Many fans of Stanley Kubrick are expressing their disappointment that BARRY LYNDON has not been remastered in the forthcoming collection.
There are many reasons why this film merits special attention by Warner Home Video, but let's mention the single most important reason. Remember, it is shot using NASA space lenses mounted on a modified camera to capture natural light in a way that had never been done before. Now, many films are shot in natural light, but not with these lenses or with this camera. All perceived light is reflected light off the surface of things, but the light in BARRY LYNDON is genuinely unique. Traditional lenses don't normally see this much or this way. Most films are shot between f8. to f11. in normal light situations, either artificial or natural. But the outer space lens has an opening of f0.7 to look through the dark at distant planets from a satellite, and Zeiss grinds it extra fine to facilitate the sharpest image possible. Kubrick mounts this ultra-fast, wide-open, fine-grain lens on a specially modified Mitchell camera, and augments the sunlight with reflectors and the night time with actual candles instead of artificial. The combination of space lens and organic light endows the landscape and the human face with a perspective, a texture, and an aesthetic quality that is different from every other movie. Something wonderful is on display in BARRY LYNDON that can't be seen anywhere else, not even in DAYS OF HEAVEN.
Who else but Stanley Kubrick would even attempt such a thing.
BARRY LYNDON is one of the great experiments in the history of cinema, an experiment that is 100% successful creatively, technically, and dramatically. It is different from other costume epics in the Warner Brothers catalog. It deserves special consideration and special treatment, regardless of whether or not it's the least profitable of Kubrick's films. It was profitable. Warner Home Video can afford to work from the raw elements to bring out the best in BARRY LYNDON so that people can see how uniquely beautiful it is. WHV can also afford to promote the DVD / HD in carefully chosen language that makes Kubrick's approach more accessible to the masses. A technical commentary, one that talks about lensmanship, how this film is lit and photographed, and why Kubrick stages scenes the way he does, is called for. True, the film speaks for itself, but sometimes audiences need a little explanation when confronted by an artist who operates on a different set of rules.
If BARRY LYNDON is remastered and properly marketed, I'm sure it would be a profitable home video. Perhaps other members of HTF will join me in this recommendation and give their own reasons why BARRY LYNDON merits a remastered edition.
There are many reasons why this film merits special attention by Warner Home Video, but let's mention the single most important reason. Remember, it is shot using NASA space lenses mounted on a modified camera to capture natural light in a way that had never been done before. Now, many films are shot in natural light, but not with these lenses or with this camera. All perceived light is reflected light off the surface of things, but the light in BARRY LYNDON is genuinely unique. Traditional lenses don't normally see this much or this way. Most films are shot between f8. to f11. in normal light situations, either artificial or natural. But the outer space lens has an opening of f0.7 to look through the dark at distant planets from a satellite, and Zeiss grinds it extra fine to facilitate the sharpest image possible. Kubrick mounts this ultra-fast, wide-open, fine-grain lens on a specially modified Mitchell camera, and augments the sunlight with reflectors and the night time with actual candles instead of artificial. The combination of space lens and organic light endows the landscape and the human face with a perspective, a texture, and an aesthetic quality that is different from every other movie. Something wonderful is on display in BARRY LYNDON that can't be seen anywhere else, not even in DAYS OF HEAVEN.
Who else but Stanley Kubrick would even attempt such a thing.
BARRY LYNDON is one of the great experiments in the history of cinema, an experiment that is 100% successful creatively, technically, and dramatically. It is different from other costume epics in the Warner Brothers catalog. It deserves special consideration and special treatment, regardless of whether or not it's the least profitable of Kubrick's films. It was profitable. Warner Home Video can afford to work from the raw elements to bring out the best in BARRY LYNDON so that people can see how uniquely beautiful it is. WHV can also afford to promote the DVD / HD in carefully chosen language that makes Kubrick's approach more accessible to the masses. A technical commentary, one that talks about lensmanship, how this film is lit and photographed, and why Kubrick stages scenes the way he does, is called for. True, the film speaks for itself, but sometimes audiences need a little explanation when confronted by an artist who operates on a different set of rules.
If BARRY LYNDON is remastered and properly marketed, I'm sure it would be a profitable home video. Perhaps other members of HTF will join me in this recommendation and give their own reasons why BARRY LYNDON merits a remastered edition.
