STANLEY KUBRICK'S BARRY LYNDON
Shot-by-Shot Analysis
Part Seven
STANLEY KUBRICK'S BARRY LYNDON
Go to TOC for this film ( (which has also a statement on purpose and manner of analysis and a disclaimer as to caveat emptor and my knowing anything authoritatively, which I do not, but I do try to not know earnestly, with some discretion, and considerable thought).
PART SEVEN
TOC and Supplemental Posts | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Films Home
LINKS TO SECTIONS OF THE ANALYSIS ON THIS PAGE:
The Duel Between Bullingdon and Barry, Shots 715 through 755
Notes on The Duel Between Bullingdon and Barry. Book versus film.
The Exile of Barry, Shots 768 through 775
Notes on The Exile of Barry. Book versus film.
Returning to the Carriage Ride After the Marriage of Barry and Lady Lyndon
Freeze Frame, Shots 776 through 778
Notes on Freeze Frame, Shots 776 through 778
The Last Scene of Paying Debts, Shots 779 through 789
Notes on The Last Scene of Paying Debts. Book versus film.
A Last Look at the Debts
1789, the date of two of the scenes of the debts, forecasts the film's shot count being 789. Sycorax.
THE DUEL BETWEEN BULLINGDON AND BARRY
715 CU the tamping down of the bullet in a pistol.
Begin 4th round of Sarabande at 2:43:33.
716 MS of Bullingdon and his seconds and Barry and his seconds, the pistols being prepared. (2:43:40)
BULLINGDON'S SECOND: Mr. Lyndon...
717 MS of Bullingdon beyond his second. (2:44:04)
BULLINGDON'S SECOND: ...these are a matched pair of pistols, and as you have seen, your second has loaded one, and I have loaded the other. But as they belong to Lord Bullingdon, you may have whichever one you wish.
718 MS Barry taking his pistol. (2:44:17)
Begin 5th round of Sarabande at 2:44:18.
BULLINGDON'S SECOND: Lord Bullingdon.
719 Return to shot 717. (2:44:30)
BULLINGDON'S SECOND: Now, gentlemen, to determine who will have first fire, I will toss a coin in the air. And, again, as the offended party, it is Lord Bullingdon's choice to call the toss. Is that agreeable to both of you?
BULLINGDON: Yes.
BULLINGDON'S SECOND: If Lord Bullingdon calls correctly he will have the first fire. If incorrectly, Mr. Lyndon will have the first fire. Is that clearly understood?
Begin 6th round of Sarabande at 2:45:02.
720 Return to shot 716. (2:45:05)
BULLINGDON'S SECOND: What is your call, Lord Bullingdon?
BULLINGDON: Heads.
The coin is flipped.
721 CU of the coin. (2:45:21)
BULLINGDON'S SECOND: It is heads.
722 Return to shot 720. (2:45:25)
BULLINGDON'S SECOND: Then Lord Bullingdon will have the first fire. Lord Bullingdon, will you take your ground?
723 LS of Bullingdon and the line being drawn before him. (2:45:44)
BULLINGDON'S SECOND: One...
Begin 7th round of Sarabande at about 2:45:49.
...two...three... ...four...five...six...
724 LS of barn interior, marking off paces. (2:45:53)
BULLINGDON'S SECOND: ...seven...eight...nine...ten. Mr. Lyndon, will you take your ground?
The second line is drawn and Barry advances to it.
725 MS Lord Bullingdon. (2:46:20)
726 CU of Barry. (2:46:24)
BULLINGDON'S SECOND (off screen): Mr. Lyndon, are you ready to receive Lord Bullingdon's fire?
Begin 8th round of Sarabande at about 2:46:34.
BARRY: Yes.
727 LS of Barry from beyond the seconds. (2:46:42)
BULLINGDON'S SECOND: Lord Bullingdon, cock your pistol and prepare to fire.
728 MS of Lord Bullingdon. (2:46:52)
He accidentally fires his pistol.
BULLINGDON: Sir Richard, this pistol must be faulty.
729 Return to shot 727. (2:47:07)
BULLINGDON'S SECOND: I must have another one.
BARRY'S SECOND: I'm sorry, Lord Bullingdon, but you must first stand your ground and allow Mr. Lyndon his turn to fire.
730 MS Bullingdon. (2:47:17)
Begin 9th round of Sarabande at about 2:47:18.
BULLINGDON'S SECOND (off screen): That is correct, Lord Bullingdon.
731 Return to shot 729. (2:47:22)
BULLINGDON'S SECOND: Your pistol has fired, and that counts as your shot.
732 Return to shot 730. (2:47:28)
733 Return to shot 731. (2:47:34)
BULLINGDON'S SECOND: Mr. Lyndon, are the rules of firing clear to you?
BARRY: Yes.
