#127: Barry Lyndon
Part of the Top 150 Films series
1975 was such an amazing year for cinema that Barry Lyndon — one of Kubrick’s most picturesque and fundamentally precise films — wouldn’t even crack my top five for that year (spoiler alert, I guess?) What can I say about the ‘look’ of Barry Lyndon that hasn’t been repeated ad nauseum? It was a torture to narrow the image search down to just one, but I believe that the shot above shows everything great about the film: the consummate framing and blocking of the actors, the exquisite use of natural light to suggest a painterly quality to the entire endeavour, the sublime production design that makes us feel like we’ve been transported back in time. All of this would result in a stultifyingly rigid film were it not for how funny it is! Don’t believe me? Watch it again and report back. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised. Claim satisfaction!
