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Who wrote this mini-review of Barry Lyndon, and what's happened to this viewpoint (or ones in this general realm) among the 21st Century film culture elite? I'll tell you what's happened to his viewpoint. It's been decreed, elbowed and pooh-poohed out of existence. Well, enough of that. It's high time for a backlash, dammit. Into the doghouse with Barry Lyndon! A rarified one, I mean. The kind that houses a very rare breed of movie that is simultaneously brilliant and over-praised, and which many have watched 15 or 20 times.

"Thackeray wrote a skittish, fast-moving parody of romantic, sentimental writing. It was about the adventures of an Irish knave who used British hypocrisy for leverage. However, it must have been Barry Lyndon's ruthless pursuit of wealth and social position rather than his spirit that attracted Stanley Kubrick. His images are fastidiously delicate in the inexpressive, peculiarly chilly manner of the English painters of the period-the mid-18th century-and it's an ice-pack of a movie, a masterpiece in every insignificant detail.

"Kubrick suppresses most of the active elements that make movies pleasurable. The film says that people are disgusting but things are lovely. And a narrator (Sir Michael Hordern) tells you what's going to happen before you see it. It's a coffee-table movie; a stately tour of European high life [that's] like a three-hour slide show for art-history majors."

Almost every hip film aficionado and filmmaker you might run into these days swears by Lyndon, and nobody ever says or writes anything like the above. The Lyndon cult is so dug-in and well-established that it's almost become a fascist dictatorship. There is only one way to process the emotional bloodlessness of Barry Lyndon, and that is to call it timeless, exquisite, masterful, etc.

My view has always been that it dies after Barry marries Lady Lyndon, or the simple reason that his coarse selfishness -- the thing that ensures his social and financial downfall -- seems to come out of nowhere.

It comes down to simple visual pleasures...yes. The thought-out, strongly fortified kind that has led me to watch the Barry Lyndon DVD 15 or 20 times, even thought I don't care for the funereal second half. I sit through this section only because I love the Lord Bullington duel sequence and the final epilogue card that states, "Good or bad, handsome or ugly, rich or poor, they are all equal now."

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on April 9, 2009 at 10:25 AM

comment #1

Rich S. says ...

To be fair, there's only so much you can do with Ryan O'Neal.

Posted by Rich S. at April 9, 2009 10:52 AM

comment #2

CitizenKanedforChewingGum says ...

Not sure I understand the point of this, exactly...so are you implying that the film is overrated, has aged badly, isn't faithful to the source material, what's going on here?

Posted by CitizenKanedforChewingGum at April 9, 2009 10:58 AM

comment #3

JD says ...

Yes, this is very confusing. For years, Barry Lyndon was thought of as lesser Kubrick... then everyone decided it was underrated... now people are reacting against that sentiment and calling it overrated. I think your best bet is to have your own personal response and forget all this consensus nonsense. I thought Barry Lyndon was a masterpiece the first time I saw it, but the more I see it, the more shallow and one note Kubrick's whole worldview and style seem. He makes broad, definitive judgements about people and applies them to every scene. I feel the same way about A Clockwork Orange. The more you see these films, the more schematic they seem. Kael was one of the few critics that noticed this on first viewing. She always appreciated the sophistication of Kubrick's films, but she was also quick to see their limitations. Over time, I find that 2001, The Shining and Full Metal Jacket hold up best, which is probably because they deviate so greatly from their source material (2001 was actually conceived alongside its "source" material) and their meaning is less definitive/pinned-down, as a result. That said, I still think Kubrick's films are all pretty incredible in one way or another.

Posted by JD at April 9, 2009 11:18 AM

comment #4

mutinyco says ...

Pauline Kael always hated Kubrick. Yawn.

Just for the record, when it played the Walter Reade Theater two years ago, the entire holiday weekend run was sold-out, and the audience was constantly laughing throughout the first half.

And, in my opinion, next to the first half of Full Metal Jacket, the second half of Barry Lyndon is one of the finest examples of narrative compression I've ever seen.

