The Quantum of Solace
I think I’m going to have a quiet word with the UK’s film exhibitors. Halloween evening and the only horror film on at the flicks is ‘Saw V‘ which I refuse to spend my hard earned cash on given its execrable reviews and the fact that the franchise’s premise was essentially exhausted after the first installment. So, what’s a boy to do? Given that I was not in the right frame of mind for anything challenging or worthy my choice of cinema visit was essentially relegated to the latest Bond picture, ‘The Quantum Of Solace‘.
First things first, I am not the world’s biggest Bond fan. Heresy I know but even as a kid I found the Connery installments boring, the Moore era tacky (which I understand is part of their charm for some people but it just doesn’t fit with my idiom although I will confess to loving the end of ‘Live & Let Die‘ when I was a ankle-biter) and whilst I enjoyed Brosnan’s first effort ‘Goldeneye’ they swiftly degenerated into absurdity. I mean invisible fucking cars? Gimme a break. Again, I know its kind of the point of the franchise that they are simply stuffed with exotic locales, cunning gadgets, cartoon villains and fit birds but my taste in espionage material leans more to the cerebral, dark and gritty double crossing type of stuff. There were elements of that nature in Daniel Craig’s first donning of the tuxedo in the pleasantly entertaining ‘Casino Royale‘ re-boot which I thought quite effectively reinvented the series for the 21st century so I thought ‘Solace‘ was worth a look at the flicks.
The plot, for what its worth, is all over the place but I didn’t really care as what also drew me to the film was to see some big mindless action sequences, a salivating prospect given the stunt and design teams are the same dudes that made the Bourne trilogy so exhilarating. Continuing almost immediately after the events of ‘Casino Royale’ the film opens with a superbly choreographed car chase which was a very promising opening, Bond is hot on the trail of a shadowy secret organisation that is destabilising third world governments in order to profit from the subsequent exploitation of their natural resources. How very contemporary. For Bond it’s personal as the sinister puppet-masters are the same as those responsible for the death of his true love Vesper Lynd in ‘Royale’ which gives impetus to his somewhat predicable going over the edge, violating instructions, ignoring the orders of his superiors (for me a somewhat unconvincing Judi Dench again as ‘M‘), using unorthodox methods to get results…well, you get the idea.
I do like Craig as Bond, he exudes a genuine aura of psychopathic coldness that I’m told is in the novels (I’ve not read any of Fleming’s work) and the best moment of the film for me was an early sequence where after ruthlessly dispatching a knife wielding goon Bond nonchalantly adjusts his clothing, distractedly mops away blood from his injuries and calmly exits a Tunisian hotel. On the plus side they throw everything in to the mix, there’s a car chase, a boat chase, a plane battle, some gnarly hand to hand combat and some ludicrous but fun computer GPS tracking super secret special agent nonsense to luxuriate in but overall I was a little bored I have to say. Even a mindless action film I think needs some sort of vaguely coherent connecting structure to keep you engaged. The film culminates in a final set piece that I’m afraid was woefully inadequate and left me exiting the cinema with a palpable sense of ‘meh’. Still, Gemma Arterton as the amusingly monikered ‘Strawberry Fields’ was pleasing on the eye and her (skip to the next paragraph to avoid spoilers) ‘Goldfinger’ referenced fate was a vaguely clever contemporary update.
SPOILERS ALERT – You have been warned. Anyway, I can’t bring myself to let ‘Halloween‘ pass without some reference to the chilling and macabre so here are some scenes from some of my favourite all time ghost, mystery and horror films. I suspect my warning was not enough.
Seriously NSFW links here – Further gruesome warnings for these links. When I think of how many great looking and widely praised genre films are on the way including ‘Let The Right One In‘, the controversial ‘Martyrs‘, ‘À l’intérieur‘ and ‘Midnight Meat Train‘ (which I concur has been slated but given that it’s directed by Japan’s answer to Sam Raimi it will certainly be on my viewing list) I despair at current release patterns. I shall be drafting a very strongly worded letter of complaint to the UK film council. That should rectify matters. Final warning - here is real horror, or failing that there’s always Bruce……
The Stand
In the interests of nostalgia coupled with my second birthday on this blog I recently had a look back at some old posts and was exceptionally embarrassed to see that my embryonic approaches to this whole blogging phenomenon were not great. Who’d have thought eh? I hope that my commitment, content and organisation has somewhat improved over the past 100 or so weeks thus have decided to publish a one link post just to sabotage any pretence of actually appearing to know what I’m doing. So here it is, a fantastic and for me fascinating interview with Stephen King and the alleged prescience of his best novel, ‘The Stand’. Nuff’ said.
Burn After Reading
So, the Coens are back. I’m a little suprised to see a new Coen film at the cinema so soon, a mere nine months since ‘No Country For Old Men’ and quite a different beast, a straightforward comedic movie purposely selected in an attempt I expect to exorcise the darkness of their Oscar winning career highlight. I walked over to the Greenwich Picture House to catch this as the weather was good which strikes another flickhouse from my list of places to visit, it’s a very well equipped cinema with a good sized screen, reasonable sound, proper comfy reclining seats and most of important of all an attentive and quiet audience. Ideal.
‘Burn After Reading‘ has a cast so diverse it sounds like its escaped from a Woody Allen project – George Clooney, Tilda Swinton, Francis McDormand, Richard Jenkins, John Malkovich, J.K Simmons, David Rasche and, err…oh yeah some pretty boy called Brad Pitt who’s actually pretty good in this to be fair. Disgruntled CIA agent Osbourne Cox (Malkovich) is fired from the bumbling bureau and deciding to exact revenge writes his scandalous memoirs which embarrassingly divulges many of the firms more recent intelligence failures. The disk containing the incendiary revelations inadvertently falls into the hands of two narcissistic health club employees Chad and Linda (Pitt and McDormand) who hatch a badly planned and inept blackmail scheme, biting off far more than they can chew by taking on the experienced and furious Cox. Meanwhile serial Lothario Harry (Clooney) is having an affair with both Cox’s wife Katie (Swinton) and McDormand’s character Linda (yeah, OK it gets a little convoluted), Harry’s already paranoid tendencies accelerated by well founded fears of being under covert scrutiny. Suffice to say, the various characters intersect at various points throughout the plot in that characteristic Coen neo-screwball comedy fashion, culminating in a satisfying compendious finale.
