esrosedotblog

TODAYS MOVIE

BARRY LYNDON (1975): NYTimes1176BestMovies; William Makepeace Thackeray and Stanley Kubrick; what a pair. Kubrick made only 16 films. The first few, documentaries and B-pics, were unremarkable. Then came PATHS OF GLORY and there are nine more in succession, all on the NYTimesBest lists. His last, EYES WIDE SHUT missed the mark. It is said that he was ill and on his way out; to say nothing of the fact that he was working with the neuter Tom Cruise on a sex film; miscasting.

We have seen 2001 (a number--among the first of the Best) and (out of order), CLOCKWORK and will see the remaining 7 in due alphabetical course.

Kubrick invaded genrés. In the same way that PATHS is his military justice film and SPARTACUS his epic sword and sandal, LYNDON is his heavy literature project. It is beautiful. It does not have 'scenes' so much as 'tableaus'. You can see the Kubrick perfectionism beginning to creep in. How long did they have to wait for those sky-scapes? The interiors are dramatically candle-lit (only candles we are told). All in all, it is very impressive. There is not much of a story. It is all characterization and morals and, well, tableaus. It is a great 'picture'; picture, not film. The less said about the one-note acting of the leads, (Mr. Ryan and Ms. Berenson) the better. Support is good; especially the cuckold original Lord Lyndon (Frank Middlemass) who gives a memorable five minute choleric death scene; tour-de-force. Heavyweight at 3 hours, which is a bit over my limit, but I endured it. I am giving it a 3 or 4 out of Netflix5. Here is a tableau.