Something to watch tonight: Monday 19 February
Barry Lyndon (Kubrick, 1975)
Tonight marks the start of the 2024 Wellington Film Society season with a 6.15pm special screening of Stanley Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon at the Embassy Theatre.
The film was voted equal-45 in the most recent Sight & Sound poll of the best films of all time and I wrote about it for RNZ:
Because, for all the wonderful painterly compositions and candlelight tableaux, it is the work of the actors and the wit of the script that really makes the film sing. Love Story star Ryan O’Neal is a kind of blank canvas as Barry, surrounded by a catalogue of Britain and Irelands’s greatest character actors, all contributing to a wry commentary on class and ambition.
The film charts Barry’s rise and fall, from handsome and rogueish social climber to disabled and all-but destitute, living off the charity of those who he had once tried to emulate. There are many adventures along the way – the film is very long in true Kubrickian fashion – but never seems to outstay its welcome. Kubrick’s perfect choices in what we now call ‘needle-drops’ also help: Handel, Mozart, Vivaldi and The Chieftains all contribute.
For all the lightness of touch, though, we shouldn’t dismiss the phenomenal technical achievements in recreating the 18th century world of great houses, ornate ballgowns, battlegrounds and duels. Kubrick had originally wanted to make a film about Napoleon – the research famously takes up dozens of crates in the filmmaker’s archive – but the commercial failure of the Dino De Laurentiis epic Waterloo meant that no one was confident in financing that film but the recreations of some absurd Seven Years’ War battles show that research wasn’t wasted.
If you aren’t in Wellington tonight, you can take a moment to check the schedules for your local New Zealand film society here. It is one of the best investments in film appreciation you can get.
Where to watch Barry Lyndon
Aotearoa: Tonight at the Wellington Film Society (Embassy Theatre) or digital rental from Apple ($2.99!)
Australia: Digital rental from Apple, Amazon or Microsoft
USA: Streaming on Roku (with ads) or digital rental
UK: Digital rental from all the usual outlets
Wow - I had that planned to watch tonight before your email came out !