My favorite movie

 Even before making 'The Clockwork Orange' ( 1971) - for which he signed the most overrated film in his director's filmography - Kubrick intended to make a film about the figure of Napoleon, one of his most coveted projects and one that he was finally unable to bring to fruition. In his research and preparation for this film, which never took place, Kubrick came across William Makepeace's novel Thackeray, which narrated the adventures and misadventures of a character named Barry Lyndon. He used part of this research, along with his passion for the subject, to prepare what would be his first period film, in the strict sense of the word. We would never see Krubick's vision of the mythical French emperor, but in return he would give us one of his most personal works.

Curiously, 'Barry Lyndon' (id, 1975) is the film by Kubrick that has aroused the most opposing opinions. Many consider it the most boring work of its director, a long story about a character not too interesting, devoted to the technical supremacy of which shows its maximum responsible. Others praise it as one of Kubrick's best films, even going so far as to call it the masterpiece of its director. There is no doubt that this is a difficult film, in which Kubrick does not make it easy for the viewer. But the mythical director does not give in to the great error that many make with the seventh art: they give you everything done and the spectator only has to sit and watch. 

The story of 'Barry Lyndon' is divided into two acts, and basically tells the adventures of a man of humble origin, who wants by all means to escape from that origin and get a noble title of importance. After fleeing due to a duel in which Barry believes his opponent to be dead, he ends up participating in the seven-year war. After deserting for the second time, next to a fellow Irishman with whom he will know all kinds of excesses, he will decide to court Lady Lydon only and exclusively for his money. Once married, he will continue in his world of vices and fun, spending a fortune in trying to be a nobleman. From then on, misfortune. Unlike the book, which is narrated in the first person, Kubrick decides to use an omniscient voiceover, which takes the viewer away from the story, something totally intentional. We are mere spectators who look on with cautious distance, while admiring Kubrick's mise en scène, a colossal work whose result could not be more perfect.

Each of the shots that make up 'Barry Lyndon' looks like a painting to be observed, everything is in its place, perfectly calculated and thought out. The film was shot in natural settings, some of them real castles where Kubrick took a step forward in illuminating the sequences. It is often said about this film that no artificial light was used, something partially false. John Alcott -who also appears as an extra in the scene of the orgy-, winner of a well-deserved Oscar for his work, encountered enormous difficulties due to the shooting in natural settings. Almost all the sequences are a mixture of natural and artificial light, except for one, the very famous candlelight, in which the light given off by the candles and some reflectors was simply used. The limited movement of the actors in the sequence serves as a portrait of a bored and tired society, something constantly emphasized by the director, either in his scenes/plays or through the composition of his actors.