BULLINGDON'S SECOND: Lord Bullingdon, are you ready to receive Mr. Lyndon's fire?
734 MS of Bullingdon with Barry and seconds beyond. (2:47:55)
BULLINGDON: Yes.
Begin 10th round of Sarabande at about 2:48:02.
BULLINGDON'S SECOND: Very well, then. Mr. Lyndon, cock your pistol and prepare to fire.
735 MS of Bullingdon vomiting. (2:48:20)
736 MS of the seconds. (2:48:25)
737 CU of Barry. (2:48:37)
738 MLS of Bullingdon returning to his place. (2:48:42)
Begin 11th round of Sarabande at about 2:48:49.
739 LS of Barry beyond the seconds. (2:49:10)
BULLINGDON'S SECOND: Are you ready, Lord Bullingdon?
740 MS of Bullingdon. (2:49:16)
741 CU of Barry. (2:49:21)
BULLINGDON'S SECOND (off screen): Is your pistol cocked, Mr. Lyndon?
BARRY: Yes.
742 MS of Bullingdon with Barry and seconds beyond. (2:49:31)
Begin 12th round of Sarabande at about 2:49:34.
BULLINGDON'S SECOND: Then prepare to fire. One...two...
Barry fires into the ground.
BULLINGDON'S SECOND (obviously relieved): Lord Bullingdon, in view of Mr. Lyndon having fired into the ground, do you now consider that you have received satisfaction?
743 MS of Bullingdon. (2:50:09)
Begin 13th round of Sarabande at about 2:50:20.
BULLINGDON: I have not received satisfaction.
744 CU of Barry. (2:50:23)
745 LS of scene from beyond Bullingdon. (2:50:27)
746 MS of Bullingdon. (2:50:36)
A 2nd pistol is prepared and given him.
BULLINGDON'S SECOND (off screen): Mr. Lyndon, are you ready?
747 CU of Barry. (2:50:56)
BARRY: Yes.
Begin 14th round of Sarabande at about 2:51:04.
748 MS of Bullingdon. (2:51:06)
BULLINGDON'S SECOND (off screen): Lord Bullingdon, cock your pistol and get ready to fire.
749 CU of Barry. (2:51:23)
750 MS of Bullingdon, Barry and seconds beyond. (2:51:27)
BULLINGDON'S SECOND: One...
751 MS of Bullingdon aiming. (2:51:33)
BULLINGDON'S SECOND (off screen): Two...
Bullingdon fires.
752 Barry hit, viewed from next to Bullingdon's pistol. (2:51:35)
BARRY: Oh!
753 CU Bullingdon's expression of joy. (2:51:36)
754 LS from behind Bullingdon of seconds rushing to Barry. (2:51:39)
755 MS of Bullingdon. (2:51:43)
The 14th round of the Sarabande ends at about 2:51:50. (1 - 6 - 6 abbreviated with coda - 5 with coda + 2 - 14).
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NOTES ON THE DUEL BETWEEN BULLINGDON AND BARRY
THE BOOK VERSUS THE FILM
It's a magnificent scene lasting about eight minutes, every moment brutal, drawn out so to inflict the profoundest tension of the uncertain eternal. With his traditional circularity, Kubrick returns us and Barry to the opening of the film, in which we saw his father lose a duel, but it was at a distance, comically treated, and not emotionally significant to the viewer. Now we are on the other side of years of Barry's hopes, struggles and failures, his ill-considered brutalities, his loss of his son, his desperation. He was a soldier, he has faced guns and being wholly surrendered to the fate that war deals. We should feel for Bullingdon, for his youth, perhaps consider him brave, but instead it is Barry with whom one's sympathies reside, and Kubrick constructs the scene so it is this way, Bullingdon claiming a second chance when his pistol fires, then refusing to accept satisfaction when Barry takes pity on him and fires into the ground. He had vomited in fear, which was one thing, understandable, but contempt is heightened when he exults as he does in his having struck Barry. We also compare his deportment with Barry's when he dueled with Quin, and find his open revelry off-putting in contrast to Barry's dignity.
There is no duel between Barry and Bullingdon in the book. Bullingdon only avenges himself on Barry later, long after the separation of Barry and Lady Lyndon, and the book says nothing much about it other than it was a "tremendous castigation".
Kubrick begins his tale with Barry's father being killed in a duel, and ends it with a duel, only Kubrick's Barry has learned something about life and violence and the sometimes arrogance of youth and refuses to shoot his stepson.
The barn of the Somerset Rural Life Museum is where the duel takes place. Considering the earlier reference to Percival, it may be of interest that this barn is at the base of Glastonbury Tor, so though it's not observed we have Arthurian legend looming large beyond the camera. The Somerset barn is over 200 miles from Lavenham Guildhall, where Barry is taken to recuperate. Lavenham Guildhall, which is on A1141 in Suffolk, was used by Pasolini to stand in for Bath, Somerset for the Wife of Bath's tale in his The Canterbury Tales.
