The Duellists

Plot synopsis:
"The Duellists" is based on a story written by Joseph Conrad, which, according to the author, was itself based on a true story whose origins sprang from a ten-line paragraph in a small Southern France local newspaper. That brief paragraph reported the fatal ending of a duel between two officers in Napoleon's Grand Army. The two officers had fought a series of duels in the midst of great wars on some futile pretext. As the pretext was never disclosed, Conrad invented one.We are in 1800, in the garrison town of Strasbourg, on the Rhine. There is a lull in the Napoleonic wars, and the French soldiers are enjoying a moment of peace before resuming the slaughters. As the film opens, a young girl driving a gaggle of geese happens upon two men dueling in a meadow. Lieutenant Gabriel Féraud (Harvey Keitel), from the 7th Hussar Regiment, is in the process of settling a score with an unknown man who soon ends up skewered on the Lieutenant's épée. We learn that this man is the nephew of the Mayor of Strasbourg, and is seriously wounded, when General Treillard (Robert Stephens), Commandant of the garrison, enters his officers quarters and makes inquiries about this Lieutenant Féraud. Lieutenant Armand d'Hubert (Keith Carradine), from the 4th Hussar Regiment, admits to vaguely knowing the gentleman, and he is immediately "volunteered" by his Commandant to find him and bring him back to the barracks, where he will be put under house arrest. General Treillard, who must see that his soldiers obey the Emperors rules prohibiting combat with civilians, needs to investigate what happened in the meadow. It is somewhat ironical that Bonaparte, who spent a large part of his life dueling with the rest of Europe on a rather grand scale, involving tens of thousand of participants on both sides (but was somewhat of a dilettante when judged by present day's standards), had little respect for the same tradition on an individual level.D'Hubert, after looking all over town, ends up at Féraud's private quarters, where he learns that the Lieutenant is attending a soirée at the salon of Madame de Lionne (Jenny Runacre). At the salon, d'Hubert meets with Féraud and informs him of his mission. Féraud, having judged himself the insulted party in his morning duel, cannot comprehend the reason for his arrest. Further, he determines that d'Hubert has in turn insulted him by bursting into the salon of Madame de Lionne, disturbing him with the General's orders as he was talking to the lady. Féraud immediately challenges d'Hubert to a duel with sabers, which ends when Féraud is wounded. Now, not only has Féraud's forearm been injured, but his wounded pride demands satisfaction.From then on, for the next fifteen years, Féraud will be obsessed with the idea of settling his dispute with d'Hubert, holding him captive by Férauds tragic, ironic concept of honor.D'Hubert goes to meet his friend, an army surgeon (Tom Conti), asking his advice on how to get out of this messy situation. The surgeon tells him first, to keep away from Féraud, second, to always stay ahead of Féraud in military rank, since only duels between soldiers of equal ranks are tolerated and third, to rely on Napoleon for keeping the wars going, as there is no dueling during a state of war.Augsburg, one year later. Lieutenant d'Hubert meets an old girl friend, Laura (Diana Quick), one of the camp followers. She tells him she has an offer of marriage from a one-armed veteran, but they nevertheless resume their relationship. It happens that Lieutenant Féraud is in the same town, and of course they will duel again. Epées, this time. This encounter is not so lucky for d'Hubert, who ends up gravely wounded. Their seconds propose that now the honor of both parties has been saved, but The Duellists both refuse the opportunity for reconciliation. Laura nurses d'Hubert back to health, but after a face-to-face with Féraud and a subsequent consultation with a fortuneteller, she realizes that these duelists will go on until one of them is killed. If it is d'Hubert who is to die, she cannot see any future in their relationship. She decides to leave him and go and marry the disabled ex-soldier.Captain Féraud (he caught up in rank with d'Hubert, who was promoted earlier) and Captain d'Hubert meet in a third duel, again with sabers, in a cellar. The two combatants fight to total exhaustion in an inconclusive duel, and eventually, dirty and bleeding, must be separated by their seconds.Lubeck, 1806. Captain d'Hubert and Captain Féraud duel a fourth time, on horseback. It is Féraud's turn to be wounded, seriously enough to not be able to continue the fight to its conclusion. Laura reappears on the scene. She is now a widow, and had hoped to settle with her ex-lover, Captain d'Hubert, but she sees that this is just wishful thinking. D'Hubert, too involved in this dueling matter, remains deaf to her subtle suggestion that they resume their affair.Russia, 1812. The Emperor's Grand Army, defeated by the terrible Russian winter and the Russian battle tactics, is in retreat. Colonels Féraud