Barry Lyndon (1975)

An Irish rogue wins the heart of a rich widow and assumes her dead husband's position in 18th Century aristocracy.

Director:

Stanley Kubrick

Writers:

Stanley Kubrick (written for the screen by), William Makepeace Thackeray (novel)

Stars:

Ryan O'Neal, Marisa Berenson, Patrick Magee

Top 250 #206 | Won 4 Oscars. Another 15 wins & 11 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ryan O'Neal	...	Barry Lyndon
Marisa Berenson	...	Lady Honoria Lyndon
Patrick Magee	...	Chevalier de Balibari
Hardy Krüger	...	Captain Potzdorf (as Hardy Kruger)
Steven Berkoff	...	Lord Ludd
Gay Hamilton	...	Nora Brady
Marie Kean	...	Barry's Mother
Diana Körner	...	Lischen (as Diana Koerner)
Murray Melvin	...	Reverend Samuel Runt
Frank Middlemass	...	Sir Charles Lyndon
André Morell	...	Lord Gustavus Adolphus Wendover (as Andre Morell)
Arthur O'Sullivan	...	Captain Feeny, the Highwayman
Godfrey Quigley	...	Captain Grogan
Leonard Rossiter	...	Captain John Quin
Philip Stone	...	Graham

Storyline

In the Eighteenth Century, in a small village in Ireland, Redmond Barry is a young farm boy in love of his cousin Nora Brady. When Nora engages to the British Captain John Quin, Barry challenges him for a duel of pistols. He wins and escapes to Dublin, but is robbed on the road. Without any other alternative, Barry joins the British Army to fight in the Seven Years War. He deserts and is forced to join the Prussian Army, saving the life of his captain and becoming his protégé and spy of the Irish gambler Chevalier de Balibari. He helps Chevalier and becomes his associate until he decides to marry the wealthy Lady Lyndon. They move to England and Barry, in his obsession of nobility, dilapidates her fortune and makes a dangerous and revengeful enemy.

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Plot Keywords:

british army | irish | spy | england | 18th century | 

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Taglines:

At long last Redmond Barry became a gentleman -- and that was his tragedy.

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Romance | War

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English German French

Release Date:

18 December 1975 (USA)

Also Known As:

Beri Lindon

Filming Locations:

Royal Victoria Park, Bath, Somerset, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$11,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

SEK 2,016,185 (Sweden)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Peregrine, Hawk Films, Warner Bros

Technical Specs

Runtime:

184 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Chevalier is introduced as "di Balibari", which is a Italianisation of "Ballybarry" (i.e. Barrytown), which is where he is from in Ireland.

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Goofs

While the Chevalier is gambling with Lord Ludd (after he and Barry escape into Saxony), we see the Chevalier cheating: there is a cut to his right hand, under the table, where he drops a card (the four of clubs) from his sleeve and into the palm of his hand. Immediately before this cut, his right hand is resting on the gaming table and his left arm is by his side. Immediately after this cheat-cut, his right hand remains on the table and he brings his left hand above the table to drop the palmed card (the card that we just saw him palm into his right hand).

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Quotes

[first lines]
[two figures visible on the horizon prepare to duel. Three witnesses stand between them]
Second: Gentlemen, cock your pistols! Gentlemen...
Narrator: Barry's father...
Second: ...aim your pistols!
Narrator: ...had been bred, like many other young sons of a genteel family, to the profession of the law.
Second: One!
Narrator: And there is no doubt he would've...
Second: Two!
Narrator: ...made an eminent figure in his profession...
[...]

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Connections

References 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

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Soundtracks

"HOHENFRIEDBERGER MARCH"
Composed by Frederick The Great

User Reviews

Lavish, engrossing, picaresque

(Note: Over 500 of my movie reviews are now available in my book "Cut to the Chaise Lounge or I Can't Believe I Swallowed the Remote!" Get it at Amazon.)

Stanley Kubrick's beautifully opulent production takes many liberties with William Makepeace Thackeray's picaresque romance, The Memoirs of Barry Lyndon, Esq (1843), narrated in the first person depicting events from the eighteenth century. In particular, Redmond Barry who becomes Barry Lyndon, is something of an admirable rake, whereas in Thackeray's novel he is a braggart, a bully and a scoundrel. No matter. Kubrick, in keeping with a long-standing filmland tradition, certainly has license, and Thackeray won't mind.

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.

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.

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.

Bottom line: one of Kubrick's best, certainly his most beautiful film.