I enjoyed this, for a comedy it passed the five out laugh out loud moments test and breezily meandered along whilst keeping you guessing at where the story was going. The stand out performances in such a illustrious cast I thought were Francis McDormand who turns in her best performance since ‘Fargo‘ (a quick aside, did you hear about this weird and sad story?) and a positively incandescent John Malkovich who got all the best lines. There was one quinessential unexpected Coen movie moment which had the audience laughing in shock and a final wrap-up scene which I found hilarious so I simply cannot agree with the criticisms that after the majestic achievements of ‘Old Country’ it’s a real disappointment to see the guys turn in such a superficial movie. I really do think they are recharging the batteries artistically speaking before tackling their next movie, a complex project by all accounts that will require the full application of their prodigious talents.
‘You know, for kids‘. Following Paul Newman’s death I was urged to revisit ‘The Hudsucker Proxy’, one of his more successful screen appearances in the nineties, a decision compounded with the arrival of the NFT’s November programme which details an inspired retrospective of all the Coen movies double-billed with some of their classical Hollywood influences – think ‘The Big Lebowski‘ with ‘The Big Sleep‘, ‘Millers Crossing‘ with ‘I Walk Alone‘, you get the drill. ‘Hudsucker’ is worth another look – heck, any film with Jennifer Jason Leigh and Ash in it usually are, although I would concur that the Sturges and Capra influences do become a bit forced and over-wrought. Still, some terrific design and amusing moments make it worth another couple of hours of your time, here’s some more Coen’s to wrap things up.
Gomorrah
One of the most lauded films from this years Festival de Canne finally reaches London and given my love of crime movies I was happy to see this Italian language film being screened at my local multiplex. Based on the best selling journalistic reportage of Roberto Saviano, ’Gomorrah‘ is a powerful presentation of the modern day Mafia who run rife through the poverty stricken tenements of Naples. The film is comprised of a half dozen or so threads detailing all strata’s of the Comorra clan, building a complex picture of a terrible criminal enterprise that seems to have permeated all aspects of contemporary Italian society. We are taken through the lives of the middle ranking thugs who are involved in waste disposal and government liaison, the aspirant minded teenagers and their Tony Montana influenced truculence, the traditional money managers who spend their days managing a byzantine web of protection rackets and the lives of the law abiding citizens whose lives are tragically wrecked by the Mafia’s pervasive criminal conspiracy.
The film takes the best elements of Italian neo-realism, namely the use of fluid and scrappy handheld camera work, the employment of non-professional actors along with the absence of any soundtrack to deliver a powerful punch of gripping vérité, punctuated with moments of horrific violence. This is obviously a close reference point, given its design and attitude. The myriad strands of the film are managed skillfully, I will certainly be keeping an eye on director Matteo Garrone and checking out his past work, for instance this looks intriguing.
It’s quite an antidote to the romanticised portrayal of the Mafia that the films of Scorsese and Coppola have projected or of course the adventures of a certain rotund gentleman from New Jersey. There is no sense of honour among thieves or any sense of ‘omertà‘ that is explored in those cultural milestones, in ‘Gomorrah‘ we are immersed in a hell on earth which is comprised of random violence, frequent betrayal and explicit brutality. The action unfolds in a tableau of Neapolitan urban decay which also marks a distinctive shift from the impeccably lit New York that has frequently served as the backdrop to previous organised crime films, the various threads all reaching their inevitable, blood drenched conclusions to build an uncompromising and frankly exhausting cinema experience.
It has something of the intertwining, macro level reportage feeling of the (MAJOR SPOILERS) ‘The Wire‘ to it and I can’t think of any higher praise. It concludes with some grim text on the history of the Comorra clan which blends into the final titles with a killer musical score. Highly recommended and a film whose story is constantly evolving…..
2nd Birthday….
And so gentle reader I enter my terrible twos. Accordingly I intend to become more boisterous, opinionated, self-absorbed, mischievous and hysterical. What’s that, business as normal I hear you cry? If you’d like to get me a birthday present then I’ll always accept donations from the superb Criterion Collection, fascinating link on how they are upgrading to new technologies here.
May you live in interesting times – fuck that. Recent economics 101 here. Text heavy sure but I found it to be a brilliant synopsis of where we’ve arrived at including educated predictions of how the Jenga banking system could possibly come all crashing down – it was written in January so quite superbly prescient. As the immensely depressing fallout continues I’ve read and discarded many observations on the inevitable implosion, I cling hopelessly to the belief that such a shock may lead to a real and proper consideration of western values in light of the real challenges facing the planet. Exactly what progress could have been made on poverty and tackling climate change, investing in new technologies with (as I write this) £50 billion from the UK alone, $700 billion in the US, no doubt more to follow as the…look, its just too fucking much. It is a fucking disgrace. Words fail me. I don’t know about you, but I am continuing my training for the inevitable, although the upside is a possible new girlfriend. Clouds, silver lining etc…..
Riddle me this – what links ‘The Italian Job‘, ‘The Wicker Man‘, ‘Don’t Look Now‘, ‘The Man Who Fell To Earth‘, ‘The Deer Hunter‘ and a quietly admired early 80′s tech-noir Raymond Chandler picture? Go on, I’ll give you one guess? What, no idea? No idea at all? OK, I’ll put you out of your misery – it’s cult movie UK born supremo producer Michael Deeley of course, good lord do keep up. Last week I went to a NFT hosted book launch of Deely’s autobiography with the requisite on stage interview, interspersed with clips from his work and traditional Q&A follow up session. It pains me to report that this was far and away the most disappointing event I have attended at my beloved NFT as quite simply the whole evening failed abysmally to unearth any interesting insights into his career and work, mostly scuppered by the sheer ineptitude of the interviewer whose entire strategy seemed to revolve around the same line of interrogation – ‘what drew you to this project?’ That’s not a bad start but to repeat that for every stage without teasing out any tit-bits or revelatory moments was a real waste. Apart from the revelation that Steve McQueen hired Peter Yates to direct the Deeley produced ‘Bullitt‘ on the strength of the car chase in their early UK film ‘Robbery‘ there was nothing of any real value here, the old and well known tale of Kubrick submitting out-takes from ‘The Shining‘ for the final reels of the original cut of ‘Blade Runner‘ was trotted out as some amazing coup, must try harder. I don’t know about you but I’ve been using this question as a curve-ball in my interviews for years (one day those HR witches will understand my method) but now its tired.
Birthdays are always an apt moment for pensive reflection so I’ve nominated Ridley Scott as this months choice of director whose work I follow with interest. Along with Carpenter he’s one of the first filmmakers where I detected something of a particular style of approach and beautiful visualisation, even if they didn’t always result in a satisfying final product. I think it’s fair to say that Sir Ridley has had his ups and downs,after a stunning early trilogy he seemed to get sidetracked into poorly written mainstream rubbish that never made the best of his particular visual skills, recovering with ‘Gladiator‘ which put him back on the Hollywood A list.
