"Pure cinema. Its aching beauty will wipe you out."
–
Frank Rich, NEW YORK POST
Stars: Ryan O’Neal, Marisa Berenson, Patrick Magee, Hardy
Kruger
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Fast Facts:
- The film was based on a novel by William Makepeace Thackeray, that
was first serialized in Fraser’s Magazine in 1844.
- The character of Barry Lyndon was loosely based on Andrew Robertson
Stoney, a real-life Irish rake who married and abused a wealthy widow.
- Stanley Kubrick first read the novel in 1972 and decided to base
a film on it. Instead of writing a traditional screenplay, Kubrick
wrote a bare-bones adaptation of the novel and used it to guide him
during filming.
- Kubrick wanted to create the most authentic period film ever made.
He shot only on real locations (no studio sets) and attempted to use
only natural sunlight and candlelight.
- To shoot by candlelight, Kubrick obtained a special camera lens
developed by NASA a Zeiss 50mm 0.7 lens, and worked with Cinema Products
Corporation to adapt a 35mm Mitchell BNC camera to accept it. Cinema
Products also created two other special lenses out of projector lens
adapters.
- Among the locations used were Castle Howard in England (exteriors
of the Lyndon estate), Dublin Castle in Ireland (the Chevaliers’
home) and Frederick the Great's administration buildings at Potsdam
near Berlin.
- Principal photography took 300 days, from spring 1973 through early
1974, with a break for Christmas.
- Upon its release in 1975, the National Board of Review named Barry
Lyndon Best Picture and Kubrick Best Director, and the film earned
Academy Awards® for Cinematography,
Costumes, Art Direction and Adapted Musical Score.
How does an Irish lad without prospects become part of 18th-century
English nobility? For Barry Lyndon (Ryan O’Neal) the answer is:
any way he can! His climb to wealth and privilege is the enthralling
focus of this sumptuous Stanley Kubrick version of William Makepeace
Thackeray’s novel.
For this ravishing, slyly satiric winner of 4 Academy Awards®,
Kubrick found inspiration in the works of the era’s painters. Costumes
and sets were crafted in the era’s designs, and pioneering lenses
were developed to shoot interiors and exteriors in natural light. The
result? Barry Lyndon endures as a cutting-edge movie that brings
a historical period to vivid screen life like no other film before or
since.
FAQ's
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