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The Duellists
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Wikipedia article
'The Duellists' is a 1977 British historical drama film and the feature film directorial debut of Ridley Scott. It won the Best Debut Film award at the 1977 Cannes Film Festival. The basis of the screenplay is the Joseph Conrad short story "The Duel" (titled "Point of Honor" in the United States) published in 'A Set of Six'.
A novelization of the film by Gordon Williams, which included historical contexts and slightly expanded the plot, was published by Fontana Books in Great Britain in 1977 and by Pocket Books in the United States in 1978.
Plot
Strasbourg 1800
:'Opening Duel with Mayor's Nephew/First Duel: Sabres'
In Strasbourg in 1800, Lieutenant Gabriel Feraud of the French 7th Hussars, a fervent Bonapartist and obsessive duellist, nearly kills the nephew of the city's mayor in a sword duel. Under pressure from the mayor, Brigadier-General Treillard orders one of his staff officers, Lieutenant Armand d'Hubert of the 3rd Hussars, to locate Feraud and place him under house arrest. D'Hubert finds him at the house of Madame de Lyon, a prominent local lady, but when he delivers the order, Feraud takes it as a personal insult. Matters are made worse when Feraud demands of d'Hubert if he would "let them spit on Napoleon" and d'Hubert doesn't reply to Feraud's satisfaction. Upon their reaching his quarters, Feraud challenges d'Hubert to a duel. The result is inconclusive; d'Hubert slashes Feraud's forearm and causes him to fall backwards, hitting his head and knocking himself unconscious, but when d'Hubert goes to assist him he is attacked and facially scratched by Feraud's mistress. As a result of the fight, the general dismisses d'Hubert from his staff and returns him to active duty with his regiment.
Augsburg 1801
:'Second Duel: Small Swords/Third Duel: Heavy Sabres'The war interrupts the quarrel and the two do not meet again until six months later in Augsburg in 1801. Feraud immediately challenges d'Hubert to another duel with small swords and seriously wounds him. While recovering under the care of his mistress Laura, d'Hubert takes lessons from a fencing master and in the next duel (held in a cellar with heavy sabres), the two men fight each other to a bloody standstill. Soon afterwards, d'Hubert is relieved to learn he has been promoted to captain, as military discipline forbids officers of different ranks from duelling.
Lubeck 1806
: 'Fourth Duel: Sabres on Horseback'The action moves to 1806 when d'Hubert is serving in Lbeck. He is shocked to hear that the 7th Hussars have arrived in the city and that Feraud is now also a captain. Aware that in two weeks time he is to be promoted to major, d'Hubert attempts to slip away but is spotted by Feraud's perpetual second. Feraud challenges him to another duel, to be fought on horseback with sabres as "a compliment to the cavalry." Before the duel, d'Hubert happens upon his former mistress Laura. Initially a happy reunion, she chastises him for continuing to duel Feraud, saying that he will eventually be killed, before bidding him a tearful farewell. The duel is attended by many personnel from the military, especially cavalry, and a breakfast party is held by the spectators on the side while observing the duel.
In the encounter, d'Hubert slashes Feraud's forehead; with blood flowing into his eyes, Feraud can no longer see to fight. D'Hubert considers himself the victor and leaves the field ebullient, jumping his horse over a hay cart. Soon afterwards, Feraud's regiment is posted to Spain while d'Hubert remains stationed in Northern Europe.
Russia 1812
: 'Duel disrupted'Six years later, in 1812, the pair (both now colonels) chance upon each other during the French Army's retreat from Moscow, but are forced to cooperate after being separated from the main force. Russian Cossacks attack, forcing d'Hubert and Feraud to fight together instead of against each other. After they have driven off the enemy with their pistols, prompting d'Hubert to suggest (perhaps sarcastically) that their next duel be fought with pistols, d'Hubert offers Feraud a celebratory drink from his flask, but Feraud silently turns and walks away. Making his way back on his own, d'Hubert comes across Feraud's perpetual second, frozen to death in the snow.
