Iris and Josie: The Final Duel in Barry Lyndon (1975)

Josie DiCapua and Iris Peron-Ames

Amal Giknis

Reel Reading

24 May 2022

Transcript: The Final Duel in Barry Lyndon

Josie: Barry Lyndon, Kubrick’s underrated masterpiece, follows the life of the titular character, Barry Lyndon, an Irish rogue. The film is, according to Jason Bellamy, “subdued, straightforward, introverted” and often overlooked due to its “deliberate, drawn-out pace” (Bellamy and Howard). Kubrick documents Barry’s rise and fall along the social ladder. Using calculated composition and blocking, the auteur develops the intricate narrative. Barry Lyndon acts as a sort of tragic hero as he navigates his fate.

In this scene, Barry is involved in a duel with his stepson, Lord Bullingdon, who seeks atonement for the abuse and mistreatment he endured. It is a very slow paced and drawn-out scene, playing with its emotions and expectations. Nobody really knows what is going to happen at any point in the duel.

Iris: We begin with the men preparing for the duel. They are arranged in an L-shape, creating depth. Bullingdon and Barry are placed opposite one another, visualizing their confrontation. Bullingdon is set slightly apart from the others, whereas Barry is framed by them. This illustrates Bullingdon’s lack of familiarity with the situation, his isolation, and seeming lack of power in the scene. Barry has already proved himself a skilled and practiced duelist, while this is presumably Bullingdon’s first duel.

As they prepare the pistols, Barry fixes directly on Bullingdon, but Bullingdon keeps his gaze on the ground. This once again defines the power imbalance. Barry maintains the power in this moment. This is also reflected in their body language. While each man holds his hands together, Bullingdon does so nervously, clutching his hands tightly. In contrast, Barry holds himself in a refined, confident way. He looks every part the gentleman he aspires to be. Josie: In this shot, Barry is framed by the other men at eye-level, allowing the viewer to feel like a part of the crowd.

The order of the duel is decided by a coin toss, reiterating the theme of fate throughout the film. Fate is notably a trademark of the tragic hero narrative. The coin toss decides Bullingdon as the first to shoot, signalling a shift in the power dynamic. To illustrate this, Bullingdon is centered in the shot for the first time. The attention is purely on him. Meanwhile, Barry is ever-so-slightly off-center. He has lost the control he previously possessed.

Each man is framed by a set of cross-shaped windows, which in turn allude to the religious symbolism in the narrative. This could be a reference to Lord Bullingdon’s previous assertion that “Quarreling people do not go to heaven.” However, Bullingdon is now quarreling with Barry.

Iris: Bullingdon misfires on his first shot, signaling another shift in power. Due to the stress, he gets sick. For the first time in the scene, we see camera movement. It enhances the panic and uncertainty of the moment.

When Barry goes to shoot, Bullingdon is placed front and center, triangulated by the other men on one side, and Barry on the other. This emphasizes a sense of humiliation and distress. He is on display, much too close, feeling trapped and scrutinized by the others. Barry, surprisingly, decides to shoot the ground. This serves as an act of atonement, as he is equalizing the situation, and offering Bullingdon a kind, merciful, and almost fatherly service. Geoffrey O’Brien, of Criterion, calls this act the “one incontestably right thing he does” (O’Brien). However, it could also be interpreted as degrading towards Bullingdon. It is an act of pity, demonstrating Bullingdon cannot win the duel on his own. This, in turn, strips him of the full power and masculinity promised through the duel, circling back to the thematic desperation for masculinity. This interpretation is further compounded by the blocking. Bullingdon remains front and center, with the men on either side of him, as if to suggest humiliation and further distress.

Josie: Bullingdon is angled slightly higher than the camera as he decides not to end the duel, proving he has some semblance of power over the situation once more. The power is a quivering one, though, seen by the subtlety of the low angle.

At the end of the scene, doves fly, suggesting that peace has been restored.

Works Cited

Bellamy, Jason, and Ed Howard. “The Conversations: Barry Lyndon.” Slant Magazine, 21 October 2011, https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/the-conversations-barry-lyndon/. Accessed 24 May 2022.

O’Brien, Geoffrey. “Barry Lyndon: Time Regained | Current.” The Criterion Collection, 17 October 2017, https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/5047-barry-lyndon-time-regained. Accessed 24 May 2022.