and d'Hubert are now like grunts in the "sacred battalion," consisting of officers of all arms who had no longer any troops to commend. One night, around a campfire, they find themselves again face to face. They silently recognize each other. The next day, Féraud requests a volunteer to go investigate some Cossack activities in the nearby woods. The soldiers are so exhausted and despondent that Féraud had guessed rightly that d'Hubert would be the only one to follow him, with the ulterior motive of finishing their endless confrontation. Far from the camp they come face to face, each with a pair of pistols, but at that moment, a group of Cossacks appears and the two adversaries present a common front to fight them off. Following this, in a gesture of reconciliation, d'Hubert offers Féraud a drink from his hip flask, but the latter disdainfully walks away: "Pistols, next time," he says.Tour, 1814. Napoleon is in exile on the Island of Elba and the Bourbons are back in power with Louis XVIII. General d'Hubert is convalescing at his sister Leoni's home from a bad leg wound sustained during the campaign in France, fighting the Prussians. She suggests to her brother he ought to get married, and offers to introduce him to Adele (Cristina Raines), the niece of her neighbor, the old aristocrat Chevalier de Riverol (Alan Webb). After a short courtship, the two marry. D'Hubert is visited by a Bonapartist gentleman (Edward Fox), a friend of General Féraud, who tries to recruit him to aid in the planned return of the Emperor, but d'Hubert refuses.Following the "Hundred Days," the return of Napoleon to French soil, the Emperor is defeated at Waterloo, and definitively exiled to the Island of St. Helena. Louis XVIII is returned to the throne. Many known Bonapartists are arrested, including General Féraud, and these will be executed as examples. Upon hearing the news, d'Hubert meets with the Police Minister of the Second Empire, Fouché, now Duke of Otranto (Albert Finney), and requests Férauds pardon, a request that is granted. D'Hubert asks only that his intervention on Férauds behalf be kept secret.Having discovered d'Hubert's whereabouts, Féraud sends two of his ex-companions in arms to set up yet another, and hopefully, final duel. The Duellists meet at dawn, on d'Hubert's property, with pistols. Two shots each, fire at will. D'Hubert gets to fire the last shot, but instead of killing Féraud, he fires a bullet into the ground, and with this gesture becomes the rightful owner's of Féraud's life: "I shall simply declare you dead," says d'Hubert. The final scene shows Féraud, from the back, standing on a bluff overlooking the Dordogne River winding through the beautiful valley below. He stands wearing a two-pointed cocked hat and a long black, straight military capote, reminiscent of his Emperor's portraits on the Island of St. Helena - could it be "le petit caporal" (the little corporal), the Emperor himself, humiliated and defeated? It is the "end of the road" for Féraud: finally at peace, as he meditates on what has been his life.

Tags: violence, action, historical

Review:
It's noteworthy saying that in another, more popular, Ridley Scott's movie such as Blade Runner, always derived from a novel, important changes have been made from the original story ( in that case, all the part about the 'empathy' religion doesn't appear in the movie, and I think it was a good choice to omit it).
The point about the Duelists is all about the rich simplicity of its being a movie: Ridley Scott just takes the story as it is, and it's a damn good one, and he tells it to us in the best possible way, with an incredible attention to the graphical details (the duel scenes are just one better than the other), and an amazing use of the camera (the boxing scene, the horse riding duel).
Suffice to say, Ridley Scott being the director he is, The Duellists is visually superb and at the same time devoid of a single frame just being there to look good.
An excellent script and extremely good acting all round helped him do it.For me The Duellists is the first of 3 consecutive masterpieces (the other two are, of course ALIEN and Blade Runner), unrivalled since John Huston's first 3 films.
At regular moments throughout the film, the director takes the time to give you a photographic setting of the scene and you feel like you're looking at some great painting or masterpiece on canvas while still looking at a piece of atmospheric photography.
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.
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.
The subtle context of the scene is that politics do decide war from afar, in our case the slippery (faulty) pair of boots of the aristocratic boot-maker.Which is, in a third level, a beautiful way of putting the subtle discord strummed by the universe that creates a slippery world and illogical selves of us, dumb chance as fate.And suffice to say, the film is British, so you will not learn it here, but in spite of the probably British-started legend, the French are historically the best tactical warriors in Europe.