Posted by mutinyco at April 9, 2009 11:21 AM

comment #5

MilkMan says ...

Taking shots at Kubrick is a fool's game. Like blowing a spitball at a car that's about to run you down. Everyone has different tastes, so obviously not everyone is going to see him as a master filmmaker, but the critical and scholarly work on Kubrick is so vast, dense and rich that it would take an enormous tidal wave of contrarian thinking about his place in the pantheon to knock him down even a peg. It's like people who don't think Kafka is a good writer, or that Picasso was a hack artist. There is no evidence to make these kinds of ridiculous charges stick. And to me, what it all boils down to is subject matter. A lot of people don't like his movies because they don't like what the movies are about, therefore the movies are boring, therefore Kubrick sucks. The next piece of anti-Kubrick criticism that I read makes a cogent argument against his greatness based on his aesthetics, on his use of the camera, on his lighting, framing and compostion, on his structural tendencies (thus showing us all how we have vastly overestimated him and that he is nothing more than a mediocre filmmaker) will be the first. Because you can't attack him from that angle. Kubrick's contributions to the language of cinema are numerous and unimpeachable.

If anyone is interested, even though I don't think any of you are, there is an incredible series of essays re: The Shining over at:

mstrmnd.com/log/802

If you like Kubrick, and you are interested in the mechanics of the cinematic image, please read all three parts. If you don't like Kubrick, and shit like mechanics bores you, then don't.

Posted by MilkMan at April 9, 2009 11:30 AM

comment #6

LexG says ...

Ryan O'Neal is awesome, both here and everywhere. "GREEN ICE" 4 LIFE.

And the second half of Barry Lyndon is the better half, with his prick-ass Malcolm McDowell/Danny Lloyd looking asshole kid starting to hate Barry, who consistently owns that little bastard. Seriously, I could watch bad-ass O'Neal put the smack down on that ungrateful little bitch for another six hours.

Plus that repeated music cue is SO FUCKING AWESOME and you can't get it out of your head for months, shit looks like THE SHINING which is the best movie ever made, and that duel is great, so I don't know how you can prefer the first half with Lucky Charms O'Neal all "At the PLEEEEEASURE.... of FOINDIN' IT!" in that scene with the chick that goes on for ten years.

The second half is the VIOLENT HALF and therefore THE BETTER HALF because it's all hardcore and looks sinister like 2001 and Shining, the first half is all whimsical and lush, which is BORING. And I ALWAYS prefer the FALL half of rise and fall narratives, because it rules when some awesome old curmudgeon becomes impenetrable and doesn't give a FUCK about his downfall, he just keeps on being an awesome misanthrope even if it turns other people off and sabotages his entire sphere.

Because being an old bad-ass loner Elvis is better than being a hippie Beatle.

Posted by LexG at April 9, 2009 11:35 AM

comment #7

MikeSchaeferSF says ...

See if you can track down Andrew Sarris' orig review at the time. He praised it with faint damnation, so to speak.

OTOH, I finally saw "Eyes Wide Shut" for the first time the other night. Struck me as rather weak, and not just because I don't care for Cruise.

Posted by MikeSchaeferSF at April 9, 2009 11:51 AM

comment #8

CitizenKanedforChewingGum says ...

Shut the fuck up, Lex.

You're about the only person I know that can write a plot summary for fucking Barry Lyndon that makes it sound about as shallowly vapid as Transformers.

Stay tuned for his take on Citizen Kane in the next installment of Lex's Cliff Notes:

All that newspaper shit at the beginning was BORING and LAME, but things start picking up when Dorothy Comingore enters the pic (who is SMOKIN' even by 1930s standards -- KRISTEN STEWART ain't got SHIT on HER).

This ORSON WELLES guy is an overrated HACK. He thinks just because he can convince a bunch of people there are MARTIANS he can actually DIRECT -- he must be related to SHYAMALAN. They should have got real men like DEMILLE, or better yet, GRIFFITH to film this puppy, I bet they'd find a way to cram some real ACTION in this SNOOZER.

