Barry Lyndon Method

How does one recreate the atmosphere of the 18th century to the extent of giving the viewer of Barry Lyndon the impression of watching a documentary about an era prior to the invention of the cinema? Preparation lasted a year, with Kubrick carrying out exhaustive historical research to give the film a sense of authenticity, with infinite attention to detail. Refusing to shoot in the studio, he sent the art team, headed by Ken Adam, off for six months of searching for locations in Ireland, England and Germany. Photographs were regularly sent back to the filmmaker who selected them meticulously. The scenes of Barry's youth in Ireland would eventually combine three architectural sites. As for the Lyndon estate, whose film set had to be pre-18th century to signify the property of an old aristocratic family, it is a veritable patchwork of some ten English castles.

John Alcott, the chief cameraman, used sources of natural light almost exclusively. To reproduce the atmosphere of the period, Kubrick again took inspiration from 18th-century English painting, assembling a fantastic amount of documentation (1). He studied the landscapes of Gainsborough and Constable to work on colours and light, the works of Reynolds and Hogarth for the framings and characters' poses, and those of Zoffrany for the interior scenes. The preparation of the costumes lasted 18 months, with costume designer Milena Canonero supervising all the details down to and including the jewels and wigs. Most of the costumes were authentic garments from the period, the others reproduced from paintings and with the help of historians.

The music was chosen with the same demand for accuracy. Kubrick used great Baroque and Classical themes, with excerpts from works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Paisiello, Schubert, Vivaldi, Mozart and Frederick II of Prussia. Only Schubert's Piano Trio in E flat, Op. 100 is later than the 18th century. Certain scores were re-orchestrated by Leonard Rosenman (in particular, the Sarabande from Handel's Suite for Harpsichord n° 4, one of the film's recurrent musical themes).

Stanley Kubrick wanted Barry Lyndon to look like a "documentary" on the 18th century. "What we try for in a historical film," said Kubrick, "is to do everything to give the impression of shooting in natural decors today" (2). He pushed the re-creation of that era very far so that the viewer would have the feeling of seeing it as had the people who had lived through it.