I love the story of Russell Crowe discussing future offers on the set of ‘The Insider‘ with Michael Mann, uncertain whether he should take an offer of the role of a Roman Centurion in some complex historical production with a director whose pedigree had somewhat waned. Mann urged him to take the role, explaining that Scott was ‘in the top 2% of visual filmmakers at work’ and the rest as they say is history. Scott has been long attached to ‘Blade Runner’ sequels which I’m curiously ambivalent about, whether he or someone else makes them (must be mellowing in my old age), other projects like this seem far more intriguing and relevant.
So then, the best 500 movies of all time. I stopped reading ‘Empire’ a long time ago – bring back the sadly lamented ‘Neon‘ or morphed ‘Hotdog‘ for real fun cult/mainstream periodical perusal but such an obvious challenge to be offended and disgusted at the predictable results couldn’t be resisted. No late periodFellini? Philistines. Where’s Rivette? Sacrilege. Calm down, I’m joking of course as obviously it’s an English language centric list with the obvious pictures leading the pack, just as my favourites are and always will be. Gun at my head, family in gas chamber, every existing Kubrick film print suspended over a Volcano, what would Minty choose between the entire (a quick guess) of Tarkovskys 20+ hour work or ‘Escape From New York‘? One answer – ‘…I heard you was dead….’ What I do find fascinating as a film nerd are the choices of film makers I love, for instance Fincher has quite an interesting choice which was quite revealing, ‘Kane’ being the only prior 1970′s choice. I can’t find a link to his submission so you’ll have to buy the magazine to find out what I’m talking about but think ‘Chinatown’, ‘The Godfather’, ’Days Of Heaven’, ‘Strangelove’, ‘All The Presidents Men’, that sort of thing. Nick Hornby must be sharpening his pencil as we speak.
That said, general discussion threads from this ‘Empire’ poll has lead me back to the Holy Grail of Film lists that I stumbled across some years ago. 500? Fucking amateurs. Any real film nerd must worship at the temple that is 1001 films you must see. Praise Allah, Jesus, Buddha, Thor, Odin, Thunderbird or any other fictitious deity you care to follow. As an antidote of sorts I have posted in the first comment of this post that omnipotent list which is real tough stuff – it covers the majority of my reasonably educated base of mainstream film (meaning narrative film, none of the Avant-garde experimental type stuff like the Warhol’s, Borzages etc.) and I think its superb. Yes, I pride myself on my twenty year plus movie obsession but there are many titles on there I have never even heard of which is a humbling experience, I stand in awe of such an encompassing and massively knowledgeable pantheon, purely by virtue of what it does cover by historical era and geographic scope. It flirts from Greece to Russia, Korea to Argentina, genre to genre, movement to movement. I love it when you stumble across things like this as it can lead a fan in previously unknown and unforeseen directions. As expected the DVD acquisition coverage ain’t great prior to 1930 but there are many titles in there from the 70′s to 90′s which are now on my research list. I have included the films in the first comment a separate entry to this post, purely as an memory aide for my absurd new cinematic endeavour. You can find the list below, should keep me occupied…
That’s enough movies for the moment. Lets finish off the ‘party’ with some music links which have been gracing my ipod during my commuting maneuvers over the past few weeks. I’ve pretty much got my podcast addiction under control with everything up to date (this was a recent find which is admittedly fratboy humor heavy but still fun to listen to, also recommended is this) so without further hesitation, over to the tube of you…..
Courtsey of Neil, my most learned friend when it comes to music. ‘The Monks’ are one of Mark E Smith’s favourite bands…
Shout out to the Bryski massive. Or something.
No comment.
Forgot to thank the Scally for turning me on to this guy, apologies but it took me a while to get round to listening to the disks. Good stuff.
The closest any individual release have got to the original Mode for me. Rubbish video but I’m happy to hear that the Basildon trio are playing down the road at the o2 next year, tickets are hopefully en-route….
Best track when I saw them in Hammersmith a few years ago and the best live quality version I could find…
Looking forward to the new album. It’s possible……
Polysics or Die!!!
Good. Better but unable to embed in the blog for some stupid reason….
Just to fuck with you…..
I’ll always treasure having friends who worked in one of my local vinyl dealers back in my teenage years, I got the album this terrific track was on for free, slipped in with whatever noisy nonsense I was spending my hard earned cash on. RIP Andy’s Records…..
OK, just one. Has to be said though, it’s typical that my favourite bands leader had to be such a short sighted twat to call his musical collective ‘The the’ and then compound that moment of genius to name one of his most desired and rare albums ‘Pornography Of Despair‘ – fucking excellent web results I get from punching that combination into Google or ebay. I won’t argue that it doesn’t lead to some intriguing avenues of exploration but that is, as they say, another story….
‘The Hollowmen’ Posh Club. 1989. Not pretty. Some of you know what I’m talking about.
Just for laughs, some old and rare ‘Cure’ brilliance. You’ve got to love YouTube….
1001 Movies
So here’s the list, I’ve italicised the films I’ve seen as it’s easier to distinguish. Stupid eyesight.
