I’ve been enjoying Time Out’s 100 Best British Films of All Time. My favourite, Barry Lyndon, makes a respectable number 19.
âBarry Lyndonâ is a story which does not depend upon surprise,â Kubrick told Michel Ciment in one of his rare interviews, nailing the filmâs re-found appeal. âWhat is important is not what is going to happen, but how it will happen. I think Thackeray trades off the advantage of surprise to gain a greater sense of inevitability and a better integration of what might otherwise seem melodramatic or contrived.â
Likewise, as time goes by, Kubrickâs own contrivances â the technical obsessions, the outwardly puppet-like performances, Ryan OâNealâs seemingly endless wanderings, adventures and increasingly futile ambitions â have themselves fallen away to reveal something quite extraordinary: the shape of a life, a humanâs rise and fall, rendered as an epic, mesmeric, suffusing slow dance of immersive cinema â and therefore, not only Kubrickâs most beautiful but also his most empathetic and understanding work
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