Reflections
on “Barry Lyndon” (1975)
Written
and directed by Stanley Kubrick
Based
on a novel by William Makepeace Thackeray
Starring
Ryan O’Neal, Marisa Berenson and Patrick Magee
A video presentation of this material is available
here.
When we first meet
Redmond Barry, he is an innocent, naïve, gentle, principled and earnest young
man for whom idealistic love is all-consuming.
The object of his
affections is his considerably more worldly cousin, Nora, who teases and tempts
Barry while also pursuing a relationship with a socially well-placed English
soldier and landowner, John Quin, with whom she aims to secure her own future,
prosperity and position, as well as those of her immediate family.
Outrage at the perceived
theft by Quin of the object of Barry’s affections manifests itself in righteous
indignation and a challenge to a duel. Barry’s virtuous and high-minded world
crashes around him when he is informed he has killed Quin and he must flee,
both because of Quin’s death and because of his family’s anger and
disappointment at losing the income Quin would have brought to them.
Barry sets off for Dublin
but is robbed by a famous highwayman and is compelled to join the army and
serve in the Seven Years’ War.
Up to this point, Barry
more or less accepts his lot. There are numerous references to destiny and
Barry appears to meekly accept the hand fate plays him, though there can be no
doubting his courage or the strength of his convictions. He acted on principle
when he challenged Quin and he provoked and challenged a fellow soldier in his
regiment to ensure he would not fall victim to bullying, but nonetheless, he
appears to accept that the general direction of his life is decided by chance
or events outwith his control.
That is, until he meets
and loses in battle an old family friend, Captain Grogan, who informs Barry
that the outcome of the duel (the origin of his present situation) was not as
he thought. The ammunition used was not real and Quin had survived and married
Nora. Indeed, the entire affair had been pre-arranged because Quin was afraid
of Barry and Nora’s family did not want to lose Quin’s income.
This revelation, combined
with his miserable and terrifying experiences of battle, pain, hardship and his
narrow escapes from death, persuade him that he should no longer be a tacit
victim of fate and circumstance, but an active participant in the game of life,
taking action to exercise whatever control he can over his own fate and destiny,
and refusing to quietly accede to the influence and authority of others.
He will abandon his
previous idealistic and romantic principles and view of morality in favour of
self-serving pragmatism.
Deciding the army is no
longer for him, he turns a chance encounter to his own ends as he steals an
officer’s uniform and papers before deserting and heading for freedom.
Next, we see to what
extent his outlook has changed when he meets an attractive German girl on his
travels. He uses his assumed identity and mission, but also a conscious change
in manner and skill in judging the character of others to flatter and beguile
the young woman. He uses his natural but calculated charm to engender
compassion and sympathy, in complete contrast to the attitude he displayed at
the start of the film. He is now playing a part with intelligence and skill and
is willing to use others for his own ends.
Having said that, the
young woman in question may not be a complete innocent being taken advantage
of. She may also be playing a part, or at least have some awareness of what is
going on but is willing to play along as having Barry in her life, if only
briefly, serves her purpose as well.
Bolstered by this
success, Barry is overconfident and lies excessively to Captain Potzdorf of the
Prussian army, whose path he crosses on his route to freedom, until he is
caught out by fact and must pay the price of his arrogance. He is forced to
enlist in the Prussian army and thus, once again due to chance or fate, appears
to lose control of his life.
However, Barry realises
that control can be gained through the intelligent and knowing exercise of
influence and manipulation and, recognising Potzdorf’s weakness for military
heroism, flattery and position, he ingratiates his way into Potzdorf’s
confidence, initially using his courage to save his life in battle and then
currying favour through a variety of other services, and thus gains freedom
from the army, though he remains in Potzdorf’s employ. Barry accepts the cards
given to him by fate but now plays them with skill and forethought, and with
his own purpose in mind.
Barry is given a mission
to spy on the Chevalier de Balibari, a professional gambler who is, in turn,
suspected of being a spy and Barry is to confirm this. However, on meeting the
Chevalier, Barry is struck by a need to be honest with him, though even this
honesty is used as a ruse to gain favour and will eventually serve as a means
of extricating him from Potzdorf’s clutches and launching him in a new
direction.
This compulsion to tell
the truth, apart from satisfying his own purposes, is due, perhaps, to the fact
that the Chevalier is a fellow Irishman who has adopted a false identity, lives
by his wits and chance and is even working as a spy. He recognises no
authority, law or morality and may thus be considered a kindred spirit by
Barry. Indeed, they will form an alliance and work together to dupe and scam
members of high society, maintaining the theme and metaphor of chance and
manipulation of fate by playing cards with the wealthy and famous, but cheating
quite elaborately to guarantee a positive outcome for themselves. Occasionally,
they depend on Barry’s courage and skill with weaponry to ensure payment of a
debt.
