PART I: By what means Redmond Barry acquired the style and title of Barry Lyndon.
In the opening scene, set in 1750s Ireland, the father of Irishman Redmond Barry (Ryan O'Neal) is killed in a duel by a businessman over a disputed sale of some horses. This detail is related by the film's narrator (the voice of Michael Horden), who comments ironically on the events that transpire. The widow (Marie Kean), disdaining offers of marriage, devotes herself to the raising of her son.
While still in his teens, Barry falls in love with his older cousin, Nora Brady (Gay Hamilton). A wealthy English army officer named Captain John Quin (Leonard Rossiter) meets and begins courting Nora, leading the jealous Barry to challenge Quin to a duel. Barry's second in the duel is his older friend, Captain Jack Grogan (Godfrey Quigley), and also present are Barry's cousins, Ulick and Mick Brady. They fire pistols at ten paces. When Barry's gunfire knocks Quin flat, the Brady cousins pronounce him dead and urge Barry to flee to avoid a murder charge. Believing that he has killed Quin and will be arrested by the British for murder, Barry flees.
On the road to Dublin, Barry is robbed and his horse stolen by a middle-aged highwayman (Arthur O'Sullivan) and the man's son. Penniless, Barry manages to stop at a nearby town where he attends a gathering of locals where a British army recruiting officer is advertising enlistments for men in the Royal British Army, promising glory in the current war in continental Europe as well as a lifelong pension. Barry enlists in the British army and finds himself in boot camp. During training, Barry gets into a brawl with a local bully named O'Toole (Pat Roach), and is forced to fight bare-knuckle against the guy. Barry wins the fight by dodging all of O'Toole's blows and knocks out his opponent, which earns him popularity from the rest of his fellow recruits.
After basic training, Barry and his unit are sent to France to fight in the Seven Years' War (1756-1763) between the alliance of Great Britain and Prussia and the alliance of France, Austria and Russia. While still in a training camp, Barry is reunited with his old friend, Captain Grogan. One evening in the privacy of Grogan's tent, he tells Barry that Captain Quin is not dead after all and has married Nora. The whole duel was a ploy by Nora's relatives to make Barry flee from Ireland so she can marry Quin.
On the road to Dublin, Barry is robbed and his horse stolen by a middle-aged highwayman (Arthur O'Sullivan) and the man's son. Penniless, Barry manages to stop at a nearby town where he attends a gathering of locals where a British army recruiting officer is advertising enlistments for men in the Royal British Army, promising glory in the current war in continental Europe as well as a lifelong pension. Barry enlists in the British army and finds himself in boot camp. During training, Barry gets into a brawl with a local bully named O'Toole (Pat Roach), and is forced to fight bare-knuckle against the guy. Barry wins the fight by dodging all of O'Toole's blows and knocks out his opponent, which earns him popularity from the rest of his fellow recruits.
After basic training, Barry and his unit are sent to France to fight in the Seven Years' War (1756-1763) between the alliance of Great Britain and Prussia and the alliance of France, Austria and Russia. While still in a training camp, Barry is reunited with his old friend, Captain Grogan. One evening in the privacy of Grogan's tent, he tells Barry that Captain Quin is not dead after all and has married Nora. The whole duel was a ploy by Nora's relatives to make Barry flee from Ireland so she can marry Quin.
During Barry's first "taste of conflict" during a skirmish on August 1, 1759 at the Battle of Minden, Grogan is killed, along with many other British soldiers, during the battle with a French rearguard. Over the next year-and-a-half, Barry becomes fed up with the brutality of war. One day, Barry takes an opportunity when he is able to steal the uniform and horse of Lt. Jonathan Fakenham, an army dispatcher, while Frakenham is bathing in a nearby stream with his gay lover.
Posing as a British officer, Barry travels through the allied German states along the Rhine, hoping to get to neutral Holland and from there hopefully get back to Ireland. Barry has a brief affair with a local German woman (Diana Koerner) whom he shacks up with while her husband is away at war.
Later, while traveling up the Rhine River to the north on horseback, Barry meets a Prussian officer, Captain Potzdorf (Hardy Kruger) and his staff, who quickly sees through his disguise. That evening at a local tavern, Potzdorf becomes more nosy and asks Barry many questions about himself and his "mission" as a courier. After catching Barry in a series of lies, Potzdorf exposes Barry as a British army deserter. Given the choice of joining the Prussian army or being turned back over to the British where he will no doubt be executed as a deserter, Barry enlists in his second army. After Barry saves Potzdorf's life by dragging him out of a burning house during a battle with French troops, Barry is promoted and receives a special commendation from the Prussian king, Frederick the Great.
On the road to Dublin, Barry is robbed and his horse stolen by a middle-aged highwayman (Arthur O'Sullivan) and the man's son. Penniless, Barry manages to stop at a nearby town where he attends a gathering of locals where a British army recruiting officer is advertising enlistments for men in the Royal British Army, promising glory in the current war in continental Europe as well as a lifelong pension. Barry enlists in the British army and finds himself in boot camp. During training, Barry gets into a brawl with a local bully named O'Toole (Pat Roach), and is forced to fight bare-knuckle against the guy. Barry wins the fight by dodging all of O'Toole's blows and knocks out his opponent, which earns him popularity from the rest of his fellow recruits.
