7. Barry Lyndon - Stanley Kubrick
Previously known for: Path of Glory, Dr. Strangelove, 2001: A Space Odyssey and A Clockwork Orange Before the magnificent and beautiful Barry Lyndon, Stanley Kubrick was a filmmaker who was more keen on exploring the darker sides of humanity. A costume drama was the last thing that anyone expected from him, especially after the biting malevolence on display throughout A Clockwork Orange and the existential madness found in Dr. Strangelove. Kubrick was fond of vivid imagery, as referenced in his masterwork 2001: A Space Odyssey, but he had previously only applied it to films that had a certain coldness to them. Barry Lyndon was full of lush, natural lighting that lit up the screen in a way that made the film look distinctly unlike anything that Kubrick had ever made then or in his later career. The film was so distinct that it still has a visual style that is yet to be replicated. What really sets it apart from Kubrick's previous work is the fact that it has a lighter side to it. There are some dark moments featured in the movie but the characters all have a certain warmth to them that is missing from every other movie that Kubrick ever made.