What do you mean by this. I love all those movies, but this one a lot less. I really liked it and I’m sure it’ll grow on me, but it didn’t hit me on the level of those nor of Jeanne Dielman.It exemplifies a late-Kubrick main oeuvre conception, the distortive, stunted, emotional repression of "all the best people"--a recurring critical theme of Kubrick in this film that will be repeated in The Shining, Full Metal Jacket, and Eyes Wide Shut.
The photography was stunning, breathtaking at times. The composition and symmetry, some shots looked exactly like Van Gogh landscapes. And I’m not a period piece guy at all but this won me over early and held me tight.
BUT, I wasn’t engrossed in the same way I was with every detail of JD nor was I interested in the era like I am with FMJ, nor did it spur psychological introspection the way EWS did.
The quality was easy to sense and I was thrilled to be seeing it in 35mm… but it didn’t hit me viscerally nearly on the level of those others you mentioned.