After basic training, Barry and his unit are sent to France to fight in the Seven Years' War (1756-1763) between the alliance of Great Britain and Prussia and the alliance of France, Austria and Russia. While still in a training camp, Barry is reunited with his old friend, Captain Grogan. One evening in the privacy of Grogan's tent, he tells Barry that Captain Quin is not dead after all and has married Nora. The whole duel was a ploy by Nora's relatives to make Barry flee from Ireland so she can marry Quin.
[...]
During Barry's first "taste of conflict" during a skirmish on August 1, 1759 at the Battle of Minden, Grogan is killed, along with many other British soldiers, during the battle with a French rearguard. Over the next year-and-a-half, Barry becomes fed up with the brutality of war. One day, Barry takes an opportunity when he is able to steal the uniform and horse of Lt. Jonathan Fakenham, an army dispatcher, while Frakenham is bathing in a nearby stream with his gay lover.
Posing as a British officer, Barry travels through the allied German states along the Rhine, hoping to get to neutral Holland and from there hopefully get back to Ireland. Barry has a brief affair with a local German woman (Diana Koerner) whom he shacks up with while her husband is away at war.
Later, while traveling up the Rhine River to the north on horseback, Barry meets a Prussian officer, Captain Potzdorf (Hardy Kruger) and his staff, who quickly sees through his disguise. That evening at a local tavern, Potzdorf becomes more nosy and asks Barry many questions about himself and his "mission" as a courier. After catching Barry in a series of lies, Potzdorf exposes Barry as a British army deserter. Given the choice of joining the Prussian army or being turned back over to the British where he will no doubt be executed as a deserter, Barry enlists in his second army. After Barry saves Potzdorf's life by dragging him out of a burning house during a battle with French troops, Barry is promoted and receives a special commendation from the Prussian king, Frederick the Great.
Two years later, after the war ends in 1763, Barry is employed by the Prussian Minister of Police, Potzdorf's uncle. It is arranged for him to become the servant of the Chevalier de Balibari (Patrick Magee), a professional gambler. The Prussians suspect that he is a spy and Barry is assigned to try to determine if he is. However, Barry discovers that the Chevalier is an expatriate Irishman like himself. After an attack of conscience, Barry immediately confesses his mission to the Chevalier and becomes his protege while continuing his charade of spying on him for Potzdor. Barry assists the Chevalier in cheating at card games, but when the Prince of Tübingen (Wolf Kahler) suspects the truth after losing a large sum of money, Potzdorf decides to expel the Chevalier from the country. Barry relays this to the Chevalier who persuades Barry to take advantage of this to flee Prussia. The Chevalier flees from his house during the night and crosses the border. The next day, Barry impersonates the Chevalier by donning his wig and clothes, so when Potzdorf arrives to take him to the border of Prussia and Saxony, Barry rejoins the Chevalier, both free at last.
Over the next several years, Barry and the Chevalier become successful gamblers as they travel through Europe and gain access to high society. They wander from place to place, cheating the nobles at card games. Barry proves to be very useful; when a loser refuses to pay his debts, Barry's excellent swordsmanship, which he learned during his military service, convinces him otherwise. Seeing that his life of being a drifter and gambler is going nowhere, Barry decides to marry into wealth. Some time later, at a gambling table in Spa, Belgium, he encounters the beautiful and wealthy Countess of Lyndon (Marisa Berenson). After Barry has an argument with Lady Lyndon's aged and terminally sick husband (Frank Middlemass), he suffers a heart attack and dies.
On the road to Dublin, Barry is robbed and his horse stolen by a middle-aged highwayman (Arthur O'Sullivan) and the man's son. Penniless, Barry manages to stop at a nearby town where he attends a gathering of locals where a British army recruiting officer is advertising enlistments for men in the Royal British Army, promising glory in the current war in continental Europe as well as a lifelong pension. Barry enlists in the British army and finds himself in boot camp. During training, Barry gets into a brawl with a local bully named O'Toole (Pat Roach), and is forced to fight bare-knuckle against the guy. Barry wins the fight by dodging all of O'Toole's blows and knocks out his opponent, which earns him popularity from the rest of his fellow recruits.
After basic training, Barry and his unit are sent to France to fight in the Seven Years' War (1756-1763) between the alliance of Great Britain and Prussia and the alliance of France, Austria and Russia. While still in a training camp, Barry is reunited with his old friend, Captain Grogan. One evening in the privacy of Grogan's tent, he tells Barry that Captain Quin is not dead after all and has married Nora. The whole duel was a ploy by Nora's relatives to make Barry flee from Ireland so she can marry Quin.
[...]
During Barry's first "taste of conflict" during a skirmish on August 1, 1759 at the Battle of Minden, Grogan is killed, along with many other British soldiers, during the battle with a French rearguard. Over the next year-and-a-half, Barry becomes fed up with the brutality of war. One day, Barry takes an opportunity when he is able to steal the uniform and horse of Lt. Jonathan Fakenham, an army dispatcher, while Frakenham is bathing in a nearby stream with his gay lover.
