History Film / BarryLyndon

* TenPacesAndTurn: There's a twist in the "stand at your mark" version: the duelists ''take it in turns'' to fire, based on a coin toss. There's a memorable scene where one duelist, having missed his shot, throws up in terror realizing that his opponent now has ''carte blanche to shoot him in cold blood.'' This is actually how most duels of that period worked. Pistols were horribly inaccurate and many duelists deloped anyway; it was also considered very bad form to aim carefully. The point was more to test whether both parties cared enough about the issue to take the risk.

* TranquilFury: The fearsome Prince of Tübingen (played by Creator/WolfKahler) shows no expression save for a menacing KubrickStare as he accuses the Chevalier of cheating him out of 15,500 ''Friedrichs d'Or.''

* TranquilFury: The fearsome Prince of Tübingen (played by Creator/WolfKahler) shows no expression save for a menacing KubrickStare as he calls out the Chevalier for cheating him out of 15,500 Friedrichs d'Or.

* AffablyEvil: Captain Feeny, who's remarkably polite for a highwayman who robs travelers at gunpoint.

* HistoricalVillainDowngrade: Barry in the original novel was loosely based on Andrew Robinson Stoney. While Barry slides from naif to rogue to sympathetic VillainProtagonist, he retains some humanity. Stoney was just a sadistic psychopath. Thackeray's novel on account of being narrated by Redmond Barry himself often implied this was true of his character as well, with the FootnoteFever reminding us constantly that he's an UnreliableNarrator. Kubrick however took a third-person approach and he largely does follow the narrative as related in the novel, with the LemonyNarrator pointing out by euphemisms some of the issues in what we see. As such the movie's Barry Lyndon is a nicer character than the book.

* TheHighwayman: When he stops for a drink of water his way to Dublin, Barry meets a certain Captain Feeny and his son. Shortly afterwards they surprise him with a stickup in the woods, relieving him of his horse, pistol, and purse.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The Chevalier disappears from the story after Barry's marriage to Lady Lyndon. Seeing as he was Barry's senior by at least a couple decades, it could be inferred that he died of old age during the time lapse.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The Chevalier disappears from the story after Barry's marriage to Lady Lyndon.

The film had very mixed reviews when it came out, and was seen as weird for Kubrick as he wasn't fond of period pieces. Nowadays, however, ''Barry Lyndon'' is widely regarded as a cinematographer's dream with its beautiful camera work (including scenes lit only by candles), and no other film has so convincingly brought the 18th century to life. It's a simple story and its unusually long runtime may turn you off at first, but if you allow yourself to be absorbed by it and accept the pace, it's deeply engaging, romantic and even thought provoking. There are some truly classic scenes, such as the climactic duel between Barry and his stepson which has tremendous tension, and the first meeting and seduction of Lady Lyndon by Barry, which involves a room of gamblers, a balcony, and the slow movement of Music/FranzSchubert's Piano Trio in E-flat major, which is just pure romance on film.

The film had very mixed reviews when it came out, and was seen as weird for Kubrick as he wasn't fond of period pieces. Nowadays, however, ''Barry Lyndon'' is widely regarded as a cinematographer's dream with its beautiful camera work (including scenes lit only by candles), and no other film has so convincingly brought the 18th century to life. It's a simple story and it's unusually long runtime may turn you off at first, but if you allow yourself to be absorbed by it and accept the pace, it's deeply engaging, romantic and even thought provoking. There are some truly classic scenes, such as the climactic duel between Barry and his stepson which has tremendous tension, and the first meeting and seduction of Lady Lyndon by Barry, which involves a room of gamblers, a balcony, and the slow movement of Music/FranzSchubert's Piano Trio in E-flat major, which is just pure romance on film.

Set over the second half of the 18th century, the film concerns the life of Irish peasant-turned-adventurer-turned-aristocrat Redmond Barry (Ryan O'Neal), who leaves his Irish home after his family con him into leaving alone his cousin with whom he is besotted. The film's first act is a ''Literature/{{Candide}}''-esque chain-of-events story showing how he then goes on to be a British deserter of the UsefulNotes/SevenYearsWar, a Prussian conscript, a spy, and then a travelling dandy. The second act, however, is far more downbeat and involves his quest to become an aristocrat, which eventually leads to tragedy as he spurns his beautiful but fragile wife and brings his stepson to hate him with a passion.

The film had very mixed reviews when it came out, and was seen as weird for Kubrick as he wasn't fond of period pieces. Nowadays, however, ''Barry Lyndon'' is widely regarded as a cinematographer's dream with its beautiful camera work (including scenes lit only by candles), and no other film has so convincingly brought the 18th century to life. It's a simple story, but if you allow yourself to be absorbed by it and accept the pace it's deeply engaging, romantic and even thought provoking. There are some truly classic scenes, such as the climactic duel between Barry and his stepson which has tremendous tension, and the first meeting and seduction of Lady Lyndon by Barry, which involves a room of gamblers, a balcony, and the slow movement of Music/FranzSchubert's Piano Trio in E-flat major, which is just pure romance on film.

