The Duellists (1977)

Ridley Scott obviously recruited God as his Assistant Director in this, one of the two or three most marvellous films I've seen. After 75 years I've seen a few. Perfectly cast, perfectly written, perfectly acted, perfectly directed and perfectly shot. Towards the end Ridley simply said: we need to bathe the scene in sunlight here; and God obliged. The scene is reminiscent of a famous painting by Caspar David Friedrich.

At a certain point Ridley thought it would add spice if the horses started to love each other, and God agreed. There are the usual occasional half-witted reviews, by people who can't understand what the story is about, or who object to the accents. Do these people have the faintest idea what early 19th century French sounded like? Keitel and Carradine were perfect in their parts, accent-wise and every other-wise.

Given the reported budget of a farcical $900,000, these actors must all have played their parts for nothing. So Finney walked off with a crate of champagne.

It is sadly true, and must be accepted, that Scott must have taken some notice of clunky Barry Lyndon, in particular the natural lighting. It's as if Scott said to himself, I think I can see what you're trying to do, Stanley. I'll just show you how to do it.

I saw Kubrick's Lyndon, many years ago, and, except for the lighting, it struck me, end to end, as utterly tedious, pointless garbage. Kubrick was essentially little more than a somewhat mediocre stills photographer.

The Duellists is multi-layered, subtle, thought-provoking; historically, politically, socially, psychologically, stimulating. It raises questions, and suggests answers.

It is known that Conrad fairly closely based his tale on the animosity recorded between two actual Napoleonic officers, named Dupont and Fournier. Fournier gained the soubriquet "El Demonio". These two fought at least 30 duels over a 19 year period, starting in 1794. Dupont referred to Fournier as "the worst subject of the Grande Armée". Look them up.

The Duellists reminds me of what Polanski said about Chinatown: that he didn't realise he had created what others called a masterpiece. It's time the public, and perhaps Scott himself, began to understand that with this film he created a true masterpiece, for all ages. But the self-appointed connoisseurs voted for Vertigo, God Help Us.

Fmovies: Maybe I just don't get around much. Perhaps I just need to expand my universe. Whatever the case, I am convinced that The Duellists is the best film I have ever taken the time to watch. I felt the fear, I felt the cold, this movie just plain made me feel. Great acting and great filming, great haunting soundtrack, probably reasons why I have watched this movie half a dozen times. Have not found many folks that share my enthusiasm for this film. Perhaps I have 20/20 vision, and everyone else has cataracts.

How good this is caught me totally off guard, with 'Alien' and 'Bladerunner' I knew that Ridley Scott could turn out a good movie, but to do great sci-fi and then go on to a dueling duo in the times of the Napoleon wars is truly something.

Because of an insult Feraud cant seem to duel back his honor easily from D'Hubert and the obsession with which he keeps the feud alive has the determination of a true madman. D'Hubert has second thoughts all the time, but keeps bumping into Feraud a number of times during the passing of the Napoleon wars as they both serve in the army and for the sake of his honour he cant very well refuse to duel with him. Feraud on the other hand is ice cold and after revenge for something so small and silly that he probably has forgot.

Harvey Keitel fits perfectly as Feraud and together with his role in 'Bad Lieutenant' makes him a brilliant actor. Keith Carradine plays D'Hubert very convincing as well. To set them up against each other was a good idea.

Something that is often lost in bigger scale fight scenes is the tension and dynamics that is excellently brought forth here. From the stances and four - five - six powerful strikes afterwards one of them are potentially dead. In fact I don't know of fight scenes with as much power as seen here, though 'Gladiator' comes close. For pure action Ridley Scott is a master.

Without having read the book by Joseph Conrad it can truly be said that the script is a successful adaptation of it, one of many similar traits with 'Barry Lyndon'.

The outdoor scenes are so fresh that you feel the morning mist on your breath and the compositions has some sense of the art of the time, the sense that is also present when a stilleben of bread and wine is framed. Also similar to 'Barry Lyndon' is the fine use of the zoom lens. How this could be a debut is beyond me, but the other Scott, namely Tony also made a damn fine debut with 'The Hunger'. Too bad he couldn't follow up as Ridley did.

Flutes and violins add up to a perfect score.

The Duellists fmovies. Seems this film has left most viewers with only positive comments to make (quite rare actually). I agree with most of them.

This is a very believable film and is beautiful to watch in parts thanks to Scott's eye for design and natural beauty, esepecially regarding the use of light.

I was mesmerised to know how it was all going to end. I was so sure it was going to end tragically but then was surprised and elevated by the ending that showed the richness & depth of the human experience. I believe there's some meaning for us all in this movie. And I got to hear about this movie by accident!

An amazing quality of a film overall when you read about it's history, which was almost not made!

8/10

An early masterpiece by Ridley Scott with two superb actors playing the two main characters (two officers of the French Grande Army): Keith Carradine and Harvey Keitel. This is not your usual swashbuckler or costume movie but a fine look into a past time and into a very different code of honor and bravery.

I watched it a couple of times and I dare to say: timeless and a must-watch.

A really wonderful movie that lives from the great script, the exceptionally good actors (from the major to the minor roles), the very well done directing and an outstanding score. The cast is really good, from the main actors to Diana Quick and to such interesting and sadly underrated actors as Morgan Sheppard and Liz Smith. This movie shows that, provided with a good script, Ridley Scott once was able to do really good movies. If you think this movie is heartless just compare this debut with the first movie done by Ridley's brother Tony, the hollow "The Hunger". The only drawback is his taste for sometimes overdone and unnatural photography. The script is surprisingly faithful to the original story by Joseph Conrad (that one really should read). If you are looking for a movie full of style and grace you will find it here!