Posing as a British officer, Barry travels through the allied German states along the Rhine, hoping to get to neutral Holland and from there hopefully get back to Ireland. Barry has a brief affair with a local German woman (Diana Koerner) whom he shacks up with while her husband is away at war.
Later, while traveling up the Rhine River to the north on horseback, Barry meets a Prussian officer, Captain Potzdorf (Hardy Kruger) and his staff, who quickly sees through his disguise. That evening at a local tavern, Potzdorf becomes more nosy and asks Barry many questions about himself and his "mission" as a courier. After catching Barry in a series of lies, Potzdorf exposes Barry as a British army deserter. Given the choice of joining the Prussian army or being turned back over to the British where he will no doubt be executed as a deserter, Barry enlists in his second army. After Barry saves Potzdorf's life by dragging him out of a burning house during a battle with French troops, Barry is promoted and receives a special commendation from the Prussian king, Frederick the Great.
[...]
[...]
Two years later, after the war ends in 1763, Barry is employed by the Prussian Minister of Police, Potzdorf's uncle. It is arranged for him to become the servant of the Chevalier de Balibari (Patrick Magee), a professional gambler. The Prussians suspect that he is a spy and Barry is assigned to try to determine if he is. However, Barry discovers that the Chevalier is an expatriate Irishman like himself. After an attack of conscience, Barry immediately confesses his mission to the Chevalier and becomes his protege while continuing his charade of spying on him for Potzdor. Barry assists the Chevalier in cheating at card games, but when the Prince of Tübingen (Wolf Kahler) suspects the truth after losing a large sum of money, Potzdorf decides to expel the Chevalier from the country. Barry relays this to the Chevalier who persuades Barry to take advantage of this to flee Prussia. The Chevalier flees from his house during the night and crosses the border. The next day, Barry impersonates the Chevalier by donning his wig and clothes, so when Potzdorf arrives to take him to the border of Prussia and Saxony, Barry rejoins the Chevalier, both free at last.
Over the next several years, Barry and the Chevalier become successful gamblers as they travel through Europe and gain access to high society. They wander from place to place, cheating the nobles at card games. Barry proves to be very useful; when a loser refuses to pay his debts, Barry's excellent swordsmanship, which he learned during his military service, convinces him otherwise. Seeing that his life of being a drifter and gambler is going nowhere, Barry decides to marry into wealth. Some time later, at a gambling table in Spa, Belgium, he encounters the beautiful and wealthy Countess of Lyndon (Marisa Berenson). After Barry has an argument with Lady Lyndon's aged and terminally sick husband (Frank Middlemass), he suffers a heart attack and dies.
PART II: Containing an account of the misfortunes and disasters which befell Barry Lyndon.
The following year (on June 15, 1773), Lady Lyndon and Barry are married at a small church in London and Barry takes her last name of Lyndon and settles in England with wealth at last. The Chevalier is the best man at Barry's wedding and afterwords, he wishes Barry luck with his new life and goes off on his own. Young Lord Bullingdon (Dominic Savage), Lady Lyndon's 10-year-old son by Sir Charles, hates Barry from the beginning, knowing that Barry is an adventurer and "common opportunist" and is not in love with his mother.
On the road to Dublin, Barry is robbed and his horse stolen by a middle-aged highwayman (Arthur O'Sullivan) and the man's son. Penniless, Barry manages to stop at a nearby town where he attends a gathering of locals where a British army recruiting officer is advertising enlistments for men in the Royal British Army, promising glory in the current war in continental Europe as well as a lifelong pension. Barry enlists in the British army and finds himself in boot camp. During training, Barry gets into a brawl with a local bully named O'Toole (Pat Roach), and is forced to fight bare-knuckle against the guy. Barry wins the fight by dodging all of O'Toole's blows and knocks out his opponent, which earns him popularity from the rest of his fellow recruits.
After basic training, Barry and his unit are sent to France to fight in the Seven Years' War (1756-1763) between the alliance of Great Britain and Prussia and the alliance of France, Austria and Russia. While still in a training camp, Barry is reunited with his old friend, Captain Grogan. One evening in the privacy of Grogan's tent, he tells Barry that Captain Quin is not dead after all and has married Nora. The whole duel was a ploy by Nora's relatives to make Barry flee from Ireland so she can marry Quin.
[...]
During Barry's first "taste of conflict" during a skirmish on August 1, 1759 at the Battle of Minden, Grogan is killed, along with many other British soldiers, during the battle with a French rearguard. Over the next year-and-a-half, Barry becomes fed up with the brutality of war. One day, Barry takes an opportunity when he is able to steal the uniform and horse of Lt. Jonathan Fakenham, an army dispatcher, while Frakenham is bathing in a nearby stream with his gay lover.
Posing as a British officer, Barry travels through the allied German states along the Rhine, hoping to get to neutral Holland and from there hopefully get back to Ireland. Barry has a brief affair with a local German woman (Diana Koerner) whom he shacks up with while her husband is away at war.