For Barry, people are now
little more than targets for schemes to cheat or defraud them, or a means of
self-advancement. The change in his character is quite marked. Due to a
combination of personal disillusion, circumstance and the influence of others,
Barry has become a con man who believes in nothing but his own survival and prosperity,
and who now seeks the security of a permanent source of income and wealth. He spots
the beautiful, wealthy and married Lady Lyndon and sets out to use his skills,
charm and judgement to seduce her.
The ease and speed of her
seduction may suggest that her marriage to the aged and decrepit Sir Charles
Lyndon was not all it might have been, despite the birth of their young son,
Lord Bullingdon. Perhaps, as in the case of the young German woman he
previously befriended and seduced, Barry recognised signs of dissatisfaction
and played on these. Though mutually beneficial, both socially and financially,
Lady Lyndon’s dull, lifeless and passionless marriage to Sir Charles was
unlikely to survive a challenge from a charming, passionate and daring younger
man. Once again, using his skills of judgement of character and situation,
Barry gently provokes the elderly and infirm Sir Charles into having a seizure,
freeing Lady Lyndon to marry Barry a year later.
Sadly for Lady Lyndon,
having served her purpose as a means of attaining wealth and position, Barry quickly
loses personal interest in her, though they have a son, Bryan.
Barry was devoted to the
pursuit of wealth and position, and developed skills, judgement and
heartlessness to help him attain them but not to maintain them. He does not
have the character or temperament to appreciate and augment his good fortune,
merely to indulge in and squander it. He highlights his underlying character
and flaws through a series of infidelities, poor business decisions and the
build-up of huge debts, all calmly accepted by Lady Lyndon. Perhaps she feels
she must meekly accept her fate, or perhaps she feels she is receiving her just
desserts for introducing Barry into her household.
The notion of Karma, or
even retribution, is developed in the second half of the film, as is the existential
contention that our actions impact and influence the lives of others, leading
to consequences for all concerned. As he grows up and becomes a young man, Lord
Bullingdon achieves and maintains a clarity of vision and understanding with
regard to his stepfather’s character, motives and actions, and his willingness
to criticise Barry leads to conflict, threat and physical abuse, eventually
leading to open assault and Barry’s social, financial and physical undoing.
In terms of emotional
retribution, Barry suffers his greatest pain as his young son Bryan dies
indirectly as a result of his actions and indulgence, and this loss traumatises
Lady Lyndon and drives her to isolation and depression, increasing pressure on
Lord Bullingdon who will eventually act to expel Barry from their lives, in a
most dramatic and ironic way.
The duel between
Bullingdon and Barry recalls that near the beginning of the film, but roles are
reversed as here it is Bullingdon who acts out of honour and idealism and a
desire to protect his mother, while Barry is now the pretender who has stolen
the prize and offended principle. Just as Quin manipulated events in that duel,
Barry now tries to control events to some extent, perhaps showing a vestige of
humanity, but fails. Chance, fate or Karma see to it that Barry loses the duel
and Bullingdon takes control of his mother’s estate.
It is interesting to note
that Lady Lyndon shows what may be interpreted as just a hint of regret at the
way things have turned out, suggesting this outcome had not been inevitable,
but was due to choices made by Barry.
And so, Barry loses
everything that he fought to gain, and all as a karmic result of the very
actions he took to gain it. Although he reacted to circumstance and disillusion
and many of the actions he took in the course of his evolution were amusing or
without serious consequence, in the end he rejected principle, compassion and
morality in favour of coldly using others to advance his own cause, often at
their expense, and without thought of accountability or responsibility toward
others.
I saw this film some 45
years after its release and was very pleasantly surprised by it. Stanley
Kubrick’s script allows us to chart and sympathise with Barry’s rise and fall
while beautifully depicting the society and times in which he lived. His
evolution from principled, earnest innocent to disillusioned player to
self-centred cad without conscience who eventually gets his comeuppance is
captured brilliantly and is engaging, amusing and tragic.
Ryan O’Neal is aptly
charming and engaging while the supporting cast fully flesh out their
respective roles, lending the production intrigue, humour, intensity and
intelligence, and it is a production I thoroughly recommend.
My thanks for taking the
time to read this article. I hope you found it of some value.
Stuart Fernie
I can be contacted at stuartfernie@yahoo.co.uk
.
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