A Trip to the Moon (1902)
The Great Train Robbery (1903)
The Birth of a Nation (1915)
Les Vampires (1915)
Intolerance (1916)
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919)
Broken Blossoms (1919)
Way Down East (1920)
Within Our Gates (1920)
The Phantom Carriage (1921)
Orphans of the Storm (1921)
The Smiling Madame Beudet (1922)
Dr. Mabuse, Parts 1 and 2 (1922)
Nanook of the North (1922)
Nosferatu, A Symphony of Terror (1922)
Haxan (1923)
Foolish Wives (1922)
Our Hospitality (1923)
The Wheel (1923)
The Thief of Bagdad (1924)
Strike (1924)
Greed (1924)
Sherlock, Jr. (1924)
The Last Laugh (1924)
Seven Chances (1925)
The Phantom of the Opera (1925)
The Battleship Potemkin (1925)
The Gold Rush (1925)
The Big Parade (1925)
Metropolis (1927)
Sunrise (1927)
The General (1927)
The Unknown (1927)
October (1927)
The Jazz Singer (1927)
Napoleon (1927)
The Kid Brother (1927)
The Crowd (1928)
The Docks of New York (1928)
An Andalusian Dog (1928)
The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928)
Storm over Asia (1928)
Blackmail (1929)
The Man with the Movie Camera (1929)
Pandora’s Box (1929)
The Blue Angel (1930)
The Age Of Gold (1930)
Earth (1930)
Little Caesar (1930)
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
Freedom For Us (1931)
The Million (1931)
Tabu (1931)
Dracula (1931)
Frankenstein (1931)
City Lights (1931)
The Public Enemy (1931)
M (1931)
The Bitch (1931)
The Vampire (1932)
Love Me Tonight (1932)
Boudu Saved from Drowning (1932)
I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)
Trouble in Paradise (1932)
Scarface: The Shame Of A Nation (1932)
Shanghai Express (1932)
Freaks (1932)
Me and My Gal (1932)
Zero for Conduct (1933)
42nd Street (1933)
Footlight Parade (1933)
Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933)
She Done Him Wrong (1933)
Duck Soup (1933)
Queen Christina (1933)
Land Without Bread (1933)
King Kong (1933)
The Bitter Tea of General Yen (1933)
Sons of the Desert (1933)
It’s a Gift (1934)
Triumph of the Will (1934)
L’Atalante (1934)
The Black Cat (1934)
Judge Priest (1934)
It Happened One Night (1934)
The Thin Man (1934)
Captain Blood (1935)
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
A Night at the Opera (1935)
The 39 Steps (1935)
Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
Top Hat (1935)
A Day in the Country (1936)
Modern Times (1936)
Swing Time (1936)
My Man Godfrey (1936)
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
Camille (1936)
Sabotage (1936)
Dodsworth (1936)
Things to Come (1936)
The Story of a Cheat (1936)
Captains Courageous (1937)
Midnight Song (1937)
Grand Illusion (1937)
Stella Dallas (1937)
The Life of Emile Zola (1937)
Make Way for Tomorrow (1937)
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
The Awful Truth (1937)
Pepe Le Moko (1937)
Jezebel (1938)
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)
Olympia (1938)
The Baker’s Wife (1938)
Bringing Up Baby (1938)
Stagecoach (1939)
The Story of the Late Chrysanthemums (1939)
Babes in Arms (1939)
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Destry Rides Again (1939)
Only Angels Have Wings (1939)
Gone With the Wind (1939)
Daybreak (1939)
Gunga Din (1939)
Ninotchka (1939)
The Rules of the Game (1939)
Wuthering Heights (1939)
His Girl Friday (1940)
Rebecca (1940)
Fantasia (1940)
The Philadelphia Story (1940)
The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
Dance, Girl, Dance (1940)
Pinocchio (1940)
The Mortal Storm (1940)
The Bank Dick (1940)
Citizen Kane (1941)
The Lady Eve (1941)
The Wolf Man (1941)
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
Sergeant York (1941)
Dumbo (1941)
High Sierra (1941)
Sullivan’s Travels (1941)
How Green Was My Valley (1941)
The Palm Beach Story (1942)
Now, Voyager (1942)
Casablanca (1942)
To Be or Not to Be (1942)
Cat People (1942)
The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
Meshes of the Afternoon (1943)
Fires Were Started (1943)
The Man in Grey (1943)
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)
I Walked with a Zombie (1943)
The Seventh Victim (1943)
The Ox-Bow Incident (1943)
Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
Ossessione (1943)
Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
To Have and Have Not (1944)
Laura (1944)
Gaslight (1944)
Henry V (1944)
Ivan the Terrible, Parts One and Two (1944)
Double Indemnity (1944)
Murder, My Sweet (1944)
The Battle of San Pietro (1945)
Spellbound (1945)
Mildred Pierce (1945)
The Children of Paradise (1945)
Open City (1945)
The Lost Weekend (1945)
Detour (1945)
I Know Where I’m Going! (1945)
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
Brief Encounter (1946)
Paisan (1946)
The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
My Darling Clementine (1946)
The Stranger (1946)
Beauty and the Beast (1946)
The Big Sleep (1946)
The Killers (1946)
A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
Great Expectations (1946)
Notorious (1946)
Black Narcissus (1946)
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
Gilda (1946)
Monsieur Verdoux (1947)
Out of the Past (1947)
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947)
Odd Man Out (1947)
The Bicycle Thief (1948)
Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948)
Secret Beyond the Door (1948)
Force of Evil (1948)
Spring in a Small Town (1948)
Red River (1948)
Rope (1948)
The Snake Pit (1948)
The Lady from Shanghai (1948)
The Paleface (1948)
The Red Shoes (1948)
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
Louisiana Story (1948)
The Heiress (1949)
Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)
Gun Crazy (1949)
Adam’s Rib (1949)
Whiskey Galore! (1949)
White Heat (1949)
The Reckless Moment (1949)
The Third Man (1949)
On the Town (1949)
Orpheus (1949)
The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
Rashomon (1950)
Winchester ’73 (1950)
Rio Grande (1950)
All About Eve (1950)
Sunset Blvd. (1950)
Los Olvidados (1950)
In a Lonely Place (1950)
Ace in the Hole (1951)
A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
Strangers on a Train (1951)
The Lavender Hill Mob (1951)
Pandora and the Flying Dutchman (1951)
The African Queen (1951)
Diary of a Country Priest (1951)
An American in Paris (1951)
A Place in the Sun (1951)
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
The Quiet Man (1952)
Forbidden Games (1952)
Angel Face (1952)
Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
To Live (1952)
Europa ’51 (1952)
The Bad and the Beautiful (1952)
The Big Sky (1952)
High Noon (1952)
Umberto D (1952)
The Golden Coach (1952)
The Bigamist (1953)
The Band Wagon (1953)
Madame De… (1953)
From Here to Eternity (1953)
Tokyo Story (1953)
Roman Holiday (1953)
Wages of Fear (1953)
The Naked Spur (1953)
Pickup on South Street (1953)
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)
The Big Heat (1953)
M. Hulot’s Holiday (1953)