This is Ridley Scott's first film, based upon a particularly interesting Joseph Conrad story of two career soldiers who maintain a long feud over a singular incident.Scott's dynamic media style is already more than in abundance here - striking widescreen shots, sumptuous overall cinematography, brilliant art direction, evocative score, and meticulous costume design make for a strong viewing experience.However, this isn't anywhere close to Scott's classic films, and it's not just that Scott was getting his feet wet.
The two are destined to meet in a final duel.Critique: Ridley Scott's impressive directorial debut deals with the themes of honor, obsession and violence.
Ridley Scott's first film set on Napoleonic wars in which two French Husars battle a relentless duel .
An officer named D'Hubert (Keith Carradine) in the French army insults another named Feraud (Harvey Keitel) and set out in pursuit each other on a life-long enmity .
The motion picture produced by the prestigious David Puttman is glamorously directed by Ridley Scott , at his best and as stylish as ever , similarly his subsequent film ¨Someone to watch over me¨ and others as ¨Blade runner¨, ¨Black rain¨ , ¨Legend¨ in which his visual style is breathtaking .
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 exceptionally lensed drama , typical of Ridley Scotttakes place in France, 1800.During the Napoleonic Wars Lt Feraud (Harvey Keitel) wounds a man after a duel.
Keith Carradine's peace-seeking officer, without really knowing why Harvey Keitel is his sudden 'sworn enemy' (or being able to articulate what the feud is all about), extends numerous offers to patch things up, yet is called upon to defend his honor over and over throughout many years' time.
I just received one of those "list your favorites and send to x people" email things, and put this down in my four all-time could-watch-it-over-and-over movies.For his feature-length directorial debut, Ridley Scott chose this sweeping historical epic, the action of which spans seasons, decades, the entire continent of Europe -- and had severe budget constraints!
Harvey Keitel and Keith Carradine as the protagonists turned in what was probably their finest performances and the almost-unknown Ridley Scott, in his first screen film project, made the name for himself with this movie which catapulted him to big-screen status and landed him the job of directing "Alien", his break-through film.
It was if Keitel was made to star in a film like this.The camera not only does not lie, but in the hands of Ridley and Roeg, it certainly can tell a very good story.
A recurring duel lasting 15 years between two napoleonic hussars with American accent, serves Ridley Scott to film a bland picture.
The production is, literally and appropriately, named "An Enigma" and Conrad's original story is transmuted into a series of pictorially sumptuous and vacuous portraits of the Napoleonic Wars.Harvey Keitel (Feraud) and Keith Carradine (D'Hubert), with their tiny plaits and allegedly elegant uniforms, show us that ridicule is nothing to be scared of.
While people often hail Ridley Scott as the maker of films like Gladiator, Blade Runner, and Alien, they rarely talk about his debut film ‪'The Duellists'‬ which can certainly be described as the single greatest achievement of Scott's highly decorated filmmaking career.The Duellists has the look and the feel of a big budget film despite being shot on a budget that can be described as moderate at best.
The film thrives on Scott's remarkable ability to spot and adapt untouched stories of master storytellers like Joseph Conrad (in case The Duellists) and Philip K Dick (in case of Blade Runner).The Duellists basically tells the story of two Napoleonic officers who engage in a series of uncompleted duels that go on intermittently for years.
Harvey Keitel and Keith Carradine play their respective parts to a tee, brilliantly complementing their contrasting roles.The movie's cinematography, editing and music are absolutely topnotch and provide the perfect foil for Scott's ingenious direction and Gerald Vaughan-Hughes' brilliant adaptation of Conrad's short story which bear a striking resemblance to Hugo's Les Miserables.The Duellists is a underrated masterpiece and certainly deserves more attention than it has received over the last 35 years or so.
Ridley Scott's The Duelists is quite possibly the best sword fighting film I've seen, and one of the best Napoleonic period pieces, despite having no battle scenes.
This rivalry will ultimately consume them both.After two decades in the commercial world, of which he was one of the brightest stars, Ridley Scott tried his first foray into feature filmmaking with this cool, concise concept, peppering it with a host of British notables in supporting turns and lensing it with an obvious love of Kubrick's Barry Lyndon.Speaking of Kubrick's film, this is a very different beast.
