A plot analysis of Stanley Kubrick's period drama film 'Barry Lyndon'

In this video, I will analyze key themes from Stanley Kubrick's 1975 American period drama film Barry Lyndon based on the 1844 novel The Luck of Barry Lyndon by William Makepeace Thackeray.

The film stars Ryan O'Neal as an Irish commoner named Redmond Barry who sets out to make a name for himself by marrying a wealthy countess and and assuming the name of her dead husband, earl Charles Lyndon. The film also stars Patrick Magee, Marisa Berenson, Hardy Kruger, and Gay Hamilton. At the 48th Academy Awards in 1975, it won 4 awards for Art Direction, Cinematography, Costume Design, and Musical Score.

'Barry Lyndon': a scene analysis of Stanley Kubrick's 1975 period drama film

In this video, I will give a scene analysis of Stanley Kubrick's period drama film 'Barry Lyndon' based on the 1844 novel by William Makepeace Thackeray called The Luck of Barry Lyndon. 

The film stars Ryan O'Neal as an Irish commoner named Redmond Barry who sets out to make a name for himself by marrying a wealthy countess and and assuming the name of her dead husband, earl Charles Lyndon. The film also stars Patrick Magee, Marisa Berenson, Hardy Kruger, and Gay Hamilton. At the 48th Academy Awards in 1975, it won 4 awards for Art Direction, Cinematography, Costume Design, and Musical Score.

A review of Martin Provost's drama 'The Midwife' starring Catherine Deneuve

This is a film review of the ‘Midwife’ by French director Martin Provost. 

Director Martin Provost's 'The Midwife' is about a midwife (played by Catherine Frot) who befriends and provides comfort to her father’s former mistress (played by Catherine Deneuve) who is dying of a brain tumor. Years earlier, Claire's father shot himself in the heart after Beatrice abandoned him. Now, Beatrice seeks forgiveness and closure from Claire although she has no regrets about leaving the woman's father or the life she has lived. 

This is a terrific, well cast, directed, shot, and acted film—led by Catherine Deneuve—at 2 extremely fast hours. Very refreshing to see mature actors in romantic situations and leading roles. Having an older cast made the film more believable as though the acting and direction needed any more help in this. Life, death, and reincarnation are the film’s dominant ideas which I won’t go into for those who haven’t seen the movie. This is 1 of those movies that you have to give yourself to and not try to follow but instead just let it explain itself, and it will, trust me. The unconventional relationship between Claire and Beatrice threw me initially but once I accepted it on its own terms, I found it easy to connect, emotionally, with the characters. On a technical note, the cinematography in this film is gorgeously understated and even poetic such as the scene where Claire's son-- who is the spitting image of her father-- is juxtaposed against a projected image of her father. If you are looking for a “human” story that engages feelings and not simply a film to jump out of the screen at you, a film more real than anything you’ll find in any CG heavy film this summer, ‘The Midwife’ is a pretty good choice to spend your time and hard-earned dollar!