One of those Kubrick flicks every film buff tells you you need to watch at least once in your life. Some call it Kubrick's "Magnum Opus," not sure it's quite there for me but still a fantastic film well worthy of the praise it gets.

It's long and paced pretty slowly, so fans of consistent action in their movies will feel it dragging. I was kept enthralled by the cinematography and world design - costumes, backgrounds, and even faces are so convincingly 18th century, you'd swear you were watching a moving painting. Quick Summary: Redmond Barry is a poor young man in Ireland who cons and lies his way up the English social ladder, eventually marrying into enormous wealth. However, over time, the enemies he's made along the way (one in particular) comes back to haunt him. It's a somewhat cliched story of the rise and fall of an anti-hero, but with a not-so-typical conclusion.

Won't spoil it for you here, but if you're a lover of classic cinema, and you want to witness the very best role Ryan O'Neal was ever in, I'd submit this to you as a great film. History nerds like myself will appreciate the attention to detail given to even the smallest aspects in each shot.

Perhaps the most beautiful film ever made.

O'Neal was great in "Paper Moon", a truly beautiful movie its own realm.

quote:

Originally posted by Ripley:
O'Neal was great in "Paper Moon", a truly beautiful movie its own realm.

Thanks Ripley, this one wasn't on my radar. I'll give it a watch.

quote:

Originally posted by YellowJacket:
Perhaps the most beautiful film ever made.

Yep, naturally lit. NASA camera lenses. You have to be a real nut to figure out how to use some astronaut/space lens to shoot a motion picture the way you want. Stanley’s attention to detail extended to every single thing in the frame. Every inch. Wallpaper, windows, carpet, furniture, lighting. Stanley was truly one of a kind. This film is one of Para’s favorite and definitely my favorite Kubrick film. They are all great, but this is the one. Still waiting on these lazy asses to do a proper 4k restoration/conversion on disc. It’s like that rare record that you lusted for.

Obviously not new information to fans of the film but many of the set scenes are based on William Hogarth paintings. They (both the scenes and paintings) are stunning and lurid. Google him to see the paintings, especially The Rakes Progress or Marriage A la Mode to see the influence. They’re almost Rockwellian in style but not caricaturish.

Thank you, Para, for sharing these great videos. Never realized how much work went into getting those candlelight shots. We surely have lost something in the age of CGI, for all it's merits. Movies like Barry Lyndon feel authentic - they tap into your humanity in a strange way. As a child of the Y2K era, I can't imagine what it was like to see something like this in theaters.

Great movie, was really fascinating with the lenses so they could shoot by candlelight. Gonna have to google that article again.

I remember Para's wonderful post on Barry Lyndon from years ago.
I tried watching it on streaming, but the slow pace was too slow for me.