History Film / BarryLyndon

The film is based on the 1844 novel ''The Luck of Barry Lyndon'' by William Makepeace Thackeray, the author of ''Literature/VanityFair''. Along with ''Film/TheLastOfTheMohicans'', it has the distinction of being one of the few major Hollywood films ever produced about the Seven Years War.

* AnArmAndALeg: [[spoiler: Barry has to have the lower half of his left leg amputated after being shot there in the film's final duel.]]

* SpottingTheThread: Captain Potzdorf quickly identifies Barry as a deserter and impersonator when he picks out several glaring holes in Barry's cover story, such as working for a general who died six months ago or having a British ambassador for a cousin who also happens to have an Irish surname (this is when the Irish were still regarded as second-class citizens).

* DeathSeeker: Barry could be seen as one towards the end of the film. During the climatic duel, Barry chooses to delope when he has his opponent, Lord Bullingdon, at his mercy. One possible interpretation is that he knew Bullingdon would wish to continue the duel and would kill Barry in turn, who has been driven to despair in the wake of his beloved son's passing. Unfortunately, it doesn't pan out that way.

* BungledSuicide: Lady Lyndon tries to kill herself [[spoiler: after Bryan's death.]] The experience is, while not fatal, pretty damn painful.

* DownerEnding: Barry ends up losing everything: his son is dead, he's lost a leg, he is separated from his wife, his [[ImpoverishedPatrician fortune has been reduced]] to a meagre monthly allowance from Lady Lyndon, and if he ever sets foot in England again, Lord Bullingdon will see him thrown in debtor's prison. On the other hand, Barry is such a controversial character that a happy ending for him could arguably border on an EsotericHappyEnding.

* HorsingAround: Barry's son falls off his RearingHorse...[[spoiler:with fatal consequences.]]
* SelfMadeMan: Barry, though it doesn't last. As the narrator reminds us, the qualities that allow men to amass fortunes often make them ill-suited to keeping them.

* StiffUpperLip: Deconstructed savagely by Kubrick, as everyone is required to suppress their emotions, and Barry's biggest ''faux pas'' in society is to show some, such as crying at the loss of loved ones, for example. The very idea!

* StressVomit: Lord Bullingdon, after [[LiteralMetaphor going off half-cocked]] in his duel with Barry.

* TheExile: In the end, Bullingdon makes Barry leave England and threatens him with debtors' prison if he ever returns.

* YouCantGoHomeAgain:
** Early in the film, Barry shoots Captain Quinn dead in a duel over Nora and is sent off to Dublin in order to avoid the law. [[spoiler:Grogan later explains to Barry that he was tricked; everybody pretended Quinn was killed in order to get Barry to go away.]]
** In the end, Bullingdon makes Barry leave England and threatens him with debtors' prison if he ever returns.

* DirtyCoward:
** Lord Bullingdon challenges Barry to a duel with pistols, but is clearly out of his depth. The accidental discharge of his pistol means he is forced to stand and receive Barry's shot, which makes him [[StressVomit physically sick]] with terror. Then, when Barry spares him by deloping, Bullingdon refuses the opportunity to consider the matter settled and wounds Barry with his next shot. ''Before the [[OnThree count of three]]''.
** Zig-zagged with Captain Quinn. He's clearly terrified throughout the entirety of his duel with Barry, visibly shivering with anxiety as they raise their pistols, in contrast to Barry's cold, steely glare. His terror is that much more egregious compared to Barry's courage considering [[spoiler:Quinn ''knew they were firing blanks'', whereas Barry was kept in the dark and genuinely believed he was facing death. Turns out he was just acting afraid to really sell it and make Barry think it was real.]]

* AwesomeByAnalysis: Captain Potzdorf quickly identifies Barry as a deserter and impersonator when he picks out several glaring holes in Barry's cover story, such as working for a general who died six months ago or having a British ambassador for a cousin who also happens to have an Irish surname (this is when the Irish were still regarded as second-class citizens).

* BigBadassBattleSequence: The film contains two, though they're relatively small scale in comparison to Kubrick's previous battle sequences. The first is a skirmish between Captain Grogan's company and a minor French rearguard force that the narrator notes was too insignificant to make it into the history books. It's still an absolute slaughter that leaves at least a few hundred dead, [[spoiler:including Grogan]]. The second is a French assault on a Prussian held fort in which Barry wins great acclaim by saving Captain Potzdorf's life.