I am interested in the Glastonbury Tor location due Barry, posing as a Lieutenant carrying important dispatches, was partly betrayed as a fake by his saying his delivery was for General Percival Williamson. As I wrote back in that section:
There was no General Percival Williamson. In the book, Barry picked the name haphazard from his knowledge of officers. Fakenham was to deliver the message to Prince Henry. We don't know, as there was no General Percival Williamson, if Kubrick intended the name to belong to a person who has died, or if Potzdorf is only testing Barry. What interests me is Percival is a legendary figure, the hero of the Arthurian grail quest. Of noble birth, he is raised in the forest by his mother after his father's death. She has intended to keep him an innocent with no knowledge of knights and the court, but when he is fifteen he sees some knights in the woods, is greatly impressed by them, decides they are magnificent and heroic and that he wants to be a noble knight himself. Much to his mother's horror, he takes off to join King Arthur's court. This is very like Barry who, in adolescence, becomes jealous of the uniform and supposed prestige of the warrior, and though he doesn't leave home to become a soldier he ends up becoming a soldier anyway. Percival eventually meets the Fisher King, but as he has been advised not to appear curious about things, he doesn't question the magic he observes at the court, and doesn't ask "the question" that would heal the Fisher King of a mysterious wound that incapacitates him. Many adventures follow in which he learns about himself. One day he fights a man who is victorious over him but doesn't kill him as there is no point in it. Percival learns this is his brother and says, "I was against my own self". At that moment, his name appears on the Grail, making him the new Grail King. The grail is later associated with Christ's cup, but originally drives from a cauldron of regeneration. There are many variations on the tale and no reason to go into them.
Barry, we will find, is a form of Fisher King. The Fisher King's wound is believed by some to be castration, for which reason in some tales he is unable to bear a son to take his place, but he is also lamed and sometimes paralyzed so he cannot walk, for which reason he occupies himself with fishing. We will see the same with Barry as well, in the eventual losing of his leg during his duel with Bullingdon, when he refuses to shoot him and Bullingdon takes his shot at Barry anyway. Though Kubrick considerably alters the tale, we need to consider why he brings Percival into the mix.
Kubrick's Barry differs from the Barry in the book in that he does change. He finds some humility and compassion. Facing, Bullingdon, he is in a situation much like Percival in which he likely sees something of his earlier arrogance in the young man.
Though Kubrick has Barry shoot into the ground, he doesn't extend to Bullingdon the sympathy that Barry has. Despite the trouble Barry has inflicted on Lady Lyndon and Bullingdon, Kubrick still keeps Bullingdon an entirely unsympathetic figure. For Bullingdon not only hates Barry for what he's done to his mother, but for being an upstart Irishman, and Kubrick angles our sympathy for those who aren't the elite, and by reason of class and nation are ever looked down upon. Barry, too, for all his grievous faults, did not celebrate death when even younger than Bullingdon and on the dueling field. Though glad to have won, he did not gloat or revel.
THE EXILE OF BARRY
756 Exterior of inn. (2:51:50)
NARRATION: Barry was carried to an inn nearby and a surgeon was called.
757 MS of Barry's leg, doctor tending. (2:52:02)
SURGEON: Right. I'm nearly finished.
758 MLS of Barry from side. (2:52:24)
SURGEON: I'm very sorry to have to tell you this, Mr. Lyndon. I'm afraid you'll have to lose the leg, most likely below the knee.
759 MCU of Barry. (2:52:47)
BARRY: Lose the leg? What for?
760 MCU the doctor. (2:52:57)
SURGEON: The simple answer is to save your life. The ball has completely shattered the bone below the knee and severed the artery. Unless I can amputate, there's no way that I can repair the artery and prevent further hemorrhaging.
761 MCU of Barry. (2:53:13)
Three bells sound.
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 757 |
 758 |
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 761 |
762 LS of carriage rushing down road as in shot 504. (2:53:29)
763 Graham and Bullingdon inside carriage. (2:54:43)
BULLINGDON: Graham.
GRAHAM: Yes, My Lord?
BULLINGDON: As soon as we arrive at Castle Hackton, I want you to inform Mrs. Barry of what has happened. Don't go into any unnecessary detail. Just tell her where he is and that he has been wounded in the leg. She will naturally want to go to him. See to it that she is out of the house and on her way to London as quickly as possible. And that...
764 MCU of Runt in the carriage, sitting opposite. (2:54:09)
BULLINGDON (off screen): ...in no event is she to be allowed the opportunity to see my mother or create any disturbance at the house before she leaves.
GRAHAM: Yes, My Lord.
765 LS of the carriage against the night sky. (2:54:20)
766 MCU of Mrs. Barry at the inn, fanning herself.
(2:54:31)
1st round of Sarabande begins at about 2:54:31.
