Reviews: DVD

Barry Lyndon

Directed by Stanley Kubrick, starring Ryan O'Neal, Marisa Berenson (pictured)

There's a scene in this opulent marathon where the lead character moves towards the wealthy women he wishes to wed in short, measured steps. Hardly a hint of flesh can be seen in the entire sequence, just a kiss, but it's still erotic. What's more, not a word is said between the two lovers as they move rigidly, almost robotically to the beat of Schubert.

This characterizes the entire film. Words take a backseat to mood for nearly the whole three-hour running time. As you would expect from Kubrick, the visuals are lavish and yet this remains an exception in the director's canon: a strangely moving monument of style and technicality. Painstaking in its production authenticity, candles are sometimes the only light source used.

"Pffft, big deal," you may say. "Candles? Orchestrating movement to slow ponderous classical music? Who cares?" Fair argument too, this is one of Kubrick's movies seemingly unobstructed by creative "shackles" (i.e. plot). But there is a message amid the mechanical pomp Kubrick's adaptation of Thackeray's novel portrays its hero as a pawn of his time, not a free-willed adventurer.

Ben Davey

(China Daily 03/15/2007 page20)