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The Barry Lyndon dvd that you sent has been censored. I have seen this movie over the years and several scenes are missing in this version. I would like relief (www.amazon.com....41-7696832)
If there ever was a period film that puts you into the time it takes place Barry Lyndon is it! My favorite Kubrick film, my favorite film ever! Read more (www.amazon.com....41-7696832)
If there ever was a period film that puts you into the time it takes place Barry Lyndon is it! My favorite Kubrick film, my favorite film ever! Read mor (www.amazon.com....41-7696832)
In 1975 the world was at Stanley Kubrick 's feet. His films Dr. Strangelove , 2001: A Space Odyssey , and A Clockwork Orange , released in the previous dozen years, had provoked rapture and consternation-not merely in the film community, but in the culture at large. On the basis of that smashing hat trick, Kubrick was almost certainly the most famous film director of his generation, and absolutely the one most likely to rewire the collective mind of the movie audience. And what did this radical, at-least-20-years-ahead-of-his-time filmmaker give the world in 1975? A stately, three-hour costume drama based on an obscure Thackeray novel from 1844. A picaresque story about an Irish lad (Ryan O'Neal, then a major star) who climbs his way into high society, Barry Lyndon bewildered some critics (Pauline Kael called it "an ice-pack of a movie") and did only middling business with patient audiences. The film was clearly a technical advance, with its unique camerawork (incorporating the use of prototype Zeiss lenses capable of filming by actual candlelight) and sumptuous production design (www.amazon.com....41-7696832)
Why, then, is Barry Lyndon a masterpiece? Because it uncannily captures the shape and rhythm of a human life in a way few other films have; because Kubrick's command of design and landscape is never decorative but always apiece with his hero's journey ; and because every last detail counts. Even the film's chilly style is thawed by the warm narration of the great English actor Michael Hordern and the Irish songs of the Chieftains. Poor Barry's life doesn't matter much in the end, yet the care Kubrick brings to the telling of it is perhaps the director's most compassionate gesture toward that most peculiar species of animal called man. And the final, wry title card provides the perfect Kubrickian sendoff-a sentiment that is even more poignant since Kubrick's premature death. -Robert Horto (www.amazon.com....41-7696832)
Ryan O'Neal is the unlikely star, and he does a good job, rising from humble Irish origins to the decadence of titled wealth, employing a two-fisted competence in the manly arts, including some soldiering, some thievery at cards and a presumed consummate skill in the bedroom . Marisa Berenson plays Lady Lyndon, whom Barry has managed to seduce; and when her elderly husband dies, she marries Barry thus elevating his social and economic station in life. But Barry is rather clumsy at playing at peerage, and bit by bit manages to squander most of the Lyndon fortune until his stepson, Lord Bullingdon (Leon Vitali) grows old enough to do something about it (www.amazon.com....41-7696832)
The script features two dueling scenes, the first showing the combatants firing at one another simultaneously at the drop of a white kerchief, the second has Barry and his stepson face each other ten paces apart, but due to the flip of a coin, the stepson fires first. Both scenes are engrossing as we see the loading of the pistols with powder , ball and ramrod, and we are able to note how heavy the pistols are and how difficult it must be to hit a silhouette at even a short distance. It is this kind of careful attention to directional detail that absorbs us in the action and makes veracious the story. Notice too the way the British soldiers march directly en mass toward the French guns. They actually used to fight battles that way! Also note the incredible pile of hair atop Lady Lyndon's head. Surely this is some kind of cinematic record. (www.amazon.com....41-7696832)
I am an unabashed Kubrick fan. I was initiated into his work with "A Clockwork Orange" when I was 16 and went from there. Why is it that "Barry Lyndon " has in my mind surpassed other more revered works. You can cite the magnificent technical attributes of the film(cinematography,art direction, costume design,music), however, a technically proficient movie is not necessarily a moving experience. I would have to say that what elevates this movie is the screenplay and the acting. Kubrick does a great job moving the story from Redmond Barry's youth to his downfall among the English aristocracy. Kubrick has also gathered a great cast of actors here in supporting roles(Parick Magee, Leonard Rossiter , Marie Kean, Godfrey Quigley, Steven Berkof, etc.). What cannot be overlooked is the performance of Ryan O'Neal. If some find him wooden or off-putting should consider that he is essentially playing an unsympathetic rogue. It is a daring performance and O'Neal is utterly convincing whether playing a headstrong teenager or a cold manipulat (www.amazon.com....41-7696832)
This really is a gorgeous movie thanks to the exquisite sets and costumes and especially to John Alcott's dreamy cinematography and a fine score by Leonard Rosenman . The 184 minutes go by almost without notice as we are engrossed in the rise and fall of Barry's fortunes. There is fine acting support from Patrick Magee as the Chevalier de Balibari and Leonard Rossiter as Captain Quinn, and a number of lesser players, who through Kubrick's direction bring to life Europe around the time of the Seven Years War (1754-1763) when decadence and aristocratic privilege were still in full flower. (www.amazon.com....41-7696832)
Goldwater, Barry Morris , b. Phoenix , Ariz., 1909; d. 1998. American politician. After service in World War II, Goldwater entered politics as a Republican and was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1952. He advocated conservative policies of states' rights, free enterprise , and anti-communism. In 1964 he became the Republican candidate for president and although he was defeated decisively by Lyndon. B. Johnson that campaign is considered the beginning of the conservative "revolution " in American politics. He returned to the Senate and served intermittedly until in 1986 (topics.nytimes.com....goldwater/)
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