Unfortunately the ending totally BLOWS -- I was hoping for a more VIOLENCE, instead we just see a fuckin' SLED roast -- and it doesn't even EXPLODE!

SLEDS are for KIDS, they might as well have made it a CARTOON like that STUPID Walt Disney.

What the HELL has he ever done, anyway?

Posted by CitizenKanedforChewingGum at April 9, 2009 12:05 PM

comment #9

JT says ...

I first watched BL in a little art house cinema on a rainy day in Prague and went back every day for a month. One of hte greatest times in my movie life was seeing BL, MCCABE & MRS MILLER and JULIET OF THE SPIRITS all in the same day. it became a ritual and the film remains endlessly watchable. I drink it up! Can't wait for the BR to come out. I still watch it every few weeks, at least 8=10 times a year. It is one of the 10 best of the 70s. Period.

Oh yeah, LexG FTW!!!

Posted by JT at April 9, 2009 12:16 PM

comment #10

George Prager says ...

LexG and MilkMan should collaborate on a Fatty Arbuckle screenplay.

Posted by George Prager at April 9, 2009 1:40 PM

comment #11

Noah Redfield says ...

It's been a while since I've seen Barry Lyndon in its entirety so I don't want to take a stand quite yet. All I know is that Ryan O'Neal can't act his way out of a paper bag and his presence alone makes it difficult for me to watch, not least because of his dreadful accent. I know that portions of Lyndon work brilliantly but I'm undecided on the sum of its parts, though I'm leaning towards your assessment of the second half.

Anyone can dissect Kubrick's films down to individual frames and justify the brilliance of the picture as a whole. That's what makes him so appealing to scholars and students alike. The question is, does the thing work? In almost every case, the answer is yes. In the case of Lyndon, I'm not so sure but I need to revisit it.

But the same cult is now growing around Eyes Wide Shut but I remain unsold on that one. Apart from the orgy sequence, it's a shockingly unremarkable film and I don't care what anyone says.

Posted by Noah Redfield at April 9, 2009 1:41 PM

comment #12

MilkMan says ...

You're being so mean to me George, and I don't know why. If you keep saying mean things about me I'm going to cry.

Posted by MilkMan at April 9, 2009 1:56 PM

comment #13

Rich S. says ...

Actually, MilkMan, that Fatty Arbuckle idea has a sort of deranged genius. Especially if you could get someone like Dolph Lundgren to play Fatty.

Posted by Rich S. at April 9, 2009 2:23 PM

comment #14

MilkMan says ...

Great idea, Rich. I'm on it.

Posted by MilkMan at April 9, 2009 2:29 PM

comment #15

BoshBarnetWonkyDonkey says ...

Kubrick is a great name. I've never known anyone in real life to have it. Same goes for Spielberg. They're both cinematic last names in themselves.

Posted by BoshBarnetWonkyDonkey at April 9, 2009 2:40 PM

comment #16

lipranzer says ...

Interesting timing on this - Tuesday, there's a collection of so-called 80's "classics" being released on DVD (MORGAN STEWART'S COMING HOME, anyone?), among them IRRECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES, where O'Neal plays a director and gets to parody Kubrick in one scene (or at least Hollywood's image of Kubrick) while he's directing a LYNDON-type epic.

Oh, topic, sorry - not top-tier Kubrick for me, but still one that improved on second viewing. It does bug that Marisa Berenson is pretty much used as a stick figure, though.

Posted by lipranzer at April 9, 2009 4:03 PM

comment #17

Markj74 says ...

Barry Lyndon is a masterpiece.

Noah Redfield: You should read 'Kubrick' by Michael Herr, a beautiful essay on his collaborator and friend. There's an amazing analysis of Eyes Wide Shut in the book, one I wholeheartedly agree with.

Posted by Markj74 at April 9, 2009 4:27 PM

comment #18

MilkMan says ...

I thought O'Neal was doing a Bogdonavich impression in that movie. W/ Sharon Stone as Cybil. Am I mistaken?

Posted by MilkMan at April 9, 2009 4:32 PM

comment #19

T. S. Idiot says ...

Agree with JD: loved BL when it came out but find less there each time I see it. Music is pretty good, though.