Zoom out to show her playing cards with Barry.
767 CU of Mrs. Barry. (2:55:09)
768 MS of Barry and his mother from the side. (2:55:16)
Mrs. Barry lets in Graham.
1st round of Sarabande ends at about 2:55:26. (1 - 6 - 6 abbreviated with coda - 5 with coda + 2 - 14 - 1).
GRAHAM: Mrs. Barry, how do you do?
MRS. BARRY: How nice to see you, Graham. Please, come in.
GRAHAM: Thank you. You received my note?
MRS: BARRY: Yes, we were expecting you.
GRAHAM: Oh, good, I didn't want to call unannounced. Mr. Lyndon, how are you feeling?
769 MCU of Barry. (2:55:45)
BARRY: I'm feeling much better, thank you, Graham.
770 MS of Graham and Mrs. Barry. (2:55:49)
MRS. BARRY: Won't you sit down?
GRAHAM: Thank you, Mrs. Barry.
MRS. BARRY: Would you like some tea?
GRAHAM: Oh, no! No, thank you, Mrs. Barry. Not just now.
771 Barry and Graham. (2:56:07)
BARRY: How has the world been treating you, Graham?
GRAHAM: Oh, not too bad. And, are you comfortable here?
MRS. BARRY: Most comfortable.
GRAHAM: Good, good!
772 MCU of Graham. (2:56:22)
GRAHAM: And, well, uh, shall we get down to the matter at hand?
773 Mrs. Barry and Barry as in 771. (2:56:37)
MRS. BARRY: By all means.
GRAHAM: Well, yes, Mr. Lyndon...
774 Return to shot 772. (2:56:47)
GRAHAM: Lord Bullingdon has instructed me to offer you an annuity of five hundred guineas a year for life. Specifically on the condition of your leaving England, and to be stopped the instant of your return. Lord Bullingdon has also asked me to point out to you that should you decide to remain here your stay would infallibly plunge you into jail. As in view of the present circumstances there will soon be...
775 CU of Barry. (2:57:39)
GRAHAM (off screen): ...innumerable writs taken out against you for debts long-outstanding, and your credit is so blown that you could not hope to raise a shilling.
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NOTES ON THE EXILE OF BARRY
THE BOOK VERSUS THE FILM
'Redmond,' said she, as we got up to the door, 'don't go in: I am sure there is danger. There's time yet; let us go back—to Ireland—anywhere!' And she put herself before the door, in one of her theatrical attitudes, and took my hand.
I just pushed her away to one side. 'Lady Lyndon,' said I, 'you are an old fool!'
'Old fool!' said she; and she jumped at the bell, which was quickly answered by a mouldy-looking gentleman in an unpowdered wig, to whom she cried, 'Say Lady Lyndon is here;' and stalked down the passage muttering 'Old fool.' It was 'OLD' which was the epithet that touched her. I might call her anything but that.
Mr. Tapewell was in his musty room, surrounded by his parchments and tin boxes. He advanced and bowed; begged her Ladyship to be seated; pointed towards a chair for me, which I took, rather wondering at his insolence; and then retreated to a side-door, saying he would be back in one moment.
And back he DID come in one moment, bringing with him—whom do you think? Another lawyer, six constables in red waistcoats with bludgeons and pistols, my Lord George Poynings, and his aunt Lady Jane Peckover.
When my Lady Lyndon saw her old flame, she flung herself into his arms in an hysterical passion. She called him her saviour, her preserver, her gallant knight; and then, turning round to me, poured out a flood of invective which quite astonished me.
'Old fool as I am,' said she, 'I have outwitted the most crafty and treacherous monster under the sun. Yes, I WAS a fool when I married you, and gave up other and nobler hearts for your sake—yes, I was a fool when I forgot my name and lineage to unite myself with a base-born adventurer—a fool to bear, without repining, the most monstrous tyranny that ever woman suffered; to allow my property to be squandered; to see women, as base and low-born as yourself'—
'For Heaven's sake, be calm!' cries the lawyer; and then bounded back behind the constables, seeing a threatening look in my eye which the rascal did not like. Indeed. I could have torn him to pieces, had he come near me. Meanwhile, my Lady continued in a strain of incoherent fury; screaming against me, and against my mother especially, upon whom she heaped abuse worthy of Billingsgate, and always beginning and ending the sentence with the word fool.
'You don't tell all, my Lady,' says I bitterly; 'I said OLD fool.'
'I have no doubt you said and did, sir, everything that a blackguard could say or do,' interposed little Poynings. 'This lady is now safe under the protection of her relations and the law, and need fear your infamous persecutions no longer.'
'But YOU are not safe,' roared I; 'and, as sure as I am a man of honour, and have tasted your blood once, I will have your heart's blood now.'
