Barry Lyndon (1975)

Slow and sterile, like a lot of Kubrick’s movies. No way a movie like this gets made today. Too epic and not commercial enough.

With it’s long, static takes, natural lighting, average-looking characters acting confidently and naturally with period dialogue, and seemingly authentic costumes and sets, it’s an immersive snapshot of Georgian life. Almost seems like we’ve taken a time machine and are sitting there in the scene with the characters.

Despite the fact that O’Neal is hardly expressive and constantly brooding, he manages to carry every scene with intensity. Strong, silent, and fair-skinned, he has a Heath Ledger quality to him. Kubrick likes leading characters like this.

Awkward, unmotivated use of blaring horns. They don’t add drama by themselves. Kubrick has a habit of using unjustifiably grandiose musical scores.