Posted by T. S. Idiot at April 9, 2009 5:24 PM

comment #20

Rich S. says ...

Milk,

I just read one of LexG's posts in another thread. Scratch Lundgren for the Arbuckle bio. We're going with Dudikoff.

Actually, you know what? Let's shoot for the moon. Arbuckle was a tragic clown, right? So it's all got to be done through the eyes. You already know what I'm thinking, don't you? You're way ahead of me on this.

Keira Knightley.

We put her in a Rick Baker/Eddie Murphy fat suit. Or get that guy that made Theron look like a pig in Monster. The picture practically writes itself after that!

Okay, so it's naked Oscar bait. But you know what? What isn't anymore? It's all either Oscar bait or superheros. And with Knightley, you get both!

I'm telling you, it's gold. I'm talking $6.5 mil domestic easy. Arbuckle is a brand!

You are MilkMan. Make it happen.

Posted by Rich S. at April 9, 2009 7:05 PM

comment #21

lipranzer says ...

Milkman:

"I thought O'Neal was doing a Bogdonavich (sic) impression in that movie. W/ Sharon Stone as Cybil. Am I mistaken?"

Maybe, but as far as I know, Bogdanovich never directed O'Neal in a costume drama, nor was he an absolute perfectionist about lighting.

Posted by lipranzer at April 9, 2009 8:40 PM

comment #22

mutinyco says ...

Barry Lyndon could've been 3 hours of a walrus getting gang-raped by drunk sailors -- but so long as it ended with that same title card it would still be a masterpiece.

Posted by mutinyco at April 9, 2009 8:48 PM

comment #23

MAGGA says ...

mutinyco, I don't agree with the notion that anything would have been a masterpiece with that title card, but the scenario you described would.

Posted by MAGGA at April 10, 2009 8:36 AM

comment #24

whereisthysting says ...

Talk about missing the point

The heart and soul of this movie lies in its second half. If you cannot feel it, you cannot feel it - but trust me, for those who DO 'get' this film - it is essential you emotionally experience how Lyndon is transformed by his love for his son. He is not so changed that he becomes a good guy (witness his cruelty to his stepson), but it adds a new level of pathos to his character. For those who GET this film, that image of his son in that ridiculous coach pulled by sheep is some kind of perfect manifestation of the duel absurdity and beauty of a parent's unconditional love.

There is a cold edifying grandeur as well in the mechanics of how the English class system operates to freeze Barry out and knock him back down to 'his place'.

For the first part of the film - yes - there is a chilly comedy to the scoundrel Barry's rise in the world and the images are magnificent, but like I said, if you miss out on the emotional core of the film's second half - you can't really understand it.

I would add I think that while O'Neal doesn't exactly give a showstoppingly brilliant performance - he does not does not get in the character's way either and is a fine embodiment of the part. Indeed, with the passage of time its rather haunting how in so many ways the actor's life has paralleled the character's.

Posted by whereisthysting at April 10, 2009 1:06 PM

comment #25

whereisthysting says ...

Talk about missing the point

There is a cold edifying grandeur as well in the mechanics of how the English class system operates to freeze Barry out and knock him back down to 'his place'.

Posted by whereisthysting at April 10, 2009 1:09 PM

comment #26

whereisthysting says ...

sorry about the double post: rookie mistake

Posted by whereisthysting at April 10, 2009 1:28 PM

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There is a cold edifying grandeur as well in the mechanics of how the English class system operates to freeze Barry out and knock him back down to 'his place'.
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comment #31

dd says ...

And, in my opinion, next to the first half of Full Metal Jacket, the second half of Barry Lyndon is one of the finest examples of narrative compression I've ever seen.

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comment #34

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For those who GET this film, that image of his son in that ridiculous coach pulled by sheep is some kind of perfect manifestation of the duel absurdity and beauty of a parent's unconditional love.data entry from homethe second half of Barry Lyndon is one of the finest examples of narrative compression I've ever seen.

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comment #35

data entry from home says ...

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comment #37

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