'Take down his words, constables: swear the peace against him!' screamed the little lawyer, from behind his tipstaffs.
'I would not sully my sword with the blood of such a ruffian,' cried my Lord, relying on the same doughty protection. 'If the scoundrel remains in London another day, he will be seized as a common swindler.' And this threat indeed made me wince; for I knew that there were scores of writs out against me in town, and that once in prison my case was hopeless.
'Where's the man will seize me!' shouted I, drawing my sword, and placing my back to the door. 'Let the scoundrel come. You—you cowardly braggart, come first, if you have the soul of a man!'
'We're not going to seize you!' said the lawyer; my Ladyship, her aunt, and a division of the bailiffs moving off as he spoke. 'My dear sir, we don't wish to seize you: we will give you a handsome sum to leave the country; only leave her Ladyship in peace!'
RETURNING TO THE CARRIAGE RIDE AFTER THE MARRIAGE OF BARRY AND LADY LYNDON
We have observed the carriage carrying Bullingdon, in shot 762, after his victory.
Shot 504 is below, preceding Barry blowing smoke in Lady Lyndon's face after their marriage.
In shot 506 we observe the carriages again before Bullingdon's conversation with Runt.
I had noted back in Part Five:
I'm assuming the carriage with the red drapery is the one in which Barry and the Lady are traveling in shot 504. It is out front with white horses.
In the second shot the second darker carriage from 504 seems now to be out front, and it has white horses drawing it, so we won't notice the switch because we are focused on the white horses. Also, the black or dark horses that had been drawing the 2nd carriage are no longer observed, we instead have sable and they are drawing the carriage with the red drapery.
The location is skewed too. Shot 504 is on the same road but is actually further down it. If you look in the background there is a deep bend in the road and further back is a rather scraggly tree on the road's screen right. This bend in the road is where the carriages are in shot 506 as they drive through the sheep.
We will return to this area after Bullingdon's success over Barry in the duel, when they are riding to Lady Lyndon's estate. The shot, 762, will be as shot 504 but in light, no shadow, and we will only have the dark carriage, no red drapery, drawn by sable horses.
The camera is positioned in shot 762 in exactly the same place as shot 504. The The rocks to the left forefront are in the same places. The rocks to the right forefront are in the same places.
The disruption here, and the repeat, immediately reminds me of what happens with Barry before and after the scene with Lischen. In shot 257 we see him approaching a town before meeting her. When he leaves her home, he should be traveling on, but in shot 285 we see him approaching the same town from the opposite side. It occurs to me, what happens if we subtract 504 (the first carriage ride shot) from 762 (the repeat of it). 258 happens. This is the shot after his approach to the town in 257, when he meets Lischen, though we don't see her until shot 259. She precedes Lady Lyndon and is similar to her in that she too has a son already. Shots 257, and its opposing approach, 285, are notable because, as with the two ascents to the Overlook in The Shining, we had a center defined by an approach from two opposite sides. Also, with 504 to 762, we have the 258 shots that define, between these two carriage rides, the unsuccessful marriage of Lady Lyndon to Barry, going from the first shot just following their marriage, to Bullingdon returning home down the same road after the duel and Barry being told he will lose his leg.
It's hard to believe there are only 258 shots between those two carriage rides when so much transpires. The time occupied by the marriage is from 1:44 to 2:53 of the film, I guess about 69 minutes. Shot 258 occurs 53/54 minutes in. That's 15 minutes difference. I would never have guessed it.
We may see these carriages as well in shot 25 when we are first introduced to Captain Quin, with whom Barry will have his duel over Nora.
I've noted previously the curiosity of the viewer likely believing the center figure in shot 25 would be Barry, when it certainly isn't, he is standing over to the left. The misconception it would be Barry is reinforced by shot 28, with Barry standing center of the carriages that actually seem reversed in their positions, the carriage with the red drape should instead be on screen right.
We have a like confusion with Bryan's birthday party. He appears to be center scene, but we know he can't be as he is on stage with the magician. A doubling misdirection has occurred.
Though Barry appears to be at the center, in shot 25, it is instead an anonymous individual, who, I believe, is likely, at least in part, to represent the audience.
FREEZE FRAME
776 LS of carriage. (2:57:54)
Begin music at about 2:50:02. Piano Trio in E Flat. Opus 100. Schubert. The first we heard it was shot 459 when Barry first saw Lady Lyndon.
777 LS Barry and his mother exit the inn. (2:58:28)
NARRATION: Utterly baffled and beaten, what was the lonely and broken-hearted man to do? He took the annuity and returned to lreland with his mother, to complete his recovery.
778 From behind Barry and his mother as he enters the carriage. (2:58:46)
Freeze frame.
