I have to say in all honesty this is one of the best looking films I've ever scene. That alone could have kept me through its 3 hour running time but I found the entire film fascinating, even with Kubrick's usual cold detachment
Barry Lyndon is cold like every Kubrick's movie; it's about love, but love for money, it's about passion, but passion for gambling as a means of gaining money, it's about decay of a society under such conditions. Nevertheless, the movie is a pure beauty, filled with outstanding scenes and beautiful camerawork. This is like an art gallery you can visit all the time and feel new emotions all the time.
Beneath layers of sardonic wit, everything about this film simply is. The windswept vistas, gorgeously photographed; the subtle black comedy of happenstance, and plainly bittersweet romance. A period piece, a character study, and a detached tale of a farm boy's journey into a spurious life of aristocracy... It's all so plain, so ugly, yet so beautiful. Kubrick's cold, perfectionist gaze imbues that which could be maudlin with nuanced cynicism and quiet grandeur.
Although I'm not the greatest kubrickfan I can't deny that Barry Lyndon is a true masterpiece of cinema. Kubrick makes the 18th century come alive in a way that you can almost smell it. This is pure genius
The film dwells on O'Neal's Lyndon regaining the lifestyle he deserves, the pursuit of which is ultimately his undoing. Lyndon's cunning is fascinating, but his life is sad, because despite all of the effort he puts forth he doesn't seem very happy, and his life takes some depressing turns. Kubrick accentuates this with an incredible production that reproduces the period with a gritty realism, and is enhanced by the use of natural and subdued lighting.
Vastly overlooked and underated. The most beautiful shot Kubrick movie, a very good story, despite the fact, that, you cant really feel any empathy with Lyndon, he is just a greedy guy. The score is also perfect, with the only negative point being the over-romantic take on the Handel Suite in D minor.
The story didn't really appeal to me and Kubrick stretched many scenes which made the movie somewhat boring. Nevertheless, soundtrack & cinematography were absolutely stunning.