Later, while traveling up the Rhine River to the north on horseback, Barry meets a Prussian officer, Captain Potzdorf (Hardy Kruger) and his staff, who quickly sees through his disguise. That evening at a local tavern, Potzdorf becomes more nosy and asks Barry many questions about himself and his "mission" as a courier. After catching Barry in a series of lies, Potzdorf exposes Barry as a British army deserter. Given the choice of joining the Prussian army or being turned back over to the British where he will no doubt be executed as a deserter, Barry enlists in his second army. After Barry saves Potzdorf's life by dragging him out of a burning house during a battle with French troops, Barry is promoted and receives a special commendation from the Prussian king, Frederick the Great.
[...]
[...]
Two years later, after the war ends in 1763, Barry is employed by the Prussian Minister of Police, Potzdorf's uncle. It is arranged for him to become the servant of the Chevalier de Balibari (Patrick Magee), a professional gambler. The Prussians suspect that he is a spy and Barry is assigned to try to determine if he is. However, Barry discovers that the Chevalier is an expatriate Irishman like himself. After an attack of conscience, Barry immediately confesses his mission to the Chevalier and becomes his protege while continuing his charade of spying on him for Potzdor. Barry assists the Chevalier in cheating at card games, but when the Prince of Tübingen (Wolf Kahler) suspects the truth after losing a large sum of money, Potzdorf decides to expel the Chevalier from the country. Barry relays this to the Chevalier who persuades Barry to take advantage of this to flee Prussia. The Chevalier flees from his house during the night and crosses the border. The next day, Barry impersonates the Chevalier by donning his wig and clothes, so when Potzdorf arrives to take him to the border of Prussia and Saxony, Barry rejoins the Chevalier, both free at last.
Over the next several years, Barry and the Chevalier become successful gamblers as they travel through Europe and gain access to high society. They wander from place to place, cheating the nobles at card games. Barry proves to be very useful; when a loser refuses to pay his debts, Barry's excellent swordsmanship, which he learned during his military service, convinces him otherwise. Seeing that his life of being a drifter and gambler is going nowhere, Barry decides to marry into wealth. Some time later, at a gambling table in Spa, Belgium, he encounters the beautiful and wealthy Countess of Lyndon (Marisa Berenson). After Barry has an argument with Lady Lyndon's aged and terminally sick husband (Frank Middlemass), he suffers a heart attack and dies.
[...]
[...]
[...]
PART II: Containing an account of the misfortunes and disasters which befell Barry Lyndon.
The following year (on June 15, 1773), Lady Lyndon and Barry are married at a small church in London and Barry takes her last name of Lyndon and settles in England with wealth at last. The Chevalier is the best man at Barry's wedding and afterwords, he wishes Barry luck with his new life and goes off on his own. Young Lord Bullingdon (Dominic Savage), Lady Lyndon's 10-year-old son by Sir Charles, hates Barry from the beginning, knowing that Barry is an adventurer and "common opportunist" and is not in love with his mother.
In this second part, Barry undergoes a character transformation from being ambitious, naive and innocent, into a self-destructive and arrogant man who becomes corrupted by his newly acquired wealth and power. The marriage between Barry and Lady Lyndon is not a happy one, although they welcome a new son born the following year, whom they name Bryan Patrick. Barry is unfaithful to her, and expends most of Lady Lyndon's fortune in an effort to ingratiate himself with those who could assist him in his quest to become a peer of the realm while keeping his wife and children in dull seclusion. One day, she observes Barry consorting with her maid and feels humiliated, but when Barry approaches her in her bath to apologize, she forgives him. However, young Bullingdon does not forgive Barry, and when he reminds Lady Lyndon that Sir Charles is his true father, Barry takes him out of the room to horsewhip him.
On the road to Dublin, Barry is robbed and his horse stolen by a middle-aged highwayman (Arthur O'Sullivan) and the man's son. Penniless, Barry manages to stop at a nearby town where he attends a gathering of locals where a British army recruiting officer is advertising enlistments for men in the Royal British Army, promising glory in the current war in continental Europe as well as a lifelong pension. Barry enlists in the British army and finds himself in boot camp. During training, Barry gets into a brawl with a local bully named O'Toole (Pat Roach), and is forced to fight bare-knuckle against the guy. Barry wins the fight by dodging all of O'Toole's blows and knocks out his opponent, which earns him popularity from the rest of his fellow recruits.
After basic training, Barry and his unit are sent to France to fight in the Seven Years' War (1756-1763) between the alliance of Great Britain and Prussia and the alliance of France, Austria and Russia. While still in a training camp, Barry is reunited with his old friend, Captain Grogan. One evening in the privacy of Grogan's tent, he tells Barry that Captain Quin is not dead after all and has married Nora. The whole duel was a ploy by Nora's relatives to make Barry flee from Ireland so she can marry Quin.
[...]
