Barry Lyndon

Kubrick loved the cinema. He wanted his films to be seen on the big screen under the best possible conditions: good sound, a clean and intact print, comfortable chairs…

To that end he had spies out checking on showings and making notes to report back (I know, I sat next to one once).

We wonder what he would have thought of the current state of yer average multiplex: they are expensive, projection quality is often poor, sound can be tinny and the digital projection is lacking. There is no replacement for actual film.

Barry Lyndon is an historical epic. It covers, over three hours, the efforts of an Irish country bumpkin who wants money and power and a title.

Visually, it’s a stunning film. It’s slow, to give you time to take in the scenes, and often pulls back revealing more.

There’s Kubrick’s beloved narration. Episodes from the book on which it is based are removed.

There are some stunning performances, especially Murray Melvin as Runt.

And the music reflects the story so well.

And then… there’s some duff acting. Ryan O’Neal is presumably doing what his director asked, but the accent varies and the actor seems a bit, er, distracted. A big name star here does not work. And Leon Vitali as the older step-son is another negative.

Despite some negatives, it’s a film to be seen. There’s no cgi here, no electronic score, just decent, honest, old-fashioned film making. It wasn’t a box office success at the time, and, while so many Kubrick titles are available on 4K for home viewing, Barry Lyndon is not. Maybe the medium can’t do it justice. Maybe there’s no market for it, and we can make do with a bluray.

Barry wants money and power and respect, regardless of who he has to walk over and however badly he treats his wife. Perfect for our Trumpian times.