The Duellists | | Cast : | Keith Carradine, Harvey Keitel | | Director : | Ridley Scott | | Studio : | Paramount Home Video | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen | | Released Date : | January 01, 1977 | | DVD Released Date : | August 19, 2003 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), English (Original Language), French (Original Language), English (Subtitled) | | Audience Rating : | PG (Parental Guidance Suggested) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | August 07, 2005 | | Summary | Carradine and Keitel stink up an otherwise visually stunning film | Content
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Beautifully filmed, tremendous sets, costumes and historical details.
Ridley Scotts' talent is much in evidence.
Why, in the midst of tight, competent performances by a supporting cast they dropped two wooden, stiff, and just plain awful performances by Keith Carradine and Harvey Keitel I can't fathom.
Was it economic I wonder? Did these guys have enough box office pull in 1977 that would override these turd-like performances?
I don't know but it's really a shame because it takes the edge off a film that might have been legitimately great had the two leads been better cast.
Still, once you get past the fact that every time the two actors open their mouth you'll be disappointed, the rest of the film is quite worthwhile and it's unique premise, a series of duels over twenty years, pulls you into the story line, especially if, like me, you like historical dramas.
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| Rating | | | Date | July 20, 2005 | | Summary | En Garde! | Content
| The film was shot in London, at a ski resort near Inverness, Scotland, and in the village of Sarlat, located in the Dordogne, a magically beautiful area of France, rich in history and natural beauty. His choice on Sarlat turned out to be particularly auspicious. Having settled on this location, Ridley Scott gave the film manuscript to the Mayor of the village for review, in order to obtain permission to proceed. The Mayor was intrigued by the story, which sounded strangely familiar. After consulting the Town Hall archives, he informed Scott that in the early nineteenth century, in his village, two individuals by the names of Fournier and Dupont had become notorious for having dueled each other twenty five times over a thirty-year period, using all types of weapons!
I cannot overemphasize the incredible beauty of this film. If you have never taken a walk through the painting galleries of the British Museum, the National Gallery, or the Musée d'Orsay, just watch The Duellists as an introduction to the treasures of these museums. Scott's film could have been "painted" by a de la Tour, Corot, Jean-Louis David, or Watteau. Each of the images, carefully composed with a real attention to the aesthetic, appears as the true work of a master painter in the disposition of its elements, the harmony of the colors, and its contrasts. Scott shot the film using natural light as often as possible, resulting in many of the interior scenes being chiaroscuros. His choice of Sarlat allowed him a minimal dressing of the scenes, which are totally accurate, in effect a pictorial essay of that particular historical period.
Great care was taken toward the authenticity of the costumes. The protagonists and other characters seem to have walked out of the Invalides Museum (where Napoleon I is buried) in Paris, where more than half of the displays are objects, costumes, and memorabilia from the Napoleonic era.
Scott, realizing that the dueling sequences might be repetitious and thus boring, made them short, and each one different. These duels, under the direction of Williams Hobbs, are well choreographed and, as the rest of the details of the production, certainly authentic.
Many of the reviews of this film I have read criticize the accents of the two protagonists. The critics, while willingly accepting actors with English accents as authentic, balked at the American accents of the two main characters. May I remind these critics that this film takes place in France, and that the characters are French? Therefore, American accents are as valid as English accents. In that American-English idiom, the two differing accents reflect different social backgrounds, that of the aristocratic d'Hubert and the commoner Féraud, and are therefore most appropriate, and are certainly what one would have expected had the film been rendered in the French idiom.
The acting of the two main characters is superb. Keith Carradine is restrained and aristocratic in his demeanor, while Harvey Keitel is brash and somewhat low-class. They are supported by a group of first rate, experienced English actors, most of them with backgrounds in the theater.
Howard Blake wrote the music. On several occasions, he used period music; otherwise, he composed a beautiful, sensitive theme, which keeps reappearing in different forms and variations. Most important is his judicious use of silences in the most dramatic or intimate moments, which actually speaks more eloquently than any music could.
The main themes of The Duellists are honor and integrity. One of the definitions of "honor" is, "the quality of being honorable and having a good name. Honor is a subjective concept, which regulates the behavior of individuals according to their different associations, groups, religions, etc. Very often, honor means blind obedience, and chauvinism. Obviously in this story we are concerned primarily about the military code of honor. The two main characters are part of the Emperor's Grand Army, and their honor consists of defending and upholding the reputation of their country, their army, and their regiment according to the code.