''Barry Lyndon'' is Creator/StanleyKubrick's 1975 period piece, widely considered one of his most underrated films. Ideally, this work summary should be read while listening to Music/GeorgeFredericHandel's ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91sfrw106xs Sarabande]]''.

Set over the second half of the 18th century, the film concerns the life of Irish peasant-turned-adventurer-turned-aristocrat Redmond Barry (Ryan O'Neal), who leaves his Irish home after his family con him into leaving alone his cousin with whom he is besotted. The film's first half is a ''Literature/{{Candide}}''-esque chain-of-events story showing how he then goes on to be a British deserter of the UsefulNotes/SevenYearsWar, a Prussian conscript, a spy, and then a travelling dandy. The second half, however, is far more downbeat and involves his quest to become an aristocrat, which eventually leads to tragedy as he spurns his beautiful but fragile wife and brings his stepson to hate him with a passion.

* AnachronismStew: According to the narrator Sir Charles Lyndon died in the Kingdom of Belgium, over half a century before said nation existed.

* PragmaticAdaptation: Kubrick made many changes for his adaptation. The book is narrated from Barry Lyndon's first person perspective and Kubrick noted that the style of the book, with Thackeray's FootnoteFever generally got humour from pointing out how much Barry was an UnreliableNarrator. Kubrick felt that this was a literary device that wouldn't work in film but he added a third-person narrator who generally used euphemisms to undercut the story and pretensions of the characters. There are also more duels in the movie, indeed a running motif throughout the film which was missing in the book. The book was a serial picraresque story with a lot of {{Padding}} and Kubrick's film generally condenses the narration. The book's tone was also more openly satirical while Kubrick made it colder and dryer in his retelling.

* EqualInDeath: Invoked by the Narrator.
-->'''Narrator:''' 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.

--> ''"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."''

* DeliberateValuesDissonance: Done with Lord Bullingdon, who looks down on his stepfather in part because he's an Irishman; at the time the film was set, Irish people were classified in Britain as nonwhite and were discriminated in much the same way that black people were (right down to the disparaging comparisons to monkeys and apes).

* AnachronismStew: Sir Charles Lyndon is said by the film to have died in the Kingdom of Belgium, over half a century before said nation existed.

* HistoricalVillainDowngrade: Barry in the original novel was loosely based on Andrew Robinson Stoney. While Barry slides from naif to rogue to SympatheticVillainProtagonist, he retains some humanity. Stoney was just a sadistic psychopath. Thackeray's novel on account of being narrated by Redmond Barry himself often implied this was true of his character as well, with the FootnoteFever reminding us constantly that he's an UnreliableNarrator. Kubrick however took a third-person approach and he largely does follow the narrative as related in the novel, with the LemonyNarrator pointing out by euphemisms some of the issues in what we see. As such the movie's Barry Lyndon is a nicer character than the book.
* HonorBeforeReason: Barry magnanimously delopes when Bullingdon misfires. This proves his undoing, as Bullingdon takes his second shot and hits his mark.

* BitchInSheepsClothing: Barry's mother. She is introduced as a sweet old lady who is devoted to caring for her son after her husband's death. Once she reappears in the second act, however, she reveals herself to be a full on LadyMacbeth and ManipulativeBitch.
** Debatably subverted when [[spoiler: she returns to care for her wounded son.]]

* ReallyGetsAround: The war widow Barry meets is played as a romantic encounter, but the narrator states in the most dignified way that the woman is a slut and sleeps with ''every'' soldier that drops by (in front of her infant son, no less.)

* TenPacesAndTurn: There's a twist in the "stand at your mark" version: the duelists ''take it in turns'' to fire, based on a coin toss. There's a memorable scene where one duelist, having missed his shot, throws up in terror realizing that his opponent now has the ''legal right to shoot him in cold blood.''[[note]]Actually more of an "illegal right": duels were technically against the law, but prosecutions were rare and convictions unheard of; whereas a man who ran away from a duel would be ostracized by the whole of high society.[[/note]] This is actually how most duels of that period worked. Pistols were horribly inaccurate and many duelists deloped anyway; it was also considered very bad form to aim carefully. The point was more to test whether both parties cared enough about the issue to take the risk.

Set over the second half of the 18th century, the film concerns the life of Irish peasant-turned-adventurer-turned-aristocrat Redmond Barry (Ryan O'Neal), who leaves his Irish home after his family con him into leaving alone his cousin with whom he is besotted. The film's first half shows how he then goes on to be a British deserter of the UsefulNotes/SevenYearsWar, a Prussian conscript, a spy and then a travelling dandy. The second half, however, is far more downbeat and involves his quest to become an aristocrat, which eventually merely leads to tragedy as he spurns his beautiful but fragile wife and brings his stepson to hate him with a passion.

* HeroAntagonist: Downplayed significantly with Lord Bullingdon. From a moral standpoint, one could easily argue that he is a lighter shade of grey when compared to Barry. At the same time, however, Bullingdon himself is a bigoted, cowardly, and narcissistic young man whose hatred of Barry derives as much from the latter's humble origins as much as him being a poor step-father.