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Master Rank #392

Barry Lyndon

1975

GCML Total8.6440% Greatness · 40% Engagement · 20% Ease

Directed by Stanley Kubrick

CastRyan O'Neal · Marisa Berenson · Patrick Magee

UK / USAEnglishDrama / Romance184 minPG
Sight & Sound; IMDb Top 250Narrative FeatureDeliberate pace
Find Where to Watch
Original poster artwork · Great Cinema Master List
Oscar · 4BAFTA · 2

Spoiler-free premise

Irish adventurer Redmond Barry pursues status through duels, war, gambling, and marriage into the aristocratic Lyndon family.

Read expanded premiseLonger, still spoiler-free

After a duel drives young Irishman Redmond Barry from home, he moves through military service, desertion, espionage, and professional gambling in eighteenth-century Europe. Marriage to wealthy Lady Lyndon gives him rank and property but not secure belonging.

Why it belongs

Stanley Kubrick underscores social ascent as a procession of candlelit tableaux, measured zooms, period music, and ironic narration that exposes status as theater.

Read expanded why it belongsThe fuller editorial case

Natural and candle light, painterly compositions, slow zooms, card tables, uniforms, estates, and Handel's sarabande make class ritual monumental. Ryan O'Neal's blank adaptability suits a protagonist continually borrowing identity from circumstance.

Major award record

Metadata only · zero points in 40/40/20
Academy Awards4 wins1976 · official ceremony record ↗

Plus 4 additional wins

No headline-category win to name

BAFTA2 wins1976 · official BAFTA 1976 Film Awards results ↗
Best Direction1976 · Stanley Kubrickofficial BAFTA 1976 Film Awards results ↗

Plus 1 additional win

Totals include every recorded competitive win. Only Picture or top-film honors, Direction, Screenplay, and lead or supporting performances are named.

Good for
Film Club
Descriptive guidance derived from rating, genre, runtime, mood, and GCML scores.

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