Barry Lyndon

Watching "Barry Lyndon" is like stepping foot into an 18Th century painting with pastel colors, rosy cheeks, and ruffled blouses. The film might just be the most visually beautiful picture in the world. Just four years after the release of "A Clockwork Orange" Stanley Kubrick embarked on a new adventure. Like most Kubrick films it was a challenge to find a way to master his perfect vision. Kubrick wanted to capture the true light and color of the 18Th century, to do so he had to light most of the film with candles as they would have in the past. Kubrick began to research on low-light camera lenses that had very high speed and apertures, he later discovered a lens that was used by NASA during the Apollo moon landings.Extraordinarily, he managed to get his hands on this high performance lens and developed a way to mount it to a camera. The result was outstanding, beautiful images with a high quality pastel-like colors. Deciding to light the film with natural light was a genius idea, it gave a sense of softness and reality that audiences had never seen before and it added a beautiful touch to the film. At the 48Th annual Academy Awards "Barry Lyndon" won four Academy Awards including Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Musical Score, and Best Art Direction . Everything that was created was obsessively overseen by Kubrick in every detail, this gave the actors medium on which to submerge themselves in the world that was so well created. When you watch the film it is as if a man with a time machine and a camera found himself in the middle of a beautiful 18Th century story. The story is based on a novel called "The Luck of Barry Lyndon" written by William Makepeace Thackeray in 1844. The film tells the story of a smart, tricky boy named Barry Lyndon. As Barry grows up, he finds himself in many dramatic situations due to his schemes and lies. It is more of an adventure than a story, and adventure of this mans life from rags to riches, from a nobody to a man with power, a story about love and hate and war.
Overall the film was well received, but like many of Kubricks films it did not get it's full respect until much later. Today it is considered a masterpiece and it has been recorded as one of the best films of all time. The film is beautiful, it is a ride of emotions, a moving painting, a collaboration of art beyond perfection, I recommend this movie to anyone who has the patience to let an amazing story unravel with time, leading to a very satisfying ending. Enjoy!