* 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 treats [[ObnoxiousInLaws Lady Lyndon]] and [[WickedStepmother Lord Bullingdon]] ruthlessly in pursuing her ambitions for Barry. ''Downplayed'' somewhat in that the unpleasant behavior and personality of Bullingdon gives perfect reason to antagonize him and as her affection towards her son and grandson are completely authentic. However, her treatment of Lady Lyndon is completely uncalled for and her misguided attempts to help her son, such as convincing him to undergo the mad struggle for a peerage, ultimately contribute to his downfall.
* BookEnds: The film begins with a pistol duel and effectively ends with one.

* DeadpanSnarker: The film itself, along with the narrator.

** Lord Bullingdon challenges Barry to a duel with pistols, but is clearly out of his depth. The accidental discharge of his pistol means he is forced to stand and receive Barry's shot, which makes him physically sick with terror. Then, when Barry spares him by deloping, Bullingdon refuses the opportunity to consider the matter settled and wounds Barry with his next shot. ''Before the count of three''.

* DrivenToSuicide: Lady Lyndon tries to kill herself [[spoiler: after Bryan's death.]] The experience is, while not fatal, pretty damn painful.

* DownerEnding: Barry ends up losing everything: his son is dead, he's lost a leg, he is separated from his wife, his fortune has been reduced to a meagre monthly allowance from Lady Lyndon, and if he ever sets foot in England again, Lord Bullingdon will see him thrown in debtor's prison. On the other hand, Barry is such a controversial character that a happy ending for him could arguably border on an EsotericHappyEnding.

* HormoneAddledTeenager: At the beginning of the film, Barry, who's regularly described as being "just a boy", is quite hot-headed and infatuated with his cousin Nora, and is willing to fight a DuelToTheDeath with an English officer for her hand.

* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: After Lord Bullingdon publicly dresses down both Barry and his own mother in front of a huge audience, Barry ''snaps'' and brutally attacks him. It takes almost a dozen men to pull Barry off of his stepson, and when they do Bullingdon is a bloodied, sobbing mess.

* RearingHorse: Barry's son tries this at home. He falls off...[[spoiler:with fatal consequences.]]

* VomitIndiscretionShot: Lord Bullingdon, after [[LiteralMetaphor going off half-cocked]] in his duel with Barry.

* UnreliableNarrator: See ForegoneConclusion above. Also consider the book source, where Barry himself is the unreliable narrator.

* ThatMakesMeFeelAngry: {{Deconstructed}}. All of the characters attempt to remain as emotionless as possible, and Barry is an outcast from society for being ''too'' emotional.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Say what you will about Barry, but the man loves his son. [[spoiler:It's hard to not feel sorry for him, then, when Bryan dies.]]

* JerkassHasAPoint: Sir Charles Lyndon is a crass, vulgar old man, but his assessment of Barry's intentions regarding him and his wife is spot on.
-->'''Charles:''' He wants to step into my shoes. He wants to step into my shoes! Is it not a pleasure, gentlemen, for me, as I'm drawing near the goal, to find my home such a happy one? My wife so fond of me, that she's even now thinking of appointing a successor! Is it not a comfort to see her, like a prudent housewife, getting everything ready for her husband's departure?!
-->'''Barry:''' [[BlatantLies I hope you aren't thinking of leaving us anytime soon, Sir Charles.]]

* InterfaceSpoiler: The midpoint title card basically tells the viewer that Barry will lose everything.

* IAmNotLeftHanded: Averted. Barry is left handed and is able to soundly defeat multiple opponents using guns, swords, and even fists.

* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: [[spoiler:After his nervous wreck of an opponent misfires, Barry delopes in kind. But Lord Bullingdon refuses to claim satisfaction and seizes a second, more successful chance to fell his hated foe.]]

* VillainProtagonist: Barry, the central character, is twice a deserter, a rake, a spendthrift, a philanderer, an abusive step-father to Lord Bullingdon, and an abusive and unfaithful husband to Lady Lyndon. His downfall is largely built on the consequences of his own actions.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: Barry's mother is willing to manipulate her daughter-in-law as well as encourage her son's expensive ventures that serve only to run his family finances into the dirt, but there is no question she does so out of concern for Barry and her grandson's security.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The Chevalier disappears from the story after Barry's marriage to Lady Lyndon. Given that 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.

* 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 and Irish ancestry (note that the Irish were not considered white in the 18th-century) as much as him being a poor step-father.

* 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 against in much the same way that black people were (right down to the disparaging comparisons to monkeys and apes).

** Samuel Runt to Lady Lyndon. When Barry's mother requests that he resigns from his duty as she thinks he would have a bad influence on his lady and because they can't afford him a salary, he tries to convince her to let him stay, even be willing to work without pay. [[Spoilers: She does succeed in dismissing Runt, which only succeeds in pushing Lady Lyndon completely off of the edge and to attempting suicide. Fortunately, he and the steward manage to convince Bullingdon to come back and fight Barry and, by the end of the film, he has returned to Lady Lyndon's side.]]