During Barry's first "taste of conflict" during a skirmish on August 1, 1759 at the Battle of Minden, Grogan is killed, along with many other British soldiers, during the battle with a French rearguard. Over the next year-and-a-half, Barry becomes fed up with the brutality of war. One day, Barry takes an opportunity when he is able to steal the uniform and horse of Lt. Jonathan Fakenham, an army dispatcher, while Frakenham is bathing in a nearby stream with his gay lover.
Posing as a British officer, Barry travels through the allied German states along the Rhine, hoping to get to neutral Holland and from there hopefully get back to Ireland. Barry has a brief affair with a local German woman (Diana Koerner) whom he shacks up with while her husband is away at war.
Later, while traveling up the Rhine River to the north on horseback, Barry meets a Prussian officer, Captain Potzdorf (Hardy Kruger) and his staff, who quickly sees through his disguise. That evening at a local tavern, Potzdorf becomes more nosy and asks Barry many questions about himself and his "mission" as a courier. After catching Barry in a series of lies, Potzdorf exposes Barry as a British army deserter. Given the choice of joining the Prussian army or being turned back over to the British where he will no doubt be executed as a deserter, Barry enlists in his second army. After Barry saves Potzdorf's life by dragging him out of a burning house during a battle with French troops, Barry is promoted and receives a special commendation from the Prussian king, Frederick the Great.
[...]
[...]
Two years later, after the war ends in 1763, Barry is employed by the Prussian Minister of Police, Potzdorf's uncle. It is arranged for him to become the servant of the Chevalier de Balibari (Patrick Magee), a professional gambler. The Prussians suspect that he is a spy and Barry is assigned to try to determine if he is. However, Barry discovers that the Chevalier is an expatriate Irishman like himself. After an attack of conscience, Barry immediately confesses his mission to the Chevalier and becomes his protege while continuing his charade of spying on him for Potzdor. Barry assists the Chevalier in cheating at card games, but when the Prince of Tübingen (Wolf Kahler) suspects the truth after losing a large sum of money, Potzdorf decides to expel the Chevalier from the country. Barry relays this to the Chevalier who persuades Barry to take advantage of this to flee Prussia. The Chevalier flees from his house during the night and crosses the border. The next day, Barry impersonates the Chevalier by donning his wig and clothes, so when Potzdorf arrives to take him to the border of Prussia and Saxony, Barry rejoins the Chevalier, both free at last.
Over the next several years, Barry and the Chevalier become successful gamblers as they travel through Europe and gain access to high society. They wander from place to place, cheating the nobles at card games. Barry proves to be very useful; when a loser refuses to pay his debts, Barry's excellent swordsmanship, which he learned during his military service, convinces him otherwise. Seeing that his life of being a drifter and gambler is going nowhere, Barry decides to marry into wealth. Some time later, at a gambling table in Spa, Belgium, he encounters the beautiful and wealthy Countess of Lyndon (Marisa Berenson). After Barry has an argument with Lady Lyndon's aged and terminally sick husband (Frank Middlemass), he suffers a heart attack and dies.
[...]
[...]
[...]
PART II: Containing an account of the misfortunes and disasters which befell Barry Lyndon.
The following year (on June 15, 1773), Lady Lyndon and Barry are married at a small church in London and Barry takes her last name of Lyndon and settles in England with wealth at last. The Chevalier is the best man at Barry's wedding and afterwords, he wishes Barry luck with his new life and goes off on his own. Young Lord Bullingdon (Dominic Savage), Lady Lyndon's 10-year-old son by Sir Charles, hates Barry from the beginning, knowing that Barry is an adventurer and "common opportunist" and is not in love with his mother.
[...]
[...]
[...]
[...]
In this second part, Barry undergoes a character transformation from being ambitious, naive and innocent, into a self-destructive and arrogant man who becomes corrupted by his newly acquired wealth and power. The marriage between Barry and Lady Lyndon is not a happy one, although they welcome a new son born the following year, whom they name Bryan Patrick. Barry is unfaithful to her, and expends most of Lady Lyndon's fortune in an effort to ingratiate himself with those who could assist him in his quest to become a peer of the realm while keeping his wife and children in dull seclusion. One day, she observes Barry consorting with her maid and feels humiliated, but when Barry approaches her in her bath to apologize, she forgives him. However, young Bullingdon does not forgive Barry, and when he reminds Lady Lyndon that Sir Charles is his true father, Barry takes him out of the room to horsewhip him.
As the years pass, Barry dotes on the sweet-natured Bryan, while Bullingdon's hatred intensifies. Barry brings his mother over from Ireland to live with him on the estate grounds. After meeting with Lady Lyndon as well as her son Lord Bullingdon (now a teenager played by Leon Vitali), Barry's mother privately warns her son that his position is precarious. If Lady Lyndon were to die, all of her wealth would go to her first-born son Lord Bullingdon; Barry and his son Bryan would be left penniless. Barry's mother advises him to obtain a noble title to protect himself. Following his mother's advice, Barry cultivates the acquaintance of the influential Lord Wendover (André Morell) with this goal in mind, spending much money to grease his way to the top of the social ladder. Barry gains access to more of high society and even once meets with the British king George III at a reception in London. To that end, Barry discusses the issue with former government minister, Lord Hallam, who refers him to Gustavus Adolphus, the thirteenth Earl of Wendover. The Earl, making no promises, is willing to consider backing Barry, but says that there must be no question of his worthiness. Barry spends more money lavishly to buy lands and expensive paintings, to entertain those most likely to advance him and make bribes in high places. One day in the boys' schoolroom, when Bullingdon and the usually congenial Bryan quarrel, Barry whips Bullingdon. The viscount, now grown, threatens that next time he will kill Barry.