Tours 1814
Two years later, after Napoleon's exile to Elba, d'Hubert is now a brigadier-general recovering from a leg wound at the home of his sister Leonie in Tours. She introduces him to Adele, the niece of her neighbour, and the couple fall in love. Colonel Perteley, a Bonapartist agent, attempts to recruit d'Hubert as rumours of Napoleon's imminent return from exile abound, but d'Hubert refuses. When Feraud, now a Bonapartist brigadier-general, learns this, he declares he knew d'Hubert was a traitor and that he (d'Hubert) "never loved the Emperor", which was why he (Feraud) had originally challenged him.Paris 1816
: 'Final Duel: Flintlock Pistols'
After Napoleon is defeated at Waterloo, d'Hubert marries Adele and joins the army of Louis XVIII. Feraud is arrested and is expected to be executed for his part in the Hundred Days war. Learning of this, d'Hubert calls upon the Minister of Police Joseph Fouch and persuades him to spare Feraud (with d'Hubert requesting that his part in the reprieve be kept secret). Feraud is paroled to live in a certain province under police supervision, while d'Hubert and Adele prepare for the birth of their first child.
After Feraud learns of d'Hubert's promotion in the new French Army, he sends two of his former officers to d'Hubert with a challenge for a flintlock pistol duel. Reluctantly, d'Hubert agrees to the terms. The two men meet in a ruined chteau on a wooded hill, entering the woods from opposite sides. However, Feraud is tricked into rapidly discharging both his pistols and d'Hubert catches him at point blank range. But instead of shooting him, d'Hubert says that the rules of single combat dictate that he now owns Feraud's life, and that from now on in all future dealings with d'Hubert, Feraud must "conduct [himself] as a dead man". From that moment on, Feraud can never again challenge d'Hubert to a duel.
With that, d'Hubert returns to his life and happy marriage. The film ends with a solitary Feraud gazing at the horizon in silent contemplation as he faces ending his days in provincial exile, locked away like his beloved Emperor, and unable to pursue the obsession of dueling that has consumed him for so many years. The scene references paintings of the former emperor in his South Atlantic exile (e.g. 'Napoleon on Saint Helena' by Franz Josef Sandmann).
Cast
* Keith Carradine as Armand d'Hubert
* Harvey Keitel as Gabriel Feraud
* Albert Finney as Joseph Fouch, Minister of Police
* Edward Fox as Colonel Perteley, a Bonapartist agent
* Cristina Raines as Adele, later d'Hubert's wife
* Robert Stephens as Brigadier-General Treillard
* Tom Conti as Dr Jacquin, an army surgeon and friend of d'Hubert
* John McEnery as Feraud's tall second in the final duel
* Arthur Dignam as d'Hubert's one-eyed second in the final duel
* Diana Quick as Laura, d'Hubert's mistress
* Alun Armstrong as Lieutenant Lecourbe, a friend of d'Hubert
* Maurice Colbourne as Feraud's second
* Gay Hamilton as Feraud's mistress
* Meg Wynn Owen as Leonie, d'Hubert's sister
* Jenny Runacre as Madame de Lionne, a lady in Strasbourg
* Alan Webb as the Chevalier du Rivarol, Adele's uncle
* Matthew Guinness as the Mayor of Strasbourg's nephew
* Dave Hill as Cuirassier
* William Hobbs as Swordsman
* W. Morgan Sheppard as the fencing master
* Liz Smith as the fortune teller
* Hugh Fraser as Officer
* Michael Irving as Officer
* Tony Matthews as Treillard's aide-de-camp
* Pete Postlethwaite as Treillard's orderly (this was his first feature film appearance)
* Stacy Keach as the Narrator (voice only)
Production
Development
'The Duellists' would mark the feature film debut of Ridley Scott, who had previously made television commercials. Its visual style was influenced by Stanley Kubrick's historical drama 'Barry Lyndon' (1975). In both films, duels play an essential role. In his commentary for the DVD release of the film, Scott comments that he was trying to emulate the lush cinematography of Kubrick's film, which approached the naturalistic paintings of the era depicted.Due to budgetary constraints, Scott decided to shoot the film in a series of tableaux to indicate chapters of the story. The film was made with advice from military historian Richard Holmes.
Writing
, the basis for FeraudScott initially hired Gerald Vaughan-Hughes to write a story about Guy Fawkes and the 1605 Gunpowder Plot but when financing fell through,Parrill, p.30 Vaughan-Hughes adapted the screenplay from the 1907 novella 'The Duel' by British-Polish writer Joseph Conrad. The genesis of Conrad's story were the real duels during the Napoleonic era between two officers in France's 'Grande Arme', Pierre Dupont de l'tang and Franois Fournier-Sarlovze, who became DHubert and Feraud in 'The Duel'. In 'The Encyclopedia of the Sword', Nick Evangelista wrote:
The pair fought their first duel in 1794 from which Fournier-Sarlovze - known as the worst subject of the 'Grande Arme' - demanded a rematch. At least another 30 rematches then occurred over the next 19 years in which the two officers fought mounted and on foot with swords, sabres, and pistols. After l'tang finally bested Fournier-Sarlovze in a duel, he told him to leave him alone for good. Fournier-Sarlovze died aged 53; l'tang lived till he was 74.
