book one redone - Coldbacon

Other memorable characters include the cowardly Captain Quinn and the
Count of Lyndon, whose pig-like squeal is one of the high-pitched-points
in the history of cinema. Oh God, those pills spilling all over the table!
Finally, Lord Bullingdon could not possibly have been cast or played
better. That scene when he crashes the music performance and publicly
chastises his father. The awkwardness is exquisite. When Barry grabs
Bullingdon by the slack in that glorious green coat and throws him across
the room. How time seems to slow down like it must for a big whale in its
death thrashes.
Bryan (five years old): “Were you allowed to keep the heads?”
Barry: “No, the heads always become the property of the King.”
The film has several “Oh my god, is that what it really was like?”
moments. First, there is the battle which “was not recorded in any history
books” but which “was memorable enough for those who took part.”
Here, we have the true sound of rifle fire, more like cracking than
popping. 6 And real death in the bushes. Whole films have been spent
trying to get across what this scene accomplishes in three minutes.
And it’s just as gut sinking to watch Barry’s wife suffer his infidelities.
How could a man’s film make jealousy and betrayal any more real?
Equally hard to stomach is the embarrassment and shame Barry will
endure in the latter half of the film. Again, critics will say they don’t feel
anything because he deserves his fate, and because Ryan O’Neal is a bad
actor. Don’t listen to those people, they never feel anything. “If you want
to vex them, ask them if they’ve ever felt anything.”
I liken all attacks on Barry Lyndon to the scene when the Austrian
magistrate asks, “Was the prince cheated?” It’s like, we just saw one of
the most eloquent speeches in all of film, and all you care about is if the
prince was cheated? Of course he was frigging cheated! That’s not the
point, man. Pay attention. This film has everything. The traditional Irish
music heard early on couldn’t have been better were it played by the
Chieftains. It was played by the Chieftains. The film even has a botched
suicide.
6 Shopper Raymond Massas said he “heard one shot. Not very loud, like a snap.
After that I heard people start panicking.” 10/02 (Reuters)
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