Second viewing; first viewed at some point of time between 1983 and 1986.
Based on the 1844 novel The Luck of Barry Lyndon, by William Makepeace Thackeray.
The life of an Irish man of modest origin who gets involved in a duel, flees, joins the army, deserts, marries a rich woman, etc.
Splendid film, unbelievably gorgeous, impeccably staged, and engaging at every point of its rather long duration. I speculate that the source novel (which I haven't read) follows an apparent pattern in English works of fiction from the 19th century, the carefully sadistic destruction of its main character, a pattern which first drew my attention when I saw Jude. I sometimes wonder who read these novels when they came out? Mainly women? Young ones? Of course, today everything is distorted by the academic apparatus, and mostly university professors read this stuff. Anyhow, I found that in this particular instance, the artistic imagination employed by the writer and diretor makes following the plot quite bearable, engaging even.
Rating: 74 (up from 66)
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