The insult which led Féraud to duel with a civilian in Strasbourg was, according to Féraud, caused by the civilian's disrespect toward the 7th Hussars Regiment. Féraud's first duel with d'Hubert was precipitated by the apparent injustice that Féraud perceived in the order issued for his arrest, due to his having fought a duel in the defense of the honor of the regiment (obviously, Féraud had not stopped to think about the fact that his commanding General was unaware of Féraud's motive). As Féraud could not possibly strike out at the General, he turned his wrath toward d'Hubert, who had sought him out in the salon of a famous lady, comrades in arms just don't do such a thing to one another. Be that as it may, given his hot temperament (he is from the Gascogne region of France, whose habitants are reputed to be testy), Féraud felt compelled to demand reparation for the insult in the only acceptable, honorable way, a duel.
On the other hand, d'Hubert is also subject to the same code of honor. At first, he tried to dissuade Féraud's challenge (which is still honorable), but failed. As both men were on their way to the back garden where the first duel took place, it probably entered d'Hubert's mind to avoid the duel by running away. However, this would have brought dishonor to his regiment, to his uniform, and to himself. He had no choice, therefore, but to submit to the military code of honor. As a result, d'Hubert became the captive, the slave to the barbaric universe of the code of honor. Caught in a tempest that he could not allay, he sacrificed one quarter of his life and any of his hopes for calm.
Fortunately for d'Hubert, he still had an exit available, as he could and did return to civilian life, where the code of honor is so different as to be in conflict with the military one. In the military, one gets rewards for killing, while in civilian life, one gets sent to prison. When, at the conclusion of the last duel, d'Hubert should have killed his adversary according to the military code, he chose only to perform a "virtual" killing by declaring Féraud dead. In so doing, he also preserved at the same time the civilian code, which forbids the killing of another person. Féraud, an honorable man if a hot-headed one, was also prisoner of his code of honor, but he did not have the luxury of escaping to civilian life. Although discharged from the army, it was the only life he knew, and he was a military man at heart. Therefore, he adhered to his code, and tried his best to kill his adversary to uphold his (military) honor.
Férault is honest: contrary to d'Hubert, he is a consistent person, a man of integrity. With Féraud, what you see is what you get. He will be faithful to his Emperor until his dying breath, even though the Emperor has lost. d'Hubert, on the other hand, although having proven himself as a competent warrior for Napoleon, abandoned him, either out of opportunism or selfishness. In this respect, Féraud was right in saying that d'Hubert "never loved the Emperor."
Laura is also a person of integrity. She does not pretend that her behavior is driven other than by her own self interest, and she acts accordingly. Of course, the duplicitous Fouché, traitor to every man and to every principle and motive of human conduct, is the worst of opportunists, the archetype of a person with no integrity.
The Duellists also raises the question of class warfare. The Emperor, although not a commoner, did not belong to the French aristocracy. He tried to level the playing field, and for a long time during his reign, everybody advanced from the same starting point. All the Emperor's generals got to their positions through their battlefield performances, rather than through their birthrights. Despite the apparent move toward equality, there was still a resentment and suspicion on the part of the commoner-class people toward the nobles. Certainly, one of the reasons Féraud had for not giving the benefit of the doubt to d'Hubert during their first encounter is that everything in the demeanor of d'Hubert sets him apart as an aristocrat, and Féraud is a commoner. In Féraud's mind, d'Hubert probably got the cushy job of being an attaché to the General, not for his achievements, but because of his station in civilian life. He contemptuously calls d'Hubert the "a proper general's poodle."
The Duellists is a remarkable film for the beauty of its images, its intelligent production, and solid acting by every member of the cast.
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| Rating | | | Date | June 23, 2005 | | Summary | Tidley Scott's best film | Content
| Though the film is stunningly shot and edited throughout, especially the final duel and panoramic shots of the French countryside, the first 60 minutes are the most engaging part of the film. Both duelists initially equally fanatical, and the film weakens, in my view, as Carradine's character becomes the good guy and Keitel's the bad. Even so, this difference sets up a beautifully deferred ending. The soundtrack is also first-rate. I wish Scott would stop using CGI to make historical films like Gladiator and Kingdom of Heaven and go to back to pre-digital film. This is film is on a par with Kubricks's Barry Lyndon. It's a mind-blowing debut that holds up amazingly well. |
| Rating | | | Date | April 12, 2005 | | Summary | The Duellists | Content
| This movie is done wonderfully. The intense journey of these two
soldiers puts the viewer on the edge of their seat. The ending
was the ultimate and the landscape and scenery spectacular. |
| Rating | | | Date | March 02, 2005 | | Summary | The Duellists | Content
| Ridley Scott's award winning debut film 'The Duellists' (based on Joseph Conrads Novella 'The Duel') remains one of his best films and still his most beautifully photographed. This 1977 film had a budget of just $900,000, but you would never know it by looking at it on screen. The plot is regarded by some as weak and I somewhat agree - Keith Carradine and Harvey Kietel successfuly convey the madness within their characters who engage in duels over the course of nearly a decade in the Napoleonic Army. But ultimatly I watch this film because I love period pieces and it's some of the best cinematography i've ever seen. Perhaps one of the most overlooked films in movie history. |
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