Oldies Review - Barry Lyndon

Director: Stanley Kubrick
Genre: Drama/ Romance
Runtime: 184 minutes
Year: 1975
Starring: Ryan O’Neal, Marisa Berenson, Patrick Magee, Hardy Krüger, Steven berkoff, Gay Hamilton, Marie Kean, Diana Körner, Murray Melvin, Frank Middlemass, André Morell, Arthur O’Sullivan, Godfrey Quigley, Leonard Rossiter, Philip Stone, Leon Vitalo, John Bindon, Roger Booth, Billy Boyle, Jonathan Cecil, Peter Cellier, Geoffrey Chater

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2020 MOVIE CHALLENGE.
WEEK 24: A MOVIE MADE BY STANELY KUBRICK

Description: An Irish rogue (Ryan O’Neal) wins the heart of a rich widow (Marisa Berenson) and assumes her dead husband’s aristocratic position in 18th-century England.

Review: After astonishing the film world with films like “Dr. Strangelove” (1964), “2001: A Space Odyssey” (1968) and “A Clockwork Orange” (1971), director Stanley Kubrick made a film that didn’t have as much shock value. “Barry Lyndon” is a three-hour costume drama about the rise and fall of an eighteenth-century slick. In a period of rising blockbusters like “Jaws”, the films was received very lukewarmly at the box office, and many critics dismissed it as a boring and long-winded film that was nothing like any other Kubrick movies.
“Barry Lyndon” will always stand in the shadow of the previous mentioned films. And I can understand why critics said the things they said at the time. It’s a slow-burn and a very long movie where not a lot of spectacular events happen. But due to its dreamy style, hypnotic harmony of images and music and detached-static photography, this film looks like a moving painting.
I think this is a misunderstood film and the length of it doesn’t help. I also think the aforementioned films are all better, since “Barry Lyndon” is definitely a movie I wouldn’t rewatch. But still I appreciate it.

Rating: 3,5/ 5