NARRATION: Sometime later, he travelled to the continent. His life there, we have not the means of following accurately. But he appears to have resumed his former profession of a gambler without his former success. He never saw Lady Lyndon again.
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 777 |
 778 |
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NOTES ON FREEZE FRAME
THE BOOK VERSUS THE FILM
I took a lodging in a coffee-house near Gray's Inn; taking care to inform Mr. Tapewell of my whereabouts, and anxiously expecting a visit from him. He came and brought me the terms which Lady Lyndon's friends proposed-a paltry annuity of L300 a year; to be paid on the condition of my remaining abroad out of the three kingdoms, and to be stopped on the instant of my return. He told me what I very well knew, that my stay in London would infallibly plunge me in gaol; that there were writs innumerable taken out against me here, and in the West of England; that my credit was so blown upon that I could not hope to raise a shilling; and he left me a night to consider of his proposal; saying that, if I refused it, the family would proceed: if I acceded, a quarter's salary should be paid to me at any foreign port I should prefer.
What was the poor, lonely, and broken-hearted man to do? I took the annuity, and was declared outlaw in the course of next week. The rascal Quin had, I found, been, after all, the cause of my undoing. It was he devised the scheme for bringing me up to London; sealing the attorney's letter with a seal which had been agreed upon between him and the Countess formerly: indeed he had always been for trying the plan, and had proposed it at first; but her Ladyship, with her inordinate love of romance, preferred the project of elopement. Of these points my mother wrote me word in my lonely exile, offering at the same time to come over and share it with me; which proposal I declined. She left Castle Lyndon a very short time after I had quitted it; and there was silence in that hall where, under my authority, had been exhibited so much hospitality and splendour. She thought she would never see me again, and bitterly reproached me for neglecting her; but she was mistaken in that, and in her estimate of me. She is very old, and is sitting by my side at this moment in the prison, working: she has a bedroom in Fleet Market over the way; and, with the fifty-pound annuity, which she has kept with a wise prudence, we manage to eke out a miserable existence, quite unworthy of the famous and fashionable Barry Lyndon.
Mr. Barry Lyndon's personal narrative finishes here, for the hand of death interrupted the ingenious author soon after the period at which the Memoir was compiled; after he had lived nineteen years an inmate of the Fleet Prison, where the prison records state he died of delirium tremens. His mother attained a prodigious old age, and the inhabitants of the place in her time can record with accuracy the daily disputes which used to take place between mother and son; until the latter, from habits of intoxication, falling into a state of almost imbecility, was tended by his tough old parent as a baby almost, and would cry if deprived of his necessary glass of brandy.
His life on the Continent we have not the means of following accurately; but he appears to have resumed his former profession of a gambler, without his former success.
It shouldn't go without notice, I don't believe, that the last we see here of Barry is a freeze frame, and in The Shining the last physical shot we have of Jack is him frozen in the snow, followed by, in essence, a freeze frame of Jack in the photograph.
LOCATION
The Lavenham Guildhall serves as the inn where Barry recuperates.
THE LAST SCENE OF PAYING DEBTS
779 LS of the mansion. (2:59:16)
780 LS of Graham, Bullingdon, Lady Lyndon and Runt. (2:59:27)
781 MS side of scene. (2:59:41)
782 CU Bill for annuity for Barry. December 1789.
783 CU Lady Lyndon. (3:00:33)
784 CU Lord Bullingdon. (3:00:43)
785 CU Lady Lyndon. (3:00:53)
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 783 |
 784 |
 785 |
786 CU of Bullingdon. (3:00:59)
787 CU of Lady Lyndon. (3:01:09)
788 LS of the scene. (3:01:29)
789 Epilogue. (3:01:56)
For end credits, return to the orchestral Sarabande at 3:02:14. 2nd solo round at 3:02:40. 3rd orchestral round 3:03:17. 4th orchestral round with timpani at 3:03:52. End at 3:04:38. (1 - 6 - 6 abbreviated with coda - 5 with coda + 2 - 14 - 1 - 4).
NOTES ON THE LAST SCENE OF PAYING DEBTS
THE BOOK VERSUS THE FILM
He returned secretly to England, after some time, and made an abortive attempt to extort money from Lord George Poynings, under a threat of publishing his correspondence with Lady Lyndon, and so preventing his Lordship's match with Miss Driver, a great heiress, of strict principles, and immense property in slaves in the West Indies. Barry narrowly escaped being taken prisoner by the bailiffs who were despatched after him by his lordship, who would have stopped his pension; but Lady Lyndon would never consent to that act of justice, and, indeed, broke with my Lord George the very moment he married the West India lady.
The fact is, the old Countess thought her charms were perennial, and was never out of love with her husband. She was living at Bath; her property being carefully nursed by her noble relatives the Tiptoffs, who were to succeed to it in default of direct heirs: and such was the address of Barry, and the sway he still held over the woman, that he actually had almost persuaded her to go and live with him again; when his plan and hers was interrupted by the appearance of a person who had been deemed dead for several years.
