Barry Lyndon

Beyond the aesthetic grandeur, the painting-like frames, the subtle acting, the semi-ironic dialogue, the passive-aggressive score, the sex, the hatred, the tragedy... Kubrick presents, without any Hollywood sentimentalism, one of the most comprehensive illustrations of life by way of the story of one surprisingly 'common' man. The regularness of life. This seems to be the main driver for many characters in cinema who seek to escape normality and become truly great. This may be true of many of Barry Lyndon's secondary characters. But Lyndon himself, portrayed with such fidelity by the naturally funny Ryan O'Neal, is like a leaf that tries to swim against the stream. He's a survivor first. The pace and 'destiny' of Lyndon's life reminded me of Apocalypto, where inevitable forces take you to one direction, or to another; You make a good move, you make a bad move. You love, you are loved. You hate, you are hated. You kill... And yet there is no destiny and there is no trodden path. Lyndon must live with the consequences of his actions, for better or worse. But not forever! He can escape them at times. He can pay someone off, or get paid off himself! He can ingratiate himself with a lord or two, or steal one's wife and become a landlord. I have never felt such a committment from a director to truth when portraying life. And I don't mean "facts". It's not about what happened or didn't happen. It's about how you tell it. Nobody's life is known truly except by oneself. We all exaggerate, we all forget, sometimes conveniently, sometimes inconveniently. And Kubrick plays with this idea to such an extent that you get a movie that is, in many ways, a comedy, given the many lies, mistakes, and stupidity that the characters show, just like in real life! And yet, in those tenders moments... when you are given a gift by your first love, or you are playing with your firstborn son, Kubrick shows the true beauty of life, the true greatness of the 'common' man. Which is to say every man, since, in the end, we are all equal.