Voyage in Italy (1953)
Tales of Ugetsu (1953)
Shane (1953)
Beat the Devil (1953)
Johnny Guitar (1954)
On the Waterfront (1954)
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)
Les Diaboliques (1954)
Animal Farm (1954)
Rear Window (1954)
A Star Is Born (1954)
The Barefoot Contessa (1954)
La Strada (1954)
The Seven Samurai (1954)
The Wanton Countess (1954)
Silver Lode (1954)
Carmen Jones (1954)
Sansho the Baliff (1954)
Salt of the Earth (1954)
Artists and Models (1955)
Guys and Dolls (1955)
Pather Panchali (1955)
Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)
The Mad Masters (1955)
Hill 24 Doesn’t Answer (1955)
The Ladykillers (1955)
Marty (1955)
Ordet (1955)
Bob the Gambler (1955)
Kiss Me Deadly (1955)
The Man from Laramie (1955)
Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
The Phenix City Story (1955)
Smiles of a Summer Night (1955)
Night and Fog (1955)
The Night of the Hunter (1955)
The Sins of Lola Montes (1955)
Forbidden Planet (1956)
The Burmese Harp (1956)
The Searchers (1956)
A Man Escaped (1956)
Written on the Wind (1956)
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
Giant (1956)
All That Heaven Allows (1956)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
The Wrong Man (1956)
Bigger Than Life (1956)
High Society (1956)
The Ten Commandments (1956)
12 Angry Men (1957)
The Seventh Seal (1957)
An Affair to Remember (1957)
Wild Strawberries (1957)
The Nights of Cabiria (1957)
Throne of Blood (1957)
The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)
The Unvanquished (1957)
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957)
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
Mother India (1957)
The Cranes Are Flying (1957)
Paths of Glory (1957)
Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
Man of the West (1958)
Touch of Evil (1958)
Cairo Station (1958)
Gigi (1958)
The Defiant Ones (1958)
Vertigo (1958)
Ashes and Diamonds (1958)
Horror of Dracula (1958)
My Uncle (1958)
The Music Room (1958)
The 400 Blows (1959)
North by Northwest (1959)
Some Like It Hot (1959)
Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
Eyes without a Face (1959)
Ride Lonesome (1959)
Black Orpheus (1959)
Shadows (1959)
The World of Apu (1959)
Breathless (1959)
Ben-Hur (1959)
Pickpocket (1959)
Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959)
Rio Bravo (1959)
The Hole (1959)
Floating Weeds (1959)
Rocco and His Brothers (1960)
La Dolce Vita (1960)
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960)
Shoot the Piano Player (1960)
The Adventure (1960)
The Young One (1960)
The Cloud-Capped Star (1960)
The Housemaid (1960)
Psycho (1960)
Revenge of the Vampire / Black Sunday (1960)
Peeping Tom (1960)
The Apartment (1960)
Spartacus (1960)
Splendor in the Grass (1961)
Last Year at Marienbad (1961)
La Jetee (1961)
One-Eyed Jacks (1961)
Lola (1961)
Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961)
The Night (1961)
Jules and Jim (1961)
Viridiana (1961)
The Ladies Man (1961)
Through a Glass Darkly (1961)
Chronicle of a Summer (1961)
The Hustler (1961)
West Side Story (1961)
A Dog’s Life (1962)
Cleo de 5 a 7 (1962)
Dog Star Man (1962)
An Autumn Afternoon (1962)
L’eclisse (1962)
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
Lolita (1962)
Keeper of Promises (1962)
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)
My Life to Live (1962)
Heaven and Earth Magic (1962)
The Birds (1963)
The Nutty Professor (1963)
Blonde Cobra (1963)
The Cool World (1963)
8 1/2 (1963)
Passenger (1963)
Contempt (1963)
Hud (1963)
Winter Light (1963)
Flaming Creatures (1963)
The Great Escape (1963)
Shock Corridor (1963)
The Leopard (1963)
Barren Lives (1963)
Mediteranee (1963)
The House is Black (1963)
The Haunting (1963)
An Actor’s Revenge (1963)
The Servant (1963)
Goldfinger (1964)
Scorpio Rising (1964)
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964)
Marnie (1964)
My Fair Lady (1964)
Woman in the Dunes (1964)
Dr. Strangelove (1964)
A Hard Day’s Night (1964)
The Red Desert (1964)
Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (1964)
The Masque of the Red Death (1964)
Before the Revolution (1964)
Gertrud (1964)
The Gospel According to St. Matthew (1964)
Black God, White Devil (1964)
The Demon (1964)
Vinyl (1965)
The Shop on Main Street (1965)
Doctor Zhivago (1965)
The War Game (1965)
Tokyo Olympiad (1965)
The Battle of Algiers (1965)
The Sound of Music (1965)
The Saragossa Manuscript (1965)
Alphaville (1965)
Chimes at Midnight (1965)
Repulsion (1965)
Juliet of the Spirits (1965)
Pierrot Goes Wild (1965)
Faster, Pussy Cat! Kill! Kill! (1965)
Golden River (1965)
The Man Who Had His Hair Cut Short (1965)
Hold Me While I’m Naked (1966)
Blowup (1966)
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966)
Daisies (1966)
Come Drink with Me (1966)
Seconds (1966)
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
Persona (1966)
Masculine-Feminine (1966)
Balthazar (1966)
In the Heat of the Night (1967)
Two or Three Things I Know About Her (1967)
The Graduate (1967)
Playtime (1967)
Report (1967)
Hombre (1967)
Belle de Jour (1967)
The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967)
Week End (1967)
The Godson (1967)
Cool Hand Luke (1967)
Point Blank (1967)
Wavelength (1967)
Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
The Red and the White (1967)
Marketta Lazarova (1967)
The Jungle Book (1967)
The Fireman’s Ball (1967)
Earth Entranced (1967)
Closely Watched Trains (1967)
Vij (1967)
The Cow (1968)
Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
Planet of the Apes (1968)
Faces (1968)
Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
If… (1968)
Memories of Underdevelopment (1968)
The Producers (1968)
David Holzman’s Diary (1968)
Shame (1968)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Hour of the Wolf (1968)
Targets (1968)
Night of the Living Dead (1968)
My Night with Maud (1969)
Lucia (1969)
A Touch of Zen (1969)
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
Midnight Cowboy (1969)
Satyricon (1969)
Z (1969)
The Conformist (1969)
Easy Rider (1969)
High School (1969)
In the Year of the Pig (1969)
The Wild Bunch (1969)
Andrei Rublev (1969)
The Butcher (1969)
The Color of Pomegranates (1969)
Kes (1969)
Tristana (1970)
Five Easy Pieces (1970)
El Topo (1970)
Woodstock (1970)
Deep End (1970)
The Spider’s Stratagem (1970)
Little Big Man (1970)
The Ear (1970)
Patton (1970)
M*A*S*H (1970)
Performance (1970)
Gimme Shelter (1970)
Zabriskie Point (1970)
The Bird with The Crystal Plumage (1970)
The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (1970)
Wanda (1971)
W.R.: Mysteries of the Organism (1971)
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
The Sorrow and the Pity (1971)
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)
McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971)
Walkabout (1971)
Klute (1971)
Harold and Maude (1971)
