September 2011 Film You Should Know But Probably Don't

Barry Lyndon

Yes, the secret is out. I'm a Stanley Kubrick fan. And fuck everyone who says Ryan O'Neil's accent sucks in this. There is so much more to enjoy about this movie! 

The main thing you should incredibly impressed by is how freakin' gorgeous the cinematography is. The entire film looks like a damn oil painting. This was achieved through the use of natural light and ONLY natural light. Kubrick had to design/steal from NASA/request a special camera lens just in order to pull off shooting with such low light (candles don't exactly stand up to your 10k lamps). There are a lot of fun Hollywood rumors and theories as to where the lens came from and how he got it. As best I understand it, there was a bit of construction by Kubrick himself using NASA lenses. But my favourite is my old cinematography teacher's theory:

"NASA gave Kubrick the lens in exchange for shooting the moon landing."

I absolutely love the idea behind that but let's all face reality. The moon landing footage would look so much better if Kubrick had made it. It was probably Roger Corman. 

Back to the film. For those of you who don't know, Barry Lyndon is the assumed name of a drunk Irish asshole who keeps getting himself into duels and other types of trouble. He's forced out of his Irish village in the beginning and slowly makes his way to France where he tries to squeeze every penny out of anybody he can.

There's a rather fantastic use of narration - the narrator gives away everything before it happens. Kubrick played with narration similarly in his earlier film The Killing (featuring Sterling Hayden). It's that kind of self-awareness and utter command of the film medium that lifts this film from being merely good and nice looking to truly great and utterly stunning. 

Some people knock the acting. I say they probably have an extra chromosome. Ryan O'Neil is fantastic and I won't believe otherwise. Also, a very young Leon Vitali pulls off an extraordinary performance as the slighted step-son. Vitali would go on to become Kubrick's personal assistant through the rest of his film career and play the Red Cape in Eyes Wide Shut.

Remember to keep a sharp eye out for some of Kubrick's favourite players who tend to appear in his films time and time again such as Steven Berkoff and Patrick Magee. Make sure you aren't watching it on some 2-inch screen off your iPhone - it's probably best if you have the lights off as well, really get that full effect. Right. Enjoy.

The Rest Is Silence

For those of you who know me lately, I have been on what one might call a kick. Perhaps mild obsession. Whatever you want to call it, ever since my good friend showed me this damn amazing show I have been tracking down whatever I can find starring David Tennant.

As a filmmaker, this tends to be what I do whenever I find an artist that I admire so I've been down this road before (Stanley Kubrick, Gary Oldman, Leonardo DaVinci). In some cases (not naming names), it has brought me to low and lonely places. Not so in the grand adventures of Mr. Tennant! And my latest discovery was buying Hamlet on blu-ray. This particular film is an adaptation of the stage production of the same, including original cast.

So some background: I am a huge Shakespeare fan and Hamlet is my absolute favourite of his plays. I am picky, so I prepare myself to be let down when I watch new adaptations. I don't subscribe to any of the "insanity" or "oedipal" bullshit that's surfaced in the last century and the play makes me extremely emotional. Since I am a woman, this also makes me lethal, so don't fuck with m Hamlet.

All that being said, I delved right in! There is a wonderful dark neutrality about the set, mirroring the darkness set upon young lord Hamlet. Mirrors themselves, playing a pivotal role in the stage version, are rampant throughout the set design - the broken mirror a classic representation of the fractured mind. The director utilizes the camera well with the soliloquies and asides and presents us with many interesting angles and some gloriously long takes.

But the performances, you ask! Okay, as unbiased as I can possibly be... David Tennant was absolutely stunning and heartbreaking in this. I think I would die to see the stage production, because his emotion was so incredibly raw yet subtle, cutting through the fancy words to what the character truly feels. He also plays with the comedy more than I'd seen before, and I thought that was a stroke of genius. It fleshed out Hamlet so he's not so mopey; he's lively and witty and yet full of pain. He captures the essence of the character that I related to so well upon first reading it while going through a loss of my own. Just, bravo. Bravo, Mr. Tennant!

And bravo to Patrick Stewart! I always figured that no matter what, he'd always be Professor X and Captain Picard to me, or possibly this guy. But it's now resolved - if I ever, ever meet this amazing man, I will thank him profusely for acting the hell out of Claudius. Trust me folks, it's all in the ending and the rest is a fantastic journey up to it.

And the supporting cast completely keeps up pace. Penny Downie's Gertrude made me feel for that woman for the first time ever and Oliver Ford Davies as Polonius was charming. Basically, I have no complaints in the acting at any point in the film. I can't even say that about Branagh's version!

Not to gloss over it too much because these guys do hard work, but briefly I have to acknowledge the other departments. The DP did a great job with lighting and handling all the mirrored sets. I thought the editing was great! I did notice a few hiccups in the sound, but I'm overtrained and overlistening for the most part.

10/10