‘Underrated period masterpiece’ with 92% score available on Prime now | Films | Entertainment
A “beautifully cinematic” period drama by one of the big screen’s most celebrated directors is streaming now in the UK. Barry Lyndon (1975) stars Ryan O’Neal as Redmond Barry (later Redmond Barry Lyndon), a rogue and gold-digger from Ireland who charms and weds rich widow Lady Lyndon (Marisa Berenson) in a cynical bid to enter the English aristocracy.
The film was based on William Makepeace Thackeray’s 1844 novel The Luck of Barry Lyndon, and directed by legendary auteur Stanley Kubrick, best known for all-time classics like 2001: A Space Odyssey, Full Metal Jacket, and his last film Eyes Wide Shut, starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman.
Barry Lyndon is among his lesser known works, but some hail it as one of his best – despite its reputation for being a slow watch.
Collider described the film as Kubrick’s “underrated masterpiece”, saying it “isn’t celebrated merely for its narrative — the visual artistry makes it one of a kind”.
“Every frame is composed with painterly precision, evoking the color palettes, symmetry, and framing of 18th-century European paintings,” the outlet adds.
One fan on Rotten Tomatoes gave the film five stars and said they’d watched it “about 200 times”.
“Every scene is like a painting,” they wrote. “If you can’t appreciate that, you won’t like the film. The characters are perfectly cast, right down to the smallest supporting role, meaning that the leads are just as memorable as the supporting ones.”
Another said they went into the film “expecting it to be a slow paced, immersive kind of movie, with a plodding and meandering storyline. Which it was”.
“That out of the way, Barry Lyndon is a fabulous body of work. The slow scenes seemed to feel right, the ideas and character arcs were thought provoking. A very visceral, intellectually stimulating film,” they added.
A third called it simply a “beautifully cinematic, brilliant movie”.
The film is “Certified Fresh” on the website, and has a 78% score on its Tomatometer (which reflects the percentage of approved critics who have given the film a positive review”.
It scores even better with general audiences, with a 92% Popcornmeter score.
The film has a 12a certificate and features things like violence, sex, suicide and self-harm, so may not be for everyone.
Barry Lyndon is streaming on Amazon Prime now.
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