While Barry is recovering, Bullingdon re-takes control of the Lyndon estate. A few days later, Bullingdon sends a very nervous Graham to the cottage where Barry is recovering to offer him a deal: Bullingdon will grant Barry a small annuity of 500 guineas for life if he leaves England forever and ends his marriage to Lady Lyndon; otherwise, with his credit and bank accounts exhausted, his creditors will see to it that he is put in jail. Wounded in spirit and body and with no friends left, Barry reluctantly accepts the deal. Barry goes back to Ireland with his mother to recover from his injuries. He is then said to have gone back to the European continent to resume his former profession of gambler, though without his former success. From there, history loses touch with Redmond Barry's life after that. He never sees Lady Lyndon again.
In the final scene, set another few years later in December 1789, a gray and middle-aged Lady Lyndon is going over her finances with Lord Bullingdon, Reverend Runt and Graham. She then pauses to sign Barry's annuity cheque to be sent to Ireland. Bullingdon looks over at her sorrowful face and comes to realize that she indeed loved Redmond Barry despite his faults. Mother and son say nothing to each other and continue to review their financial papers.
EPILOGUE: "It was in the reign of George III that the aforesaid personages lived and quarreled; good or bad, handsome or ugly, rich or poor, they are all equal now."
so should i watch this movie or nah? i have it in my queue and i've liked almost every other kubrick i've seen (2001 and the shining are in my top 5 of all time)
Yes, its really great and I think of it as Kubricks most human movie. You will hear that its only appreciated for its filming techniques, but the story and characters are really compelling if you pay attention to it.
It is essentially Scarface, but in Georigan Britain.
>already liked several other films from director >planning on watching it >s-should I maybe never see it instead random Cinemaphile guy??
yes skip this movie and kys
There's no "message" at least not a chewed one in the line of >... LE BAD. it's a depiction of life in that era and every era. If you're sharp enough you will get a lot from it
It's a pretty good movie, I watched it a few times over the years.
More than anything, it is a visual effort, feels like most of the work went towards making it look good (which they did). The plot is fairly mundane, but it never set out to be anything else. At its core, it's a story of society at the time, not necessarily about Barry. In fact we get very little insight into Barry's motivations throughout the movie. Like it's obvious he opted to be a rake/grifter to make easy money, but it's not explained how his morality led him there, he seemed to have no internal conflict. The story simply follows him as he does these things.
The acting is stiff, which I think is by design. Ryan O'Neal is a famously shitty actor, but every actor's range in the movie is extremely restricted so he fits right in and has no opportunity to flop on delivery. I believe the most passionate/emotional scene in the movie is Lord Bullington near the end of the movie, especially in the dueling scene.
I don't get this barry take at all. It's very obvious he was a grifter without a conscience his entire life UNTIL he met true love in the form of his son. When his son died he realized how meaningless were the things he's been chasing his entire life and sympathized with the younging dueling him, ultimately realizing he himself turned into the old man he dueled when barry was young. He finally connected with his humanity
There seems to be a really spiky discourse around this film that it can't be anything other than Kubrick's best film.
PART I: By what means Redmond Barry acquired the style and title of Barry Lyndon.
In the opening scene, set in 1750s Ireland, the father of Irishman Redmond Barry (Ryan O'Neal) is killed in a duel by a businessman over a disputed sale of some horses. This detail is related by the film's narrator (the voice of Michael Horden), who comments ironically on the events that transpire. The widow (Marie Kean), disdaining offers of marriage, devotes herself to the raising of her son.
While still in his teens, Barry falls in love with his older cousin, Nora Brady (Gay Hamilton). A wealthy English army officer named Captain John Quin (Leonard Rossiter) meets and begins courting Nora, leading the jealous Barry to challenge Quin to a duel. Barry's second in the duel is his older friend, Captain Jack Grogan (Godfrey Quigley), and also present are Barry's cousins, Ulick and Mick Brady. They fire pistols at ten paces. When Barry's gunfire knocks Quin flat, the Brady cousins pronounce him dead and urge Barry to flee to avoid a murder charge. Believing that he has killed Quin and will be arrested by the British for murder, Barry flees.
On the road to Dublin, Barry is robbed and his horse stolen by a middle-aged highwayman (Arthur O'Sullivan) and the man's son. Penniless, Barry manages to stop at a nearby town where he attends a gathering of locals where a British army recruiting officer is advertising enlistments for men in the Royal British Army, promising glory in the current war in continental Europe as well as a lifelong pension. Barry enlists in the British army and finds himself in boot camp. During training, Barry gets into a brawl with a local bully named O'Toole (Pat Roach), and is forced to fight bare-knuckle against the guy. Barry wins the fight by dodging all of O'Toole's blows and knocks out his opponent, which earns him popularity from the rest of his fellow recruits.
