22 February 2009

Barry Lyndon

I finally got to see Barry Lydon ! It was announced as a very boring movie, but just like other Kubrick films I couldn't move and never took my eyes from the screen for three hours! Great stuff !

This movie is of all ages and is actually about that. We never change do we ? You expect to see and experience different times but all that Kubrick does is to show us how little people and also societies change. Do we learn ? That's the question that Kubrick wants us to ask ourselves. I hope I do :)

It takes a great director to capture your attention for three hours telling you the story of Barry Lyndon. Fortunately kubick is that great director. Just like his other movies, it's the message that is important, and though superficially this movie is great (pictures) the message is perhaps even better. The movie is jam-packed with subtle emotions with great depth, irony, amazingly composed shots, In no other movie is it so clear to me that Kubrick had a history in photography before becoming a film director. The compositions of the shots are simply amazing. These are enhanced by special lenses that Kubrick managed to get a hold of.. sarcasm and different themes going on at the same time. There is so much to love about this film !

I'm a massive fan of Stanley Kubrick, the more I see and study his work, the more adore it. Just like with his other movies I consider his work art. His films all have a very special place in my collection.

geek fact:
The film is famous for its cinematography, which was overseen by director of photography John Alcott (who won an Oscar for his work), and for the technical innovations that made some of its most spectacular images possible.
Alcott used three f/0.70 lenses developed by Zeiss for NASA for use in the Apollo moon landings, which Kubrick discovered in his search for a lens that could film in low-light situations. The super-fast lens allowed him to shoot scenes lit with actual candlelight with an average lighting volume of only three candlepower. In fact, the film features the largest lens aperture in film history.
Wikipedia

As always I will not properly review it because it will ruin it for everyone who hasn't seen it. And for those who did, what's the point ? You've already seen it !