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 #214 | 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 is a young farm boy in love with his cousin Nora Brady. When Nora gets engaged to the British Captain John Quin, 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 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, 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:

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

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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

Features the use of many actors who had previously appeared in Stanley Kubrick's films, with Steven Berkoff, Norman Gay, Patrick Magee, Godfrey Quigley, Leonard Rossiter, Anthony Sharp and Philip Stone all having previously appeared in at least one Kubrick movie. In addition, Leon Vitali would later be Kubrick's assistant on all of his subsequent projects, as well as playing as "Red Cloak" in Eyes Wide Shut (1999).

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Goofs

When Barry first meets the Chevalier di Balibari, there's a small side table with a coffee pot to the right, but when the Chevalier is viewed from the front, the table is gone.

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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

Referenced in Birth (2004)

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Soundtracks

THE BARBER OF SEVILLE (cavatina)
Composed by Giovanni Paisiello

User Reviews

A film so easily dismissed

In the midst of the many wonderful films made by Stanley Kubrick, it is strange to note how rarely people mention "Barry Lyndon".

The film portrays an unusual young Irish man, Redmond Barry, and his endeavours as he is forced to leave his home and tries to make good his life elsewhere. His life away from home starts out as a career in the British Army; only to evolve in surprising ways and lead to as different places as a position of trust within the Prussian Army and later a title of nobility, gained by what our time can only measure as rather disgraceful means.

Some consider Barry Lyndon a slow and tedious film – and it is in deed past three hours in length, but this is because of the artistic flow of a film that strays not only to tell a tale about a man who is by no means neither hero nor villain, but also a film which is in no hurry and takes the time for every detail to sink into the mind and heart of the viewer. Some of the scenic images in "Barry Lyndon" are in themselves pieces of art, rendered with a passion for the landscapes and the man-made structures within them.

The myth that all scenes were recorded using no artificial lighting no doubt stems from the very realistic lights during indoor takes, and some of them truly did not feature artificial light. This is but one of the many details that so easily conveys a sense of a realistic portray of the era; the 18th century and the time after the seven-year war in the later half of the century. The impressive atmosphere and the wonderfully picturesque scenarios along with the fact that the entire plot moves at a calm pace makes this film a very pleasant experience.

"Barry Lyndon is", amidst Kubricks' many masterpieces, a film so easily dismissed due to length and the fact that it is overshadowed by others, but I deeply recommend this film to anyone who would like to see a film both for the plot line, the story and the pure enjoyment of the images presented. Stanley Kubrick made many great films – and this one is most definitely one of them! KimotoCat