Today I watched Barry Lyndon by Stanley Kubrick as part of the 1975: A Year in Cinema program.
Beforehand I looked up the movie to see what it is about and what genre it belongs to. On Google it is listed as “War/Adventure.” Right from the beginning I was surprised by how many comedic moments – both visual and in dialogue – Barry Lyndon has. The first half feels almost like a comedy: Barry acting childish by throwing a glass at Captain John Quin, Barry getting robbed, and Captain Quin’s facial expressions during his duel with Barry.
The second half, however, is much more serious and features some very dramatic scenes. Here I noticed the use of the main theme as a kind of introduction to death. Each time the main theme is played, somebody dies.
Another thing that stood out to me was Kubrick’s use of zoom shots. Was he a pioneer in popularizing this technique?
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