Barry Lyndon [Criterion Collection] [Blu-ray]

Director: Stanley Kubrick

Overview

"With ornate imagery reminiscent of paintings from the story's 18th century period, Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of William Makepeace Thackeray's novel depicts the rise and fall of a sensitive rogue in the British aristocracy. Young Irishman Redmond Barry (Ryan O'Neal) leaves home to seek his fortune after apparently killing an English officer in a duel. Through a series of mishaps and accidents, Barry winds up fighting with the Prussian army in the Seven Years' War under the command of Capt. Potzdorf (Hardy Kruger); at war's end, Potzdorf enlists Barry to spy on a shady Chevalier (Patrick Magee). Instead, Barry joins up with the Irish Chevalier to flee Prussia and live as gamblers among Europe's elite. Wishing to climb even higher, Barry soon meets the beautiful Lady Lyndon (Marisa Berenson), marrying her for her fortune after her older titled husband dies. Her son Lord Bullingdon (Leon Vitali), however, despises the upstart Barry, and, regardless of how his mother may feel, sees to it that the re-named Barry Lyndon will never be able to stake his claim to the entrenched aristocracy. Coming after Kubrick's esteemed hits 2001 (1968) and A Clockwork Orange (1971), Barry Lyndon opened with high expectations and met with decidedly mixed responses to its restrained tone. Even with Oscar nominations for Best Picture and Best Director (and wins for Cinematography, Art Direction, Costumes, and Adapted Score), Barry Lyndon was a box office failure, as mid-'70s audiences increasingly turned away from such narrative challenges as its epic length and muffled emotions. Since then, Barry Lyndon has gained in stature, taking its place among the formidable artistic achievements of Kubrick's career."

Product Details

Release Date:	10/17/2017
UPC:	0715515205412
Original Release:	1975
Rating:	PG
Source:	Criterion Collection
Region Code:	A
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	3:05:00

Special Features

New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack; Alternate 5.1 surround soundtrack, presented in DTS-HD Master Audio; New documentary featuring cast and crew interviews as well as audio excerpts from a 1976 interview with director Stanley Kubrick; New program about the film's groundbreaking visuals, featuring focus puller Douglas Milsome and gaffer Lou Bogue as well as excerpts from a 1980 interview with cinematographer John Alcott; New program featuring historian Christopher Frayling on Academy Award-winning production designer Ken Adam; New interview with editor Tony Lawson; French television interview from 1976 with Ulla-Britt Söderlund, who codesigned the film's Oscar-winning costumes; New interview with critic Michel Ciment; New interview with actor Leon Vitali about the 5.1 surround soundtrack, which he cosupervised; New piece analyzing the fine-art-inspired aesthetics of the film with curator Adam Eaker; Trailers

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Ryan O'Neal	Barry Lyndon
Marisa Berenson	Lady Honoria Lyndon
Patrick Magee	The Chevalier du Balibari
Hardy Krüger	Capt. Potzdorf(as Hardy Kruger)
Steven Berkoff	Lord Ludd
Gay Hamilton	Nora Brady
Marie Kean	Barry's Mother
Diana Körner	Lischen(as Diana Koerner),Lischen(as Diana Koerner)
Murray Melvin	Rev. Samuel Runt,Rev. Samuel Runt
Frank Middlemass	Sir Charles Lyndon
André Morell	Lord Gustavus Adolphus Wendover(as Andre Morell)
Arthur O'Sullivan	Capt. Feeny - the Highwayman
Godfrey Quigley	Capt. Grogan
Leonard Rossiter	Capt. John Quin
Philip Stone	Graham
Leon Vitali	Lord Bullingdon
John Bindon	Recruiting Soldier
Roger Booth	King George III
Michael Hordern	Narrator
Dominic Savage	Lord Bullingdon as Child
Ferdinand Mayne	Actor
Liam Redmond	Actor
Pat Roach	Actor
Frederick Schiller	Actor

Technical Credits

Stanley Kubrick	Director,Producer,Director,Producer
Jan Harlan	Executive Producer
Robin Gregory	Sound/Sound Designer
Bill Rowe	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

While not too well-regarded on its initial release, Barry Lyndon, like most of Stanley Kubrick's work, has stood the test of time as a dramatically compelling and visually stunning motion picture. Kubrick's retelling of William Makepeace Thackeray's novel has often been accused of moving too slowly for its own good, but if you allow yourself to slip into its admittedly deliberate rhythm, you'll discover an absorbing, complex, and dryly witty tale packed with sex, violence, gambling, war, family feuds, romantic betrayals, love, death, and all the other things that make historical dramas so much fun. Though no one has ever accused Ryan O'Neal or Marisa Berenson of being expressive actors, their limited emotional palettes work in their favor here; Kubrick structures the film so that the audience reads triumph and tragedy in the subtle emotional variations of his cast, allowing many of them to register onscreen as they never would otherwise. (And, in fairness to O'Neal, Barry Lyndon is doubtless this actor's strongest and most expertly modulated performance.) And no one has ever contested Barry Lyndon's visual splendor. Attempting to recreate both the aesthetic style of 18th century paintings and the physical look of the period, Kubrick, cinematographer John Alcott, and production designer Ken Adam used authentic antique props and costumes to brilliant effect, and they lit their scenes with only natural sunlight or candles, for a look that no other movie has ever touched. The result is a film of singular visual style and beauty, and one of the richest and most evocative period pieces ever made.