Red Psalm (1971)
Get Carter (1971)
The French Connection (1971)
Shaft (1971)
Dirty Harry (1971)
Murmur of the Heart (1971)
Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song (1971)
The Last Picture Show (1971)
Straw Dogs (1971)
Two-Lane Blacktop (1971)
The Heartbreak Kid (1972)
Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972)
Cabaret (1972)
Last Tango in Paris (1972)
High Plains Drifter (1972)
Sleuth (1972)
Deliverance (1972)
Solaris (1972)
The Godfather (1972)
Cries and Whispers (1972)
Fat City (1972)
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972)
The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant (1972)
Frenzy (1972)
Pink Flamingos (1972)
Superfly (1972)
The Sting (1973)
The Mother and the Whore (1973)
Badlands (1973)
American Graffiti (1973)
Papillon (1973)
Enter the Dragon (1973)
Mean Streets (1973)
The Long Goodbye (1973)
The Wicker Man (1973)
Day for Night (1973)
Don’t Look Now (1973)
Sleeper (1973)
Serpico (1973)
The Exorcist (1973)
Turkish Delight (1973)
The Spirit of the Beehive (1973)
Fantastic Planet (1973)
Amarcord (1973)
The Harder They Come (1973)
Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973)
Dersu Uzala (1974)
The Conversation (1974)
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
The Mirror (1974)
A Woman Under the Influence (1974)
Young Frankenstein (1974)
Chinatown (1974)
Celine and Julie Go Boating (1974)
Blazing Saddles (1974)
The Godfather Part II (1974)
Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974)
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974)
Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai Du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975)
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
The Wall (1975)
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
Barry Lyndon (1975)
Fox and His Friends (1975)
India Song (1975)
Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)
Manila in the Claws of Brightness (1975)
Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975)
Nashville (1975)
Cria! (1975)
The Travelling Players (1975)
Jaws (1975)
The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976)
Carrie (1976)
The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)
All the President’s Men (1976)
Rocky (1976)
Taxi Driver (1976)
Network (1976)
Ascent (1976)
In the Realm of the Senses (1976)
1900 (1976)
The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)
Star Wars (1977)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
The Last Wave (1977)
Annie Hall (1977)
Last Chants for a Slow Dance (1977)
Stroszek (1977)
Man of Marble (1977)
Saturday Night Fever (1977)
Killer of Sheep (1977)
Eraserhead (1977)
Ceddo (1977)
The American Friend (1977)
The Hills Have Eyes (1977)
Soldier of Orange (1977)
Suspiria (1977)
The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (1978)
Five Deadly Venoms (1978)
The Tree of Wooden Clogs (1978)
The Deer Hunter (1978)
Grease (1978)
Days of Heaven (1978)
Dawn of the Dead (1978)
Shaolin Master Killer (1978)
Up in Smoke (1978)
Halloween (1978)
The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979)
Real Life (1979)
My Brilliant Career (1979)
Stalker (1979)
Alien (1979)
Breaking Away (1979)
The Tin Drum (1979)
All That Jazz (1979)
Being There (1979)
Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)
Life of Brian (1979)
Apocalypse Now (1979)
The Jerk (1979)
The Muppet Movie (1979)
Manhattan (1979)
Mad Max (1979)
Nosferatu: Phantom Of The Night (1979)
Ordinary People (1980)
Atlantic City (1980)
The Last Metro (1980)
The Shining (1980)
Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
The Elephant Man (1980)
The Big Red One (1980)
Loulou (1980)
Airplane! (1980)
Raging Bull (1980)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
The Boat (1981)
Gallipoli (1981)
Chariots of Fire (1981)
Body Heat (1981)
Reds (1981)
An American Werewolf in London (1981)
Three Brothers (1981)
Man of Iron (1981)
Too Early, Too Late (1981)
Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1981)
E.T.: The Extra-Terestrial (1982)
The Thing (1982)
Poltergeist (1982)
Blade Runner (1982)
The Evil Dead (1982)
Tootsie (1982)
Yol (1982)
Diner (1982)
Fitzcaraldo (1982)
Gandhi (1982)
The Night of the Shooting Stars (1982)
A Question of Silence (1982)
Fanny and Alexander (1982)
A Christmas Story (1983)
El Norte (1983)
Videodrome (1983)
Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi (1983)
The Big Chill (1983)
Sans Soleil (1983)
The Last Battle (1983)
Money (1983)
Utu (1983)
Terms of Endearment (1983)
The Fourth Man (1983)
The King of Comedy (1983)
The Right Stuff (1983)
Koyaanisqatsi (1983)
Once Upon a Time in America (1983)
Scarface (1983)
The Ballad of Narayama (1983)
Amadeus (1984)
The Terminator (1984)
Paris, Texas (1984)
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
This Is Spinal Tap (1984)
Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
Ghostbusters (1984)
A Passage to India (1984)
Stranger Than Paradise (1984)
The Killing Fields (1984)
The Natural (1984)
The Breakfast Club (1985)
Ran (1985)
Come and See (1985)
The Official Story (1985)
Out of Africa (1985)
The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)
Back to the Future (1985)
The Time to Live and the Time to Die (1985)
Brazil (1985)
Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985)
The Quiet Earth (1985)
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985)
Prizzi’s Honor (1985)
Vagabond (1985)
Shoah (1985)
The Color Purple (1985)
Manhunter (1986)
Stand By Me (1986)
Blue Velvet (1986)
Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
She’s Gotta Have It (1986)
The Decline of the American Empire (1986)
The Fly (1986)
Aliens (1986)
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)
Down by Law (1986)
A Room with a View (1986)
Children of a Lesser God (1986)
Platoon (1986)
Caravaggio (1986)
Tampopo (1986)
Peking Opera Blues (1986)
Salvador (1986)
Top Gun (1986)
Sherman’s March (1986)
The Horse Thief (1986)
Brightness (1987)
Wings of Desire (1987)
Project A, Part II (1987)
Babette’s Feast (1987)
Raising Arizona (1987)
Full Metal Jacket (1987)
Withnail and I (1987)
Good Morning, Vietnam (1987)
Goodbye Children (1987)
Broadcast News (1987)
Housekeeping (1987)
The Princess Bride (1987)
Moonstruck (1987)
The Untouchables (1987)
Red Sorghum (1987)
The Dead (1987)
Fatal Attraction (1987)
A Chinese Ghost Story (1987)
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988)
The Vanishing (1988)
Bull Durham (1988)
Ariel (1988)
The Thin Blue Line (1988)
Akira (1988)
Cinema Paradiso (1988)
Hotel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie (1988)
A Fish Called Wanda (1988)
The Naked Gun (1988)
Big (1988)
Dangerous Liaisons (1988)
Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
Landscape in the Mist (1988)
The Decalogue (1988)
Die Hard (1988)
