Barry Lyndon (1975)

An Irish rogue wins the heart of a rich widow and assumes her dead husband's aristocratic position in 18th-century England.

Director:

Stanley Kubrick

Writers:

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

Stars:

Ryan O'Neal, Marisa Berenson, Patrick Magee

Top Rated Movies #212 | Won 4 Oscars. Another 13 wins & 14 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ryan O'Neal	...	Barry Lyndon
Marisa Berenson	...	Lady Honoria Lyndon
Patrick Magee	...	The Chevalier du Balibari
Hardy Krüger	...	Capt. 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	...	Rev. Samuel Runt
Frank Middlemass	...	Sir Charles Lyndon
André Morell	...	Lord Gustavus Adolphus Wendover (as Andre Morell)
Arthur O'Sullivan	...	Capt. Feeny - the Highwayman
Godfrey Quigley	...	Capt. Grogan
Leonard Rossiter	...	Capt. John Quin
Philip Stone	...	Graham

Storyline

In the eighteenth century, in a small village in Ireland, Redmond Barry (Ryan O'Neal) is a young farm boy in love with his cousin Nora Brady (Gay Hamilton). When Nora gets engaged to British Captain John Quin (Leonard Rossiter), Barry challenges him to a duel of pistols. He wins and escapes to Dublin, but is robbed on the road. Without an alternative, Barry joins the British Army to fight in the Seven Years War. He deserts and is forced to join the Prussian Army, where he saves the life of his Captain and becomes his protégé and spy of Irish gambler Chevalier de Balibari (Patrick Magee). He helps Chevalier and becomes his associate until he decides to marry the wealthy Lady Lyndon (Marisa Berenson). They move to England and Barry, in his obsession of nobility, dissipates her fortune and makes a dangerous and revengeful enemy.

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Plot Keywords:

rise and fall | highwayman | wealth | england | duel | 

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Taglines:

Great was his rise...And much greater his fall.

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | History | War

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English German French

Release Date:

18 December 1975 (USA)

Also Known As:

Барри Линдон

Filming Locations:

Royal Victoria Park, Bath, Somerset, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$11,000,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$198,992

Company Credits

Production Co:

Peregrine, Hawk Films, Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

185 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Metrocolor) Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Vivian Kubrick: The young girl sitting behind Lady Lyndon's left shoulder during the magic show is Stanley Kubrick's daughter.

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Goofs

In the first battle one of the British soldiers can be seen with an 1873 45/70 Trap Door Springfield rifle.

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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

Spoofed in Cheech & Chong's The Corsican Brothers (1984)

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Soundtracks

Sarabande
Written by George Frideric Handel (as Georg Friedrich Händel)
From the Suite for Harpsichord No. 4 in d minor, HWV 437
Arranged for orchestra

User Reviews

Opulent costume drama from the great filmmaker

Kubrick's adaptation of Thackeray's Barry Lyndon sharply divides fans of the great director's work, as the languid pace and seemingly interminable running time -- not to mention Ryan O'Neal's questionable performance in the title role -- are cherished by some and deplored by others. Little argument will be made against John Alcott's Academy Award-winning cinematography or Ken Adam's production design, however, and Kubrickian motifs are manifest in the gallery of characters' wide-ranging displays of cowardice, guile, duplicity, avarice, jealousy, greed, and cruelty. Marisa Berenson is terribly short-changed in her role as the Lady Lyndon, but a number of other performers are given the opportunity to create a handful of memorable moments -- especially Arthur O'Sullivan (albeit briefly) as the charming, intelligent highwayman and Patrick Magee as the Chevalier. Love it or hate it, Barry Lyndon will remain essential viewing for aficionados of the director, who enjoys taking his usual shots at the more discouraging aspects of human behavior.