This was no other than Viscount Bullingdon, who started up to the surprise of all; and especially to that of his kinsman of the house of Tiptoff. This young nobleman made his appearance at Bath, with the letter from Barry to Lord George in his hand; in which the former threatened to expose his connection with Lady Lyndon—a connection, we need not state, which did not reflect the slightest dishonour upon either party, and only showed that her Ladyship was in the habit of writing exceedingly foolish letters; as many ladies, nay gentlemen, have done ere this. For calling the honour of his mother in question, Lord Bullingdon assaulted his stepfather (living at Bath under the name of Mr. Jones), and administered to him a tremendous castigation in the Pump-Room.
His Lordship's history, since his departure, was a romantic one, which we do not feel bound to narrate. He had been wounded in the American War, reported dead, left prisoner, and escaped. The remittances which were promised him were never sent; the thought of the neglect almost broke the heart of the wild and romantic young man, and he determined to remain dead to the world at least, and to the mother who had denied him. It was in the woods of Canada, and three years after the event had occurred, that he saw the death of his half-brother chronicled in the Gentleman's Magazine, under the title of 'Fatal Accident to Lord Viscount Castle Lyndon;' on which he determined to return to England: where, though he made himself known, it was with very great difficulty indeed that he satisfied Lord Tiptoff of the authenticity of his claim. He was about to pay a visit to his lady mother at Bath, when he recognised the well-known face of Mr. Barry Lyndon, in spite of the modest disguise which that gentleman wore, and revenged upon his person the insults of former days.
Lady Lyndon was furious when she heard of the rencounter; declined to see her son, and was for rushing at once to the arms of her adored Barry; but that gentleman had been carried off, meanwhile, from gaol to gaol, until he was lodged in the hands of Mr. Bendigo, of Chancery Lane, an assistant to the Sheriff of Middlesex; from whose house he went to the Fleet Prison. The Sheriff and his assistant, the prisoner, nay, the prison itself, are now no more.
As long as Lady Lyndon lived, Barry enjoyed his income, and was perhaps as happy in prison as at any period of his existence; when her Ladyship died, her successor sternly cut off the annuity, devoting the sum to charities: which, he said, would make a nobler use of it than the scoundrel who had enjoyed it hitherto. At his Lordship's death, in the Spanish campaign, in the year 1811, his estate fell in to the family of the Tiptoffs, and his title merged in their superior rank; but it does not appear that the Marquis of Tiptoff (Lord George succeeded to the title on the demise of his brother) renewed either the pension of Mr. Barry or the charities which the late lord had endowed. The estate has vastly improved under his Lordship's careful management. The trees in Hackton Park are all about forty years old, and the Irish property is rented in exceedingly small farms to the peasantry; who still entertain the stranger with stories of the daring and the devilry, and the wickedness and the fall of Barry Lyndon.
It's obvious, though Lady Lyndon's financial affairs improve after the ousting of Barry, rule over her has been assumed by Bullingdon, and that we should assume she still loves Barry.
A RETURN TO THE DOUBLE CUBE ROOM
It should be noted we have been returned to the double cube room, supposed to represent harmony, in which Barry had sat with Bryan looking over his drawings, which was a time of contentment for him despite his fall from grace due his treatment of Lord Bullingdon and his debts.
A LAST LOOK AT THE DEBTS
1789 AND 789
This first image is shot 576, the first signing of the debts.
This is from shot 649, the second signing of the debts.
Below is from shot 782, the third signing of the debts.
There is an error in addition in the first column right of the bill Lady Lyndon signs. The first number should be 5 rather than 3. And in the 3rd row from the right the number should be 2 rather than 1. The bill reads 4581 " 8 " 3 when it should instead be 4582 " 8 " 5. That's a difference of 1 " 0 " 2. This is a trifling error, but an error none-the-less, and Kubrick's films do have errors worked into them which can have significance.
The first bill shown in the movie has the date of 6 Dec 1789 in the lower left hand corner, and the last bill has a date of Dec 1789. The bill of shot 649 appears to have the date of 6 Dec 1821. I can't see it very well, but it is certainly not 1789. I've established earlier that based on Barry's sending a regiment to America in this year, if the timing is in accord with the book then it should be 1778.
It is nonsensical that the year on the first and third debt scenes should be 1789. What the date does is anticipate the last shot of the film being 789.
