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

100 Movie Challenge 2015 - # 123: Paths of Glory

Director: Stanley Kubrick

Genre: Drama

Runtime: 88 minutes

Year: 1957

Starring: Kirk Douglas, Ralph Meeker, Adolphe Menjou

Description: Based on the 1935 novel of the same name, it tells the story of an ill-fated assault on German forces by French soldiers, and the grippling consequences those soldiers face when they refuse to follow through with it.

Review: “Paths of Glory” is a relatively short film and maybe that’s the strength of it. Movies with a long runtime often drag, and “Paths of Glory” managed to avoid that. There are some characters that are a bit like caricatures, typical for war movies. The actual war part of the film is very short, but powerful and it has sharp dialogue. And the end scene also has something epic.

Kirk Douglas is very strong in his role. He is very natural, especially for that time. That’s why the overacting of some other actors is so obvious and sometimes bothered me.

Stanley Kubrick did a good job directing and the camera work is surprisingly good. De long shots in the trenches are amazing.

Rating: 3,5/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2015 - # 105: Eyes Wide Shut

Director: Stanley Kubrick

Genre: Drama/ Thriller

Runtime: 159 minutes

Year: 1999

Starring: Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Madison Eginton, Sydney Pollack, Todd Field, Jackie Sawiris, Leslie Lowe, Peter Benson, Michael Doven, Sky Dumont, Louise J. Taylor, Stewart Thorndike, Randall Paul, Julienne Davis, Lisa Leone, Thomas Gibson, Leelee Sobieski

Description: New York City doctor Bill Harford (Tom Cruise), who is married to an art curator (Nicole Kidman), pushes himself on a harrowing and dangerous night-long odyssey of sexual and moral discovery after his wife admits that she once almost cheated on him.

Review: Almost thirty years before “Eyes Wide Shut” premiered, a befriended journalist of Stanley Kubrick bought the rights to the book “Traumnovelle” by Arthur Schnitzler. So Kubrick had the idea for this film for almost three decades. This shows how much of a perfectionist he is. And when he started filming, it took him another two and a half years to finish the project.

Stanley Kubrick managed to create an oppressing atmosphere, and it’s not so much because of the sex scenes that are included. It’s the mystery of the story, you start out with having no idea where the story is heading. Slowly it enfolds.

For instance the meeting between Bill and his former college friend Nick Nightingale. At first it looks like just another scene, but later that moment turns out to be a crucial moment in the film. The scenes in the mansion are bizarre and a bit macabre, but it fits the style and atmosphere of the film.

The movie is a bit slow and it has a long running time. You feel this sometimes.

It’s a fascinating film, that you won’t forget easily.

Rating: 4/ 5