Barry Lyndon. It’s one of Stanley Kubrick’s greatest achievements, and yet it is has rarely been uttered in the same league as A Clockwork Orange, 2001: A Space Odyssey, or Dr. Strangelove. However, as the years have gone by they’ve been very kind to Kubrick’s 18th-century tale. It was ranked 59th on Sight & Sound’s prestigious critics poll of the greatest movies ever made and has been hailed by Martin Scorsese, among many others, as his favorite Kubrick film. John Alcott’s cinematography also ranks as one of the landmarks of the field of photography, with its ingenious natural lighting that, in one very famous scene, lit up rooms with dozens of chandeliers. Its impact has been felt all the way to last year’s The Revenant, which also used natural lighting and was clearly inspired by Alcott’s famous lens.
All this to say that Barry Lyndon is set to be re-released in the London on July 29th and will roll out in other U.K. cities in the following weeks. This is the way one must watch Kubrick’s masterpiece, on the big screen, with its bright, intricate colors and impeccable production and costume design shining ever so brightly on epic, accentuated canvas.
London seems to be in the middle of a Kubrick phase. The Brooklyn-born filmmaker will also be honored with a new exhibition at London’s Somerset House this summer. The late filmmaker’s widow, Christiane Kubrick, and Warner Bros. will lead the way with an exhibition that will feature creative art work tributes from the likes of Daft Punk, Jarvis Cocker of Pulp, and actress Samantha Morton, Consequence of Sound reports.
Check out the Barry Lyndon trailer below, as well as a video about its inspirations from paintings. We’ve also included a video comparing the work of Kubrick with Wes Anderson and a 360-degree recreation of The Shining set, courtesy of Open Culture.
Daydreaming with Stanley Kubrick will run from July 6th to August 24th. See more info here.