After A Clockwork Orange and before The Shining, Stanley Kubrick made an epic, 187-minute period drama. It's among the least talked about films of Kubrick's resume, but should, in fact, be one of the most discussed for its sheer beauty and brilliance. Kubrick decided to adapt the 1844 fictional book called 'The Luck of Barry Lyndon' by William Makepeace Thackeray and the results were astounding. Not only did Kubrick's vision win critic and audience's praises, but it also won four Oscars and might be Kubrick's best-looking film in his entire canon, which is quite the feat considering every single one of his films is visually stunning.
Hell, many critics and outlets have deemed Barry Lyndon one of the greatest films ever made, and they wouldn't be far off the mark with that statement. But why does this film get the shaft from debates and film geeks like ourselves? Maybe it's perhaps the film's long runtime and slow-burn pacing. Or maybe it's the fact that our main protagonist, Barry, isn't such a great man from start to finish, thus disconnecting us from Barry's journey.
Kubrick not only wanted to make a film that was similar to walking into one of the greatest art galleries in the world and spending hours looking at the gorgeous paintings, but also show us an objective look at a man's life and how he conducted himself in his own selfish ways. This leads Kubrick to hypnotize us for a couple of hours before smacking us in the face. It's quite a brilliant move on Kubrick's part. Told in two acts, Barry Lyndon starts out with Barry's father being killed in a duel in Ireland. At this time he's known as Redmond Barry (Ryan O'Neil). After the death of this father, Barry falls in love with his cousin and makes several advances towards her, although she never reciprocates because she loves an English Captain.
Furious, the bratty and rude Barry is forced to flee his home and, with no money and nowhere to go, enlists in the British Army where he is shipped off to the Seven Years' War. You'd think Barry would mature or think things through, but he doesn't and flees his post and ends up forced to join the Prussian army. After the war, but still-very-much-a-jerk, Barry ends up becoming a cheating gambler to make money and, when his opponents give him grief or don't pay, Barry duels. Not exactly the best life.
Over living a poor life of gambling, cheating, and stealing, Barry marries a very wealthy Countess (Marisa Berenson) to live off her money and take her last name, Lyndon. But it's not too long before the Countess realizes what kind of debaucherous, selfish person Barry really is; he openly cheats, steals, and only uses his wife for her money. The only person who seems to want to speak up, or do something about Barry, is the Countess' son from her first marriage.
It seems Barry has come full circle. He tried so hard to climb the social ladder and keep his pockets full of money, but suddenly it all come crashing down thanks to his stupidity and childish actions. The second half of the film focuses on Barry trying to confront his demons.
Kubrick's vision for Barry Lyndon is one of the most beautiful pieces of art and cinema out there. Each frame of the film could be paused, printed, and hung up on your wall. It's that amazing. The use of natural light and classical music fully immerses you into this old world, and with award-winning performances by everyone in the film, it's no doubt Kubrick has concocted yet another masterpiece for himself and for us to enjoy and talk about.
Like most Kubrick movies, it's one of those films where, if it's on television, you can't help but watch the whole thing all the way through. It's one of those films where you shouldn't want to watch a horrible man be horrible to so many people, but you can't help but be riveted. It's one of those films where you'll notice something different each time and take away something new with each viewing, which is which is something you don't get from enough movies.
Vital Disc Stats: The Blu-ray
Barry Lyndon comes with a two 50GB Blu-ray Discs from Criterion and both are Region A Locked. Disc #1 contains the film and Disc #2 contains all the bonus features. There is a Criterion booklet that is fully illustrated, which includes cast and crew information, tech specs, an essay by Geoffrey O'Brien, an interview with John Alcott, and another essay by Ed DiGiulio. This comes with Spine #897. The discs and booklet are housed in a hard, clear plastic case.
Criterion's Barry Lyndon comes with a 1080p HD transfer based on a new 4K digital restoration and is presented in 1.66:1 aspect ratio, which should satisfy Kubrick fans. According to the Criterion Booklet, this new digital transfer was created in 16-bit 4K resolution from the original 35mm camera negative. Kubrick's personal assistant served as the color reference for this new transfer. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, and warps were manually removed too. The result is the way we were meant to see this amazing looking film, as if it were just released in theaters on film stock.
Colors are deeper and richer and detail is more vivid and sharper in every lighting instance. The red colored military uniforms look amazing in their full-bodied color and never go murky when in candlelit scenes. In fact, they stand out proud and bold. The luscious green fields and perfect blue skies are all brighter and more realistic with no haziness to it. Textures and fine stitching in the uniforms also show great detail while the soldiers are marching and running around. Even the scuff marks on their hats and leather straps can be seen easily here too. It's really like an oil canvas come to life on screen.
Facial features, such as scars, wrinkles, moles, facial hairs, and makeup blemishes look good here too in close-ups. Perhaps the coolest thing here is when scenes take place only in candlelight, you'll be able to notice more detail and distinguish more colors than you have in previous releases. Black levels are deep and inky and the skin tones are always natural. The film grain is smooth and never fluctuates between scenes, but rather has a steady filmic look that takes you back to watching movies on celluloid.
To appease all fans, Criterion has finally listened to its customers and have provided the original LPCM 1.0 mono track as well as the DTS-HD MA 5.1 mix. I couldn't be happier. I'm sure, for those diehard fans, the 1.0 option will be their choice, and it should satisfy you wholly, but this mono track lacks the immersion and heft the 5.1 mix brings to the table. According to the Criterion Booklet, the original monaural soundtrack was remastered from the 35mm magnetic DME track, where clicks, thumps, hiss, hum, and crackle were all manually removed. The 5.1 mix was made in 2000 from the original soundtrack and supervised by Kubrick's assistant.
Barry Lyndon is mostly a dialogue driven film, but like most all Kubrick films, there is a ton of classical music, and this film is no different. The Bach, Mozart, and Vivaldi pieces are all excellently presented and sound fantastic over the 5.1 speaker system. It just fully immerses you into a dreamlike trance as you follow Barry around, listening to the woodwinds and horns sound off. The battle sequences don't pack a ton of heft like you would see in a Michael Bay movie, but they do still pack a punch. Dialogue is clear and easy to follow, from the smallest whisper to the big yells and is free of all issues. I'm loving that Criterion is adding the audio options here.
Finally, we have an ultimate edition to one of Kubrick's best films, Barry Lyndon - all thanks to Criterion. The new video is stunning at every moment and gives new life to the film and it's incredible to have both the 5.1 and 1.0 audio tracks. Let's hope this is the standard on future releases. If you've owned previous releases of Barry Lyndon, you may have been disappointed by the significant lack of bonus features. Criterion has delivered the goods with a treasure trove of amazing bonus features that are all worth watching. It doesn't get better than this. MUST-OWN!
Portions of this review also appear in our coverage of Dunkirk on Blu-ray. This post features unique Vital Disc Stats, Video, and Final Thoughts sections.
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