Monday, December 29, 2003

Barry Lyndon
I don�t think anybody who could watch this movie keenly would ever call it lengthy or boring. It got awards for its best aspects: cinematography, set design, costume design and music; and not to mention for Kubrick�s genius in direction and screenwriting.
The static or lingering visuals closely resemble landscape paintings from the late 18th century. If you can get hold of pictures of (a) John Constable�s paintings, or (b) a DVD of the movie, try and also get the other and compare the visuals.
What intrigues me most is the casting of Ryan O�Neal. Whatever said, I am fully convinced and am pretty certain that a better subtle-yet-strong actor like the one to play a Machiavellian Sicilian, would have taken the movie elsewhere; in fact, with such a performance bereft of any good humour, the irony would have heightened, in keeping with the satirical and wryly humorous tone of the 1st part of the film. Probably the only reason O�Neal�s acting appears fairly convincing in the 2nd part, is because of the awkwardness of Bullingdon played well by Leon Vitali. Despite what I might consider to be a mistake in casting, the character of Barry does not come across as jarring, vague or unconvincingly funny, because of Kubrick�s filmmaking genius only.
I would love to watch this movie on the big screen. I continue to consider Kurbick a key influence for myself, because of a shared love for a less wide frame, the penchant for classical music, dark humour, amongst other things, now only to be reinforced through the aesthetics and technology of Barry Lyndon.

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