A Tale of the Wind (1988)
Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
Rain Man (1988)
The Story of Women (1988)
The Accidental Tourist (1988)
Alice (1988)
Batman (1989)
When Harry Met Sally (1989)
Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)
The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover (1989)
Drugstore Cowboy (1989)
My Left Foot (1989)
The Killer (1989)
Do the Right Thing (1989)
Roger & Me (1989)
Glory (1989)
The Asthenic Syndrome (1989)
Sex, Lies and Videotape (1989)
Say Anything (1989)
The Unbelievable Truth (1989)
A City of Sadness (1989)
No Fear, No Die (1990)
Reversal of Fortune (1990)
Goodfellas (1990)
Jacob’s Ladder (1990)
King of New York (1990)
Dances with Wolves (1990)
Europa Europa (1990)
Pretty Woman (1990)
Archangel (1990)
Trust (1990)
Close-Up (1990)
Edward Scissorhands (1990)
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1990)
Total Recall (1990)
Once Upon a Time in China (1991)
Boyz ‘n the Hood (1991)
Raise the Red Lantern (1991)
Delicatessen (1991)
A Brighter Summer Day (1991)
Naked Lunch (1991)
The Beautiful Troublemaker (1991)
The Rapture (1991)
My Own Private Idaho (1991)
Thelma & Louise (1991)
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
JFK (1991)
Slacker (1991)
Tongues Untied (1991)
Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse (1991)
The Double Life of Veronique (1991)
Strictly Ballroom (1992)
The Player (1992)
Reservoir Dogs (1992)
Romper Stomper (1992)
Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)
Unforgiven (1992)
Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)
Candy Man (1992)
A Tale of Winter (1992)
Aileen Wuornos: The Selling of a Serial Killer (1992)
The Crying Game (1992)
Man Bites Dog (1992)
The Actress (1992)
Farewell My Concubine (1993)
Thirty Two Films about Glenn Gould (1993)
Groundhog Day (1993)
Short Cuts (1993)
Philadelphia (1993)
Jurassic Park (1993)
The Age of Innocence (1993)
The Puppetmaster (1993)
Schindler’s List (1993)
Three Colors: Blue (1993)
The Piano (1993)
The Blue Kite (1993)
The Wedding Banquet (1993)
Three Colors: Red (1994)
Hoop Dreams (1994)
Forrest Gump (1994)
Clerks (1994)
Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)
The Lion King (1994)
Satantango (1994)
Natural Born Killers (1994)
The Last Seduction (1994)
Pulp Fiction (1994)
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
The Wild Reeds (1994)
Chungking Express (1994)
Crumb (1994)
Heavenly Creatures (1994)
Through the Olive Trees (1994)
Riget (1994)
Dear Diary (1994)
Casino (1995)
Deseret (1995)
Babe (1995)
Toy Story (1995)
Strange Days (1995)
Braveheart (1995)
Safe (1995)
Clueless (1995)
Heat (1995)
Zero Kelvin (1995)
Seven (1995)
Smoke (1995)
The White Balloon (1995)
Cyclo (1995)
Underground (1995)
The Brave Heart Will Take the Bride (1995)
Dead Man (1995)
The Usual Suspects (1995)
The Pillow Book (1996)
Three Lives and Only One Death (1996)
Fargo (1996)
Independence Day (1996)
Secrets and Lies (1996)
Breaking the Waves (1996)
The English Patient (1996)
Gabbeh (1996)
Lone Star (1996)
Trainspotting (1996)
Scream (1996)
Deconstructing Harry (1997)
L.A. Confidential (1997)
Happy Together (1997)
Princess Mononoke (1997)
Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control (1997)
The Butcher Boy (1997)
The Ice Storm (1997)
Boogie Nights (1997)
Kundun (1997)
The Sweet Hereafter (1997)
Funny Games (1997)
Taste of Cherry (1997)
Open Your Eyes (1997)
Mother and Son (1997)
Titanic (1997)
Tetsuo (1998)
The Celebration (1998)
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Buffalo 66 (1998)
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)
Run Lola Run (1998)
Rushmore (1998)
Pi (1998)
Happiness (1998)
The Thin Red Line (1998)
The Idiots (1998)
Sombre (1998)
Ring (1998)
There’s Something About Mary (1998)
Magnolia (1999)
Beau Travail (1999)
The Blair Witch Project (1999)
Taboo (1999)
Rosetta (1999)
All About My Mother (1999)
Three Kings (1999)
The Wind Will Carry Us (1999)
Audition (1999)
Time Regained (1999)
Fight Club (1999)
Being John Malkovich (1999)
American Beauty (1999)
Attack the Gas Station! (1999)
Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
The Sixth Sense (1999)
The Matrix (1999)
Nine Queens (2000)
The Captive (2000)
In the Mood for Love (2000)
Ali Zaoua, Prince of the Streets (2000)
Gladiator (2000)
Kippur (2000)
A One and a Two (2000)
Requiem for a Dream (2000)
Amores Perros (2000)
Meet the Parents (2000)
Signs & Wonders (2000)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
Traffic (2000)
The Gleaners and I (2000)
Memento (2000)
Dancer in the Dark (2000)
O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
Amelie (2001)
What Time Is It There? (2001)
And Your Mother Too (2001)
Kandahar (2001)
Spirited Away (2001)
The Piano Teacher (2001)
The Son’s Room (2001)
No Man’s Land (2001)
Moulin Rouge (2001)
Monsoon Wedding (2001)
Fat Girl (2001)
Mulholland Dr. (2001)
The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
A.I.: Artificial Intelligence (2001)
Gangs of New York (2002)
The Pianist (2002)
Talk to Her (2002)
City of God (2002)
Russian Ark (2002)
Chicago (2002)
The Barbarian Invasions (2003)
Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)
Barry Lyndon (1975)
As part of the National Film & Television School syllabus the BFI are hosting a film season called ‘Ecstatic Landscapes’, a season which can loosely be regarded as a series of films where the locales and environment are ostensibly used not only for any formal visual effect of beauty but also to explore the depths of human nature that form the spine of the film’s themselves. Presumably you’ve been paying attention and can imagine my excitement at the prospect of seeing one of the most beautiful films ever made on the big screen, I’m speaking of course of Kubrick’s ‘Barry Lyndon‘ which emerged to poor reviews and box office back in 1975. I have seen ‘Lyndon‘ on the big screen once before, the first time I had ever seen it in fact back when I was at college at a screening attended by an audience packed with one other person, two if you count the projectionist. Initially I was mystified by the film, enamored of course with its overwhelming beauty and the plot as it was kept me gripped but it has taken me over fifteen years of research and reading to truly uncover many of its other treasures and strengths. That is one of the things that I love about the movies, as you mature and develop so do they, your own experiences informing and expanding your appreciation and understanding of this wonderful medium. This second big screen viewing was a much richer experience. Before we begin I have to give you the usual spoilers warning as they are many and frequent, I’ve really decided to go for ‘it’ with this entry so be prepared for some outrageous cinematic claims, absurd academic theorising and detailed chin-stroking wankiness.
