The Duellists (1977)

Director:

Ridley Scott

Writers:

Joseph Conrad (story)
Gerald Vaughan-Hughes (writer)

Release Date:

31 August 1977 (France)

Genre:

Action | War | Drama

Tagline:

Fencing is a science. Loving is a passion. Duelling is an obsession.

Plot:

Set during the grand, sweeping Napoleonic age, an officer in the French army insults another officer and sets off a life-long emnity...

Plot Keywords:

Honor | Sword Fight | Duel | Reference To Napoleon | 1810s

Awards:

Nominated for 2 BAFTA Film Awards. Another 2 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Keith Carradine	...	D'Hubert
Harvey Keitel	