After basic training, Barry and his unit are sent to France to fight in the Seven Years' War (1756-1763) between the alliance of Great Britain and Prussia and the alliance of France, Austria and Russia. While still in a training camp, Barry is reunited with his old friend, Captain Grogan. One evening in the privacy of Grogan's tent, he tells Barry that Captain Quin is not dead after all and has married Nora. The whole duel was a ploy by Nora's relatives to make Barry flee from Ireland so she can marry Quin.
During Barry's first "taste of conflict" during a skirmish on August 1, 1759 at the Battle of Minden, Grogan is killed, along with many other British soldiers, during the battle with a French rearguard. Over the next year-and-a-half, Barry becomes fed up with the brutality of war. One day, Barry takes an opportunity when he is able to steal the uniform and horse of Lt. Jonathan Fakenham, an army dispatcher, while Frakenham is bathing in a nearby stream with his gay lover.
Posing as a British officer, Barry travels through the allied German states along the Rhine, hoping to get to neutral Holland and from there hopefully get back to Ireland. Barry has a brief affair with a local German woman (Diana Koerner) whom he shacks up with while her husband is away at war.
Later, while traveling up the Rhine River to the north on horseback, Barry meets a Prussian officer, Captain Potzdorf (Hardy Kruger) and his staff, who quickly sees through his disguise. That evening at a local tavern, Potzdorf becomes more nosy and asks Barry many questions about himself and his "mission" as a courier. After catching Barry in a series of lies, Potzdorf exposes Barry as a British army deserter. Given the choice of joining the Prussian army or being turned back over to the British where he will no doubt be executed as a deserter, Barry enlists in his second army. After Barry saves Potzdorf's life by dragging him out of a burning house during a battle with French troops, Barry is promoted and receives a special commendation from the Prussian king, Frederick the Great.
Two years later, after the war ends in 1763, Barry is employed by the Prussian Minister of Police, Potzdorf's uncle. It is arranged for him to become the servant of the Chevalier de Balibari (Patrick Magee), a professional gambler. The Prussians suspect that he is a spy and Barry is assigned to try to determine if he is. However, Barry discovers that the Chevalier is an expatriate Irishman like himself. After an attack of conscience, Barry immediately confesses his mission to the Chevalier and becomes his protege while continuing his charade of spying on him for Potzdor. Barry assists the Chevalier in cheating at card games, but when the Prince of Tübingen (Wolf Kahler) suspects the truth after losing a large sum of money, Potzdorf decides to expel the Chevalier from the country. Barry relays this to the Chevalier who persuades Barry to take advantage of this to flee Prussia. The Chevalier flees from his house during the night and crosses the border. The next day, Barry impersonates the Chevalier by donning his wig and clothes, so when Potzdorf arrives to take him to the border of Prussia and Saxony, Barry rejoins the Chevalier, both free at last.
Over the next several years, Barry and the Chevalier become successful gamblers as they travel through Europe and gain access to high society. They wander from place to place, cheating the nobles at card games. Barry proves to be very useful; when a loser refuses to pay his debts, Barry's excellent swordsmanship, which he learned during his military service, convinces him otherwise. Seeing that his life of being a drifter and gambler is going nowhere, Barry decides to marry into wealth. Some time later, at a gambling table in Spa, Belgium, he encounters the beautiful and wealthy Countess of Lyndon (Marisa Berenson). After Barry has an argument with Lady Lyndon's aged and terminally sick husband (Frank Middlemass), he suffers a heart attack and dies.
PART II: Containing an account of the misfortunes and disasters which befell Barry Lyndon.
The following year (on June 15, 1773), Lady Lyndon and Barry are married at a small church in London and Barry takes her last name of Lyndon and settles in England with wealth at last. The Chevalier is the best man at Barry's wedding and afterwords, he wishes Barry luck with his new life and goes off on his own. Young Lord Bullingdon (Dominic Savage), Lady Lyndon's 10-year-old son by Sir Charles, hates Barry from the beginning, knowing that Barry is an adventurer and "common opportunist" and is not in love with his mother.
In this second part, Barry undergoes a character transformation from being ambitious, naive and innocent, into a self-destructive and arrogant man who becomes corrupted by his newly acquired wealth and power. The marriage between Barry and Lady Lyndon is not a happy one, although they welcome a new son born the following year, whom they name Bryan Patrick. Barry is unfaithful to her, and expends most of Lady Lyndon's fortune in an effort to ingratiate himself with those who could assist him in his quest to become a peer of the realm while keeping his wife and children in dull seclusion. One day, she observes Barry consorting with her maid and feels humiliated, but when Barry approaches her in her bath to apologize, she forgives him. However, young Bullingdon does not forgive Barry, and when he reminds Lady Lyndon that Sir Charles is his true father, Barry takes him out of the room to horsewhip him.