Although Vaughan-Hughes screenplay used many elements from 'The Duel', it created new scenes like the duels at the start and the end of the film and new characters.Parrill, pp.32-34
Filming
Many exteriors were shot in and around Sarlat-la-Canda in the Dordogne region of France. The winter scenes set during the retreat from Moscow were shot in the Cairngorms of Scotland, near Aviemore. The final duel scene was filmed at the unrestored Chteau de Commarque.Critical reception
The film holds a 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 27 reviews, with an average score of 7.4/10 and the critical consensus: "Rich, stylized visuals work with effective performances in Ridley Scott's take on Joseph Conrad's Napoleonic story, resulting in an impressive feature film debut for the director."
Vincent Canby of 'The New York Times' wrote: "The movie, set during the Napoleonic Wars, uses its beauty much in the way that other movies use soundtrack music, to set mood, to complement scenes and even to contradict them. Sometimes it's all too much, yet the camerawork, which is by Frank Tidy, provides the Baroque style by which the movie operates on our senses, making the eccentric drama at first compelling and ultimately breathtaking."Canby, Vincent (January 14, 1978). "New Movie, 'The Duellists,' Is Set During Napoleonic Wars". 'The New York Times'. 10. Pauline Kael of 'The New Yorker' wrote, "'The Duellists' is an epic yarn; we sit back and observe it, and it's consistently entertainingand eerily beautiful."Kael, Pauline (January 23, 1978). "The Current Cinema". 'The New Yorker'. 80. Gene Siskel of the 'Chicago Tribune' gave the film two-and-a-half stars out of four and wrote, "The story might have worked if there were an undercurrent of attractiveness to Keitel's loutish character. But he is an unwavering boor from start to finish, and his prowess with weapons is in no way redeeming."Siskel, Gene (April 2, 1979). "'The Duellists': Pretty, but plot is a lost cause". 'Chicago Tribune'. Section 2, p. 7. 'Variety' wrote that Ridley Scott "does have an eye for fine compositions, period recreation and arresting tableaus. But it is somewhat surface and too taken up with poses it rarely illuminates the deeper human aspects of these two flailing men.""Film Reviews: The Duellists". 'Variety'. June 1, 1977. 17.
Charles Champlin of the 'Los Angeles Times' wrote that the sword fights were "the best I've ever seen" and called the story "refreshingly different from standard film content."Champlin, Charles (January 27, 1978). "Taste of Steel in 'Duellists'". 'Los Angeles Times'. Part IV, p. 1. Michael Webb of 'The Washington Post' wrote, "The film has the pictorial beauty and rich period sense of 'Barry Lyndon' (1975), but adds the narrative drive and passion that Kubrick's film lacked."Webb, Michael (June 3, 1977). "Cannes Festival: A Case of Expecting the Worstand Getting It". 'The Washington Post'. B4. David Ansen of 'Newsweek' wrote, "The best you can say about the film the directing debut of Ridley Scott is that it provides an unusually civilized experience in these days of movie barbarism The worst that can be said is that Keitel and Carradine are so perversely cast as French hussars that, whenever they speak, the splendid illusion of nineteenth-century Europe is shattered."Ansen, David (January 30, 1978). "Misfire". 'Newsweek'. 55.
The film is lauded for its historically authentic portrayal of Napoleonic uniforms and military conduct, as well as its generally accurate early-19th-century fencing techniques as recreated by fight choreographer William Hobbs..
The film is included in the second edition of 'The New York Times Guide to the Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made', published in 2004.[https://web.archive.org/web/20080612032429/https://www.nytimes.com/ref/movies/1000best.html The Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made.] 'The New York Times' via Internet Archive. Published April 29, 2003. Retrieved June 12, 2008.
Home media
On 29 January 2013, Shout! Factory released the film on Blu-ray.[http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-Duellists-Blu-ray/52668 "'The Duellists' Blu-ray"]. Blu-ray.com. Retrieved 5 February 2014. The release coincided with the publication of an essay on the film in a collection of scholarly essays on Ridley Scott."[https://www.academia.edu/12374141/Honor_in_The_Duellists A Double-Edged Sword: Honor in The Duellists]", in 'The Culture and Philosophy of Ridley Scott', eds. Adam Barkman, Ashley Barkman, and Jim McRae (Lexington Books, 2013), 45-60.
References
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