In shot 576, if the 9 in the first line of figures was replaced with a 7 then it would tally correctly. One could say there has been a mistake made with the 9, it should be then a 7. Kubrick has also a couple of other curious quirks concerning a 7 and 9 conjunction in his films. In The Shining, on Closing Day, it occurs when the Torrances have been shown the maze, in shot 110 illogically moving from the back of the maze toward the hotel, and the maze being spoken of as if they are passing it for the first time. In other words, we have a flip in direction, as if they are progressing from the hotel, past the maze, toward the hotel on the other side. I cover in that analysis how this happens and what it means as far as the maze being a center point. It is in shot 110 that Wendy asks when the Overlook was built. Stuart begins to respond in shot 110 and then finishes his response in shot 111, telling her it was begun in 1907 and ended in 1909.
The portrait that Humbert shoots in Lolita was painted from 1787 through 1789.
The chess club closed, for cleaning, from 7 to 9 in The Killing, whereas the one upon which it was based was open 24 hours a day. A corruption in the representation of time begins at 7 am on the final day in The Killing. Johnny is represented as having his significant conversation with Marvin, who speaks of how they will likely split that money and break up that night, and proposes instead that they go away together instead of Johnny marrying his girlfriend. Marvin says the world can get "pretty serious and terrible, particularly if it's not the right person. Getting married I mean." The inference there is that Johnny is gay and should stick with Marvin. Johnny doesn't address this other than to tell Marvin to go back to sleep and stay away from the track, that he'll be back at 7:00 p.m. Then we see Johnny at the airport also at 7:00 a.m., weighing in his baggage except for the one he'll be carrying with him that night, his flight leaving at 9:00 p.m.. That night, Johnny ends up being late and doesn't arrive at Marvin's until 7:29. This means he escapes a gun battle that happened at about 7:15, but we also don't know what may have happened if he had arrived on time. We don't know, if the gun battle had happened anyway, if he and his gang might have come out alright. Marvin lived at 504 W. Olive, where the gun battle took place, and 504 was used in the film to represent a situation of reversed perspective, the viewer believing they were one one side of a line when they were actually on the other. I'm reluctant to get into that here so instead refer to the shooting range scene with Nikki, and then again after the gunfight. So it is curious to me that 504 figures strongly in this film as discussed above.
The seeming 1821 (far left lower corner of the 2nd signing of the bills) is scrunched together so that it can also be possibly viewed as m1 which in roman numerals would be 1001. Wikipedia reads:
Meanwhile, 1000 was a circled or boxed X: Ⓧ, ⊗, ⊕, and by Augustinian times was partially identified with the Greek letter Φ phi. Over time, the symbol changed to Ψ and ↀ. The latter symbol further evolved into ∞, then ⋈, and eventually changed to M under the influence of the Latin word mille "thousand".
Source
We have thus 1000 plus 1 or eternity plus 1. Kubrick uses in other films alphabetical/numerical symbols for eternity. We find the horseshoe most notably used in The Killing, a symbol of good luck that turns treacherous after the slaying of the race horse on its circular track. The horse shoe seemingly punches the tire of the shooter, in his attempt to get away, and he is slain by the police. His death occurs at 4:24. Omega is the 24th and final letter of the Greek alphabet.
SYCORAX
One day I want to get into examining Thackeray's misspelling of Sycorax, of The Tempest, as Stycorax, in Lady Lyndon's diatribes against Barry's mother as the dragon lady, and how Kubrick may have used this, just as I believe he used an error that seems purposefully to be in the book on which The Killing is based.
Not only might the misspelling merit examination, it's interesting as well that Lady Lyndon was writing in invisible ink (lemons) and that only by holding the paper before a fire could these letters of hers, embedded in lists made to her milliner, be "read between the lines".
According to the midrash, the visible words of the Torah were the "black fire" while the "white fire" were the spaces around those words.
The scene that is returned to over and over again in the film is the paying of the bills. The Hebrew Tav, last letter of its alphabet, is given as having the meanings of mark, sign, signature. Stycorax had the "t" added to her name by Thackeray, and I can't say his reasons for having done so, but I think we may find, with Kubrick, particular significance concerning Lady Lyndon's signature, the Lyndon's having the power of possession of estate that the Barry's esteem as once belonging to them and which they so desperately seek to retain again for themselves.
One attempts to read read between the lines in the film, but the bills stand out as there are four episodes concerning them and the film even ends with Lady Lyndon's signature being written one last time in a payment to Barry. Also, we've observed that the bills, considering the exactness of the rest of the film, the attention paid to costuming and sets, are odd in their errors and especially in peculiarity of their dates. What we do know is that the date, of two of three episodes of he bills, is 1789 and thus anticipates the film having 789 shots.
If nothing else, it's notable and bears reiterating that Lady Lyndon looks upon Barry as a Caliban, and his mother as a dragon, which we can expect Kubrick would have explored especially due his interest in The Tempest evidenced in Fear and Desire as well as other films of his. Caliban was certainly equivalent to Barry in that his family's lore was they were the original possessors of the Lyndon estate.
Approx 7300 words or 15 single-spaced pages. A 57 minute read at 130 wpm.
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