Based on the relatively unknown book ‘The Luck Of Barry Lyndon‘ by William Makepeace Thackery, the film can be broadly partitioned into two sections, both of which unfold in late 18th century Europe. In the first movement our ‘hero’ Redmond Barry (Ryan O’Neil) is introduced as a headstrong Irish middle class gentlemen who falls foul of the law after he supposedly kills a British Officer in a duel over the affections of his cousin Nora. Fleeing the authorities he is robbed of his worldly possessions and enlists into the British Army, his only chance of avoiding the hangmans noose. His military career leads him through a sequence of battles, subterfuge and spying which eventually conclude with Redmond becoming an international cardsharp, frolicking and fleecing his way through the Imperial European courts. Barry eventually decides to achieve more stability in his affairs and seduces Lady Lyndon (Marisa Berenson), an ethereal aristocrat with whom he conducts a loveless marriage as in Barry’s world only property and status can confer the prestige he so evidently desires. In the second section of the film we are presented with the domestic life of a aristocrat in all its pomp and glory, Barry furtively seeking to climb the social ladder whilst managing the rebellious inclinations of his step son Lord Bullingdon who loathes Barry for his preceived exploitation of his mother and slow erosion of the Lyndon estate, both financially and in reputation.
This is quite simply an immaculate film, a film which imperceptibly transports the viewer back to 18th century Europe through the masterful command of pacing, lighting, performance, costume and set design all effortlessly slotting together in each of the films two movements to construct for me the greatest period set film I have seen. Whilst the formal, harmonious symmetrical compositions are typical of Kubrick’s style he abandons his trademark tracking shot technique in favour of a new visual motif – the slow reverse zoom which reflects and supports a brilliant portrayal of the Age of Reason itself as it became fully embedded in human history. This technique focuses on one pertinent element in the frame – the dueling weapons in this scene for example – before zooming out to present an entire tableau of compositions culled from 17th and 18th century art, just look at this wonderful examination for comparisons. As some of the academics have noted, this approach almost feels like Kubrick flirting with the idea of even being able to photographically present an era before photography was even invented, an apt observation given that the traditional close up and shot / reverse shot 20th century formula of cinematic language almost invariably follows to drive the scene and story forward. You can detect Kubrick cinematically flexing his muscles as it were, mirroring those tense fast zooms in ‘Strangelove‘ whilst Spielberg also used both zoom methods as visual homage nods to Stan (2:50 onward) in ‘AI‘ (3:58+) but I’m not gonna get sidetracked into my opinions of that deeply flawed but interesting project here, that’s a whole blog post on its own.
I saw the film three weeks ago on the day of the Lehman Brothers collapse and whilst wandering past their Canary Wharf HQ on the way home I pondered over the themes of commerce and status, the financial intertwined with prestige, with position and how all these destructive impulses essentially revolve around games of chance which gave the film a real contemporary resonance. The four duels in the film where life itself is at stake are conducted as the result of financial affairs in quandary (Nora’s marriage to the British officer and the dowry it will attract, two duels at the result of gambling disagreements and Barry’s final tournament with Lord Bullingdon over the control and management of the Bullingdon estate) which all therefore elevate money over humanity, the accumulation of wealth trumping all other worldly concerns.
I despair at some of the reviews that were printed in 1975 and beyond, criticising the film for its supposed coldness and complaining of it being nothing more than a beautiful yet utterly empty ‘coffee table’ book of a movie. Some of 
the critics complained that is was no ‘Tom Jones‘, a lively jaunt through 18th century Europe with lashings of bawdy sex and comedy. So, you do something different and take an alternative approach and that is rejected? No doubt these same critics also wrote articles on how commodifed and identical films are and have become for the same magazines in the months and years that followed. I’m not saying that trying something different is to be welcomed for its own sake – just look at ‘The Fountain‘ to see it doesn’t always work – but goddamn it I prefer to live in a world where the likes of Aronofsky have the balls and will to do something different and reach higher, even it it doesn’t always succeed. Yes the film is Kubrick examining the species on the autopsy lab, dissecting the conformity and the rigid hierarchy of the era, presenting the court protocols and suffocating society in his own idiosyncratic way but that’s the whole point. Even the so called ‘coldness’ is a deliberate approach as that veneer enhances the two real moments in the film when the restraints of ritual society are punctured, when the shackles of protocol are violated to be all the more effective, namely when Barry beats lord Bullingdon in public (which got a gasp in the audience and yes I know that link’s in Italian but it was the best I could find) and the death of his son Brian which is arguably the most moving and tender scene in Kubrick’s entire career. OK, when it comes to tenderness there ain’t much to choose from but hey….
It’s also a pretty funny movie in places, the audience were laughing at many of the scenes (and not at it but with it I hasten to add) which I think is down to the use of that restrained yet vivid language (as in the robbery scene linked to above) which is refreshing and I think almost unique in the movies, Bresson leaping to mind as the only other contender. It’s obvious to see Kubrick’s fascination with communicatio
n and language in his films, the nadsat of course in ‘Orange‘ which initially drew him to that project, the peculiar jargon of the military mindset in both ‘Strangelove‘ and ‘Jacket’, the veiled sexuality and obsession in ‘Lolita‘ – ‘……it was your cherry pies’. There’s no-one who gets so much with so little, like Stan himself said ‘Realistic is good. Interesting is better’ which is the perfect rebuttal of any criticisms of Nicholson being over the top in ‘The Shining‘. Lyndon, like ‘Zelig‘ in Woody Allens film is something of a cypher to take you through the story without distractions in terms of character development or tedious, clumsy ‘explanation’ scenes which Kubrick leaves to the ironic voiceover. It’s a wider scope, a broader canvass that Kubrick is working on, not being restrained by traditional notions of one central protagonist and their journey being the sole raison d’être of his films.
Phew, that’s taken me a while to put together, I hope you liked it and its given you the impetus to pick up the film and give it a whirl. Here are some general links to the film, including my favourite scene to wrap things up. I’m inspired to go back and take another look at ‘The Fountain’ as it happens after writing this, I hope my initial disappointment is dispelled, well we shall see. My second birthday is approaching so keep an eye out for some minor adjustments to the blog in terms of visual presentation which is something I have been toying with for a while, stay safe and enjoy….
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