scenes that provide much in the way of emotional discovery. What this movie provides is cinematography. Beautiful landscapes, remarkable palaces and estates, perfectly lighted and photographed interior shots; all of the products of a master cinematographer. As a photographer myself I can appreciate the care with which the shots were set up and displayed for the viewer. And the costumes and battle scenes and rural settings are amazing. But that’s all you get. The story moves forward at a glacial pace and there really isn’t anyone in the story (except the six-year-old little boy who dies) that you care about at all. Redmond himself is a selfish, dishonest man. And he is surrounded with mostly the same kinds of people. Who can I recommend this movie to? I guess photographers, cinematographers and diehard fans of Stanley Kubrick. It’s just too slow and empty and bleak for a general audience. It’s visually beautiful and emotionally empty. Sorry.