Barry Lyndon, Schubert and Kubrick: Timeless perfection.
The first time I saw Kubrick's gorgeous film, Barry Lyndon when I was an impressionable fourteen.
And so it should not be too surprising to learn that it profoundly changed the way I thought about all film and theater. I had not realized how much music contributes to bringing something to life.
In the case of this film, the music IS it's life. I can't imagine this film without it's soundtrack. The only other filmmaker who has this kind of understanding of how intwined the two mediums are is Martin Scorsese.
However, seeing Kubrick's Barry Lyndon for the first time was also the moment I saw that something visual could be experienced also as classical music. So much so, that it could quite possibly, become upstaged by it's soundtrack.
In any case, lately I have been thinking about film experiences that changed me, and I think this one film may have been contributed to my falling madly in love all things classical. (That, and all those Metropolitan Operas my father took me to.)
Barry Lyndon was unlike any opera. It was rich with all kinds of historical detail. The narrative was complex and yet the exacting eye of Kubrick forced the characters in this lush, romantic film to shimmer with a very economical reality.
I was gobsmacked. Lush historical drama did not need to be over the top. And it could be so romantic. So beautiful.
I was a goner.
So, here's a clip from Barry Lyndon by Schubert. Piano trio in e flat.
Watch:
And so it should not be too surprising to learn that it profoundly changed the way I thought about all film and theater. I had not realized how much music contributes to bringing something to life.
In the case of this film, the music IS it's life. I can't imagine this film without it's soundtrack. The only other filmmaker who has this kind of understanding of how intwined the two mediums are is Martin Scorsese.
However, seeing Kubrick's Barry Lyndon for the first time was also the moment I saw that something visual could be experienced also as classical music. So much so, that it could quite possibly, become upstaged by it's soundtrack.
In any case, lately I have been thinking about film experiences that changed me, and I think this one film may have been contributed to my falling madly in love all things classical. (That, and all those Metropolitan Operas my father took me to.)
Barry Lyndon was unlike any opera. It was rich with all kinds of historical detail. The narrative was complex and yet the exacting eye of Kubrick forced the characters in this lush, romantic film to shimmer with a very economical reality.
I was gobsmacked. Lush historical drama did not need to be over the top. And it could be so romantic. So beautiful.
I was a goner.
So, here's a clip from Barry Lyndon by Schubert. Piano trio in e flat.
Watch:
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