* BigBadWannabe: Lord Bullingdon (even though he's no more or less likable a character than Barry himself is) ends up a major antagonist and goes back to his household at the end looking to settle the score...and is generally incompetent, smug, and pathetic. Barry, an expert duelist lost in booze and despair, barely even takes the guy seriously. [[spoiler: He has to fire his ''own gun'' at the ground during the climatic duel after Bullingdon misfires his own, [[DirtyCoward (and cowers with zero dignity the entire time when he thinks Barry has him dead to rights)]] with the implication being either that Barry just wants the guy to put him out of his misery, or that as much as he hates Bullingdon and as much of a jerkass as Barry's turned out to be, [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold he'd still never stoop so low as to shoot the defenseless son of his wife whose seething hatred for Barry is honestly justified.]] Bullingdon even screws ''that'' up in that, while he shoots Lyndon, the shot ''doesn't even end up being fatal.'']]

** Samuel Runt to Lady Lyndon. When Barry's mother requests that he resigns from his duty as she thinks he would have a bad influence on his lady and because they can't afford him a salary, he tries to convince her to let him stay, even be willing to work without pay.

* 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 treats [[ObnoxiousInLaws Lady Lyndon]] and [[WickedStepmother Lord Bullingdon]] ruthlessly in pursuing her ambitions for Barry. ''Downplayed'' in that her affection towards her son and grandson are completely authentic, and as, while her treatment of Lady Lyndon is lacking in justification, Lord Bullingdon's behavior and personality gives perfect reason to antagonize him so greatly.

* 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 treats [[ObnoxiousInLaws Lady Lyndon]] and [[WickedStepmother Lord Bullingdon]] ruthlessly in pursuing her ambitions for Barry. ''Downplayed'' in that her affection towards her son and grandson are completely authentic, and as Lord Bullingdon's behavior and personality gives reason to antagonize him so greatly.

* 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 treats [[ObnoxiousInLaws Lady Lyndon]] and [[WickedStepmother Lord Bullingdon]] ruthlessly in pursuing her ambitions for Barry.

** According to the narrator, Sir Charles Lyndon died in "Spa, Kingdom of Belgium", but Belgium was not an independent nation until 1830. At the time when the film is set, Spa belonged to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Principality_of_Liege Principality of Liège]].

** According to the narrator, Sir Charles Lyndon died in "Spa, Kingdom of Belgium", but Belgium was not an independent nation until 1830. At the time when the film is set, Spa belonged to Principality of Liège.

* UndyingLoyalty: Barry's mother. [[spoiler: She ends up being the only person to care for him after he's lost everything but her.]]

->''"It was in the reign of George III that the aforesaid personages lived and quarrelled; good or bad, handsome or ugly, rich or poor, they are all equal now."''[[note]]By that the quote means [[AllAreEqualInDeath they're now all dead.]][[/note]]

''Barry Lyndon'' is Creator/StanleyKubrick's 1975 period piece, widely considered one of his most underrated films. At 3 hours and 7 minutes, it's also Kubrick's second-longest film, just ten minutes shorter than ''Film/{{Spartacus}}'' from 15 years prior. As the film is split into two distinct acts, though, it feels more like two movies packaged together than like a single, lengthy piece. Ideally, this work summary should be read while listening to Music/GeorgeFredericHandel's ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91sfrw106xs Sarabande]]''.

In addition to being a perennial favorite of Creator/StanleyKubrick fans (who often tout it as one of his overlooked masterpieces), it's also widely loved by history buffs who often hold it up as one of the most historically accurate films about the 18th century ever made. This is largely due to its unapologetic use of DeliberateValuesDissonance in its depiction of the time period, opting for an immersive WartsAndAll depiction of European society in the 1700s that doesn't bother making its characters likeable or sympathetic by modern standards. It also doesn't hurt that it was filmed entirely on location, with several interior scenes notably lit entirely by ''candlelight''--an innovative technique that required using special ultra-fast camera lenses originally developed for NASA.

* WidowWoman: Barry's mother refuses every marriage proposal after the death of her husband, devoting herself to raising her son.

->''"It was in the reign of George III that the aforesaid personages lived and quarrelled; good or bad, handsome or ugly, rich or poor, they are all equal now."''[[note]]By that the quote means they're now all dead.[[/note]]

* PyrrhicVillainy: Barry beats the ''shit'' out of Lord Bullingdon for his very public TheReasonYouSuckSpeech against both him and Lady Lyndon, but it's a catastrophic mistake as it turns him into a social pariah among the aristocracy and puts the final nail in the coffin for his ambitions to join the peerage.