The period is meticulously recreated and brilliantly anchored by Carradine and Keitel, and the few action scenes are equally efficient in their precision and diversity: from a surprisingly brutal skirmish in a barn to a tense pistol-equipped stand-off near the end, the duels are as powerful and cleverly choreographed as they are inventive, never betraying a modest budget.This is the best kind of debut: one that transcends its limitations and shows huge vigor and playfulness, while already expressing a mature vision, something Scott would unleash to even greater extent in the following few years with Alien and Blade Runner.
Watching this picture in early 80' l was impressed by such reliable tale of two soldiers and their duels through the time,without notice over Ridley Scott which a have to know on Blade Runner,in that period of time l was so young and didn't able to record many names,just the leading roles or so,Scott use a Napoleon's era as a perfect backdrop to development this remarkable story,today having a third look l realized how was deeply the Ridley's debut and telling of own words this first experience in making movies....simply outstanding!!!Resume:
By doing it, a subtle shift takes places since we get to assess the contractions of the soldiers, lives which are seeking for meaning, their lies.Having watched the Duelists more many times than I should, I just wonder why is Mr Scott so interested in going back to the Alien Franchise, when he is so skilled a director that should be able to create some evocative works of art like The Duelists..
Ridley Scott has a great reputation, making films like Alien, Blade Runner and Gladiator and is offer known for his grand and ambitious style.
He started his feature film career with the historical drama The Duellists, following D'Hubert (Keith Carradine) and Feraund (Harvey Keitel), two French Army officers and their rivalry from 1800 to 1816, battling across Europe.
There are strong sword fights and The Duellists is surprisingly violence for a PG rated film whilst exploring the hypocrisy of the ideas of the honour when it turns men into savage beasts.The Duellists is strong debut from Scott who went onto greats, making a film that easily appeal to fans of historical films, period dramas and Barry Lyndon..
'The Duellists', Scott's debut, already shows this trademark: it is one of the most beautiful yet realistic period films I've seen since Kubrick's 'Barry Lyndon'.
In truth, the visual are more attractive than the plot itself.Based on a story by Joseph Conrad, 'The Duellists' is a rather straight-forward story of the rivalry between two Napoleon-era French officers: the more humanized and reasonable d'Hubert (Keith Carradine) and the wild thrill-seeking Feraud (Harvey Keitel).
The scenery is beautiful and, just like 'Barry Lyndon' (which Ridley Scott used as inspiration), every scene is made in a way that makes them seem to be taken directly from a painting of that era.
This is a very interesting early movie from Ridley Scott, who's best known for his early sci-fi classics "Blade Runner" and "Alien" as well as his later film "Gladiator." As usual, his direction is excellent, but a lot of the times the quality of Scott's movies ultimately rests on the screenplay and story.
In this case we have a very literate adaption of a story from Joseph Conrad that matches his formal style well.The story is very simple; basically it is about two officers in Napoleon's army who strike up a dispute when the more placid and circumspect of the two, D'Hubert (Keith Carradine) is sent to fetch the arrogant and violent duelmaster Feraud (Harvey Keitel), to which Feraud takes great exception.
Even though the theme isn't terribly engaging for me, I was drawn into the drama and the story.Carradine's performance is very good, and I didn't spend much time thinking about the fact that he and Keitel are so American and so many other actors are so British but they are all supposed to be French.
"The Duellists" is Ridley Scott's first feature film, and the first of the many masterpieces he eventually graced us with in his now pretty long career as a director."The Duellists" is a period drama set in the Napoleonic wars.
It follows two French officers who fight each other in a duel every time they meet during a 15 year long period spanning the entire Napoleonic wars, and for a reason so insignificant that the protagonists and even the viewer end up forgetting it.
The scenes during the Russian winter are absolutely baffling and awe inspiring.Ridley Scott was chosen to direct "Alien" thanks to his work on "The Duellists", although the two movies are extremely different.
A French officer, D'Hubert, Keith Carradine, finds himself challenged to a series of duels by a practically sociopathetic fellow officer, Feraud, Harvey Keitel, throughout the long course of the Napoleonic Wars.
This film, the feature debut of director Ridley Scott, is one of the most beautiful movies you could hope to see.
The Duellists is directed by Ridley Scott and adapted loosely to screenplay by Gerald Vaughan-Hughes from the Joseph Conrad short story The Duel.
While the sword fights are intense and credible and never once does it feel like Scott is slotting in a duel purely for action's sake.A darn great film for the period film lover to gorge on, where the futility of war and men's obsessions blend seamlessly with visual splendour.