As the years pass, Barry dotes on the sweet-natured Bryan, while Bullingdon's hatred intensifies. Barry brings his mother over from Ireland to live with him on the estate grounds. After meeting with Lady Lyndon as well as her son Lord Bullingdon (now a teenager played by Leon Vitali), Barry's mother privately warns her son that his position is precarious. If Lady Lyndon were to die, all of her wealth would go to her first-born son Lord Bullingdon; Barry and his son Bryan would be left penniless. Barry's mother advises him to obtain a noble title to protect himself. Following his mother's advice, Barry cultivates the acquaintance of the influential Lord Wendover (André Morell) with this goal in mind, spending much money to grease his way to the top of the social ladder. Barry gains access to more of high society and even once meets with the British king George III at a reception in London. To that end, Barry discusses the issue with former government minister, Lord Hallam, who refers him to Gustavus Adolphus, the thirteenth Earl of Wendover. The Earl, making no promises, is willing to consider backing Barry, but says that there must be no question of his worthiness. Barry spends more money lavishly to buy lands and expensive paintings, to entertain those most likely to advance him and make bribes in high places. One day in the boys' schoolroom, when Bullingdon and the usually congenial Bryan quarrel, Barry whips Bullingdon. The viscount, now grown, threatens that next time he will kill Barry.
Maybe stick to your level next time moron
>nothing happens
While Barry is recovering, Bullingdon re-takes control of the Lyndon estate. A few days later, Bullingdon sends a very nervous Graham to the cottage where Barry is recovering to offer him a deal: Bullingdon will grant Barry a small annuity of 500 guineas for life if he leaves England forever and ends his marriage to Lady Lyndon; otherwise, with his credit and bank accounts exhausted, his creditors will see to it that he is put in jail. Wounded in spirit and body and with no friends left, Barry reluctantly accepts the deal. Barry goes back to Ireland with his mother to recover from his injuries. He is then said to have gone back to the European continent to resume his former profession of gambler, though without his former success. From there, history loses touch with Redmond Barry's life after that. He never sees Lady Lyndon again.
In the final scene, set another few years later in December 1789, a gray and middle-aged Lady Lyndon is going over her finances with Lord Bullingdon, Reverend Runt and Graham. She then pauses to sign Barry's annuity cheque to be sent to Ireland. Bullingdon looks over at her sorrowful face and comes to realize that she indeed loved Redmond Barry despite his faults. Mother and son say nothing to each other and continue to review their financial papers.
EPILOGUE: "It was in the reign of George III that the aforesaid personages lived and quarreled; good or bad, handsome or ugly, rich or poor, they are all equal now."
>babby's first period drama film
so should i watch this movie or nah? i have it in my queue and i've liked almost every other kubrick i've seen (2001 and the shining are in my top 5 of all time)
Yes, its really great and I think of it as Kubricks most human movie. You will hear that its only appreciated for its filming techniques, but the story and characters are really compelling if you pay attention to it.
It is essentially Scarface, but in Georigan Britain.
>already liked several other films from director
>planning on watching it
>s-should I maybe never see it instead random Cinemaphile guy??
yes skip this movie and kys
every director has some duds and this one doesn't seem to be quite as universally fawned over as some of his others
yep never watch it
No, it insists upon itself.
No, because I said so.
DUUUUUUN DUUUUUUUUUUN
dun DUUUUUN DUUUUUUN
*do deedle do*
DUUUUUUUUN DUUUUUUUUN
dun DUUUUUUN DUUUUUUUUN
dun DUN dun DUN dun DUNNN, DUNNN, DU-DUNNNNNNNNN
Literally his best film
Easily Kubrick's worst film.
>Fear & Desire
Okay, fine. Second worst film.
I dont understand whats the relation between the entire 3 hours narrative and the moral message: they are equal now
There's no "message" at least not a chewed one in the line of >... LE BAD. it's a depiction of life in that era and every era. If you're sharp enough you will get a lot from it
wigs, cardgame orgies and flintlock pistols were cool, that's the message
It's a pretty good movie, I watched it a few times over the years.
More than anything, it is a visual effort, feels like most of the work went towards making it look good (which they did). The plot is fairly mundane, but it never set out to be anything else. At its core, it's a story of society at the time, not necessarily about Barry. In fact we get very little insight into Barry's motivations throughout the movie. Like it's obvious he opted to be a rake/grifter to make easy money, but it's not explained how his morality led him there, he seemed to have no internal conflict. The story simply follows him as he does these things.
The acting is stiff, which I think is by design. Ryan O'Neal is a famously shitty actor, but every actor's range in the movie is extremely restricted so he fits right in and has no opportunity to flop on delivery. I believe the most passionate/emotional scene in the movie is Lord Bullington near the end of the movie, especially in the dueling scene.
>The acting is stiff
society wasn't a feminized acting class back then, there was something called decency
Filtered
I don't get this barry take at all. It's very obvious he was a grifter without a conscience his entire life UNTIL he met true love in the form of his son. When his son died he realized how meaningless were the things he's been chasing his entire life and sympathized with the younging dueling him, ultimately realizing he himself turned into the old man he dueled when barry was young. He finally connected with his humanity