Young Irishman Barry Lyndon falls in love with his cousin, but she pivots for an English Captain with better financial posturing, instead. Broken-hearted, Barry challenges the Captain to a duel and wins, but flees to avoid punishment. The young lad gets held up and is destitute, so he joins the English army during the Seven Years War. He later defects but is caught and pressed into the even more torturous Prussian army. Still, he saves his captain, gets better assignments, and eventually escapes. Barry falls in love with Lady Lyndon, conveniently as Mr. Lyndon dies—and the two marry. Now with a son of his own and made well off by Lady Lydon’s money, Barry tries to raise his own title and stature. However, he’s sort of a dick about it, angers his son in law, and eventually find himself in the duel of his life.
“Barry Lyndon” is famously one of the most beautiful films of all time. It is well known that Stanley Kubrick used NASA-developed lenses to shoot in ultra-low light/candle-lit rooms. This created a natural vignetting that, when combined with expert staging, framing, and hyper-dramatic scenes, provides a real “oil painting” quality. Make no mistake, this is a real “every frame a painting” movie. Beyond aesthetics, the film is funny and tragic. I enjoyed the story and the performances. Truly, the one thing holding me back from a “fifth star” is the excruciatingly slow pace. While it’s a valid choice, it gives the film an “unrewatchability” shared by less entertaining stories. I read one review that referred to it as a “coffee table book” of movies, and I agree with that. The three hour runtime was so long, that I bumped the screening up one week so I wouldn’t have to deal with it during this busy week at work—and I’m glad I did.
I feel the need to call out one final thing—this film is a shockingly fitting companion piece to the musical “Hamilton”. It takes place in the same era, with similar costumes and military technology. The story is about an (Irish) immigrant who befriends people of power as he rises through military ranks and eventually earns a higher stature. Even there, however, he is treated like he doesn’t belong, makes bad choices, loses a son, and ultimately comes undone. The whole story is flanked by two duels and involves “throwing away” a shot. Seriously. I’ve never seen evidence of a connection, but I’d be gobsmacked if Lin Manuel didn’t watch this at some point. If you love “Hamilton”, check this one out just for the journey of it!