Ridley Scott's feature film debut is a handsome period drama taps into a historical factoid concerning a string of duels between two French Hussar officers in the Napoleonic era, in this film, the two duelists are Armand d'Hubert (Carradine) and Gabriel Feraud (Keitel), whose overall 5 duels extend nearly 2 decades and their weapon of choice changing from sabers, rapiers to pistols, once on horseback.
If you are keen on finding the rationale behind their drawn-out conflict, you may feel a bit unfulfilled, there is no feud or even rift at the first place to begin with, being his acquaintance, Armand's sole mistake is to volunteer as a messenger to deliver some not so jovial news to Gabriel, who is a wacko fanatic of bloodbath, Keitel is outright menacing and snarky in an ultimately underwritten character, because Scott plumps for the chivalry-minded Armand as the cynosure, an accountable decision since he is the one we root for unyieldingly, albeit Carradine's devoted performance, Armand's life trajectory does fall into every bromide along the fragmented narrative: he is an honest man, true to his feelings (doesn't want to settle down with his mistress Laura, played by a spunky Diana Quick, only to be thrown into oblivion perfunctorily) and doesn't shirk from his duty and will fight for his honor till his last breath, with the exception of his noble decision to anonymously save Gabriel from the gallows after Waterloo fiasco, why on earth he wants to spare his arch enemy?
This is what the film brings home to its viewers, less a mockery of foolhardy gallantry than burrowing into a man's conflict between his fighting instinct and its knock- on effects, which also compels us to divine what is the mindset behind Gabriel's outwardly monstrosity, is he psychiatrically impaired or there is something deeply nefarious worth digging (to smear Armand's loyalty toward Napoleon is such an underhand ploy), only if the story could have been a far more even-handed portrayal of them both.On the aesthetic front, Scott makes the most of the its elemental and picturesque natural locales which reminds us BARRY LYNDON (1975), but in a less heavenly fashion, the palette is more muted and more crude in impression.
Even after having not watched the film for a while, it is still quite the memorable work of art from the story to the costume design and to the music.There are some great action scenes but this is contrary to what the title of the movie might suggest.
" Directed by none other than Ridley Scott, it relates the tale of two Officers Lt. D'Hubert and Lt. Feraud ( Keith Carradine and Harvey Keitel) who elect to duel over a trivial matter which spans the length of 15 years.
The Duellists is Ridley Scott's best film.
In Napoleonic France, Lieutenant Armand d'Hubert (Keith Carradine) is sent to arrest Lieutenant Gabriel Feraud (Harvey Keitel) for fighting a duel.
...that transports you back to the Napoleonic Wars...you soon lose the sense that you are watching a film...Ridley Scotts' eye for detail makes THE DUELLISTS seem all the more real.
Film concerning a long-standing feud between two Napoleonic-era French officers, THE DUELLISTS examines the nature of honor.
Ridley Scott's first feature places Harvey Keitel (as the heavy) and Keith Carradine (the not-so-heavy) smack in the middle of the Napoleonic wars, sabers in hands and ready to rumble.
With strong performances and gorgeous visuals, the movie follows two Napoleonic officers, quiet D'Hubert (Keith Carradine) and ferocious Feraud (Harvey Keitel), as they quarrel for futile reasons and start a series of duels which will last all their lives.
Scott shot the film using natural light as often as possible, resulting in many of the interior scenes being chiaroscuros.The main themes of "The Duellists" are honor and integrity.
The movie may not be as good as Alien or Blade Runner in their respective genres, but Ridley Scott's debut film is a gorgeous affair.
In the final duel, Feraud is almost killed but d'Hubert lets him go, making Feraud wonder meaning of all the mess.Wonderful casting and direction, excellent portrayal of menacing Feraud by Keitel (almost made me hate him), commendable performance by Carradine as d'Hubert, beautiful French landscapes, Ridley Scott's brilliant portrayal of attitudes of his characters and predicaments they go through in life, makes this movie a mesmerizing one..
Ridley Scott's directorial feature film debut, "The Duellists," is one of his best and the first of many from this fine artist.
Two cavalry officers in Napoleon's army fight a series of duels over a period of fifteen years in order to settle a point of honour.Conrad is one of my favourite authors, however, films based on adaptations of his novels and stories do not always work as Conrad usually writes at length about the psychological workings of his lead characters.
It's Ridley Scott's debut film (inspired by a Joseph Conrad's tale) and it is based on a futile motive of offense turned into a 15-years-long-lasting-duel: From the time Napoleon got on charge (1800) till the beginning of the Restoration (1816).