THE DISCREET EVILS OF THE BOURGEOISIE Barry Lyndon (1975) ***1/2

Kubrick's films are tough to understand and sometimes tougher to enjoy. Barry Lyndon is no exception. Ostensibly based on William Makepeace Thackeray's novel of the same name, Barry Lyndon takes us through the (mostly romantic) misadventures of Redmond Barry (Ryan O'Neal), an Irish rogue seeking to make his fame and fortune adopting various identities.
Kubrick is up to as always many tricky things but what he is clearly NOT doing is making an art or pioture film. Most people complain the film focuses too much on the beauty of the landscape and paintings of the period. But the film's message - as I read it - is the opposite. It's about the sheer evil that the paintings and music hide and mask. Kubrick isn't celebrating the period but mocking its own self-pretensions. Barry's various duels and card games aren't so much about the joy of a past era as much as man's seemingly inescapable journey towards self-destruction.
Kubrick fans will recognize the theme is more or less the same ones explored in 2001 though here Kubrick goes for verbal overkill. There are also a lot of clear aesthetic contradictions to chuckle at. There is a lot to enjoy here but anyone that sees the film and isn't horrified has misread Kubrick's attempt at self-parody.