Barry Lyndon (1975) Review

"Barry's first taste of battle was only a skirmish against a small rearguard of Frenchmen who occupied an orchard beside a road down which, a few hours later, the English main force would wish to pass. Though this encounter is not recorded in any history books, it was memorable enough for those who took part."

A movie that often looks like a literal work of art.

No computer-generated imagery, sometimes no electrical lighting at all. But in art, if you have enough money (scads of it), time (somewhere between 2.5 and 10 times as many film-shooting days as a typical film would get), and patience (Director Kubrick's perfectionism is famous, or rather, infamous depending on which actor you consult), you can clearly achieve incredible things.

Barry Lydon, the man, is not special, the movie makes clear, or even especially smart, but he is driven, and enough of a rogue to not care who is hurt in his relentless striving. It's a three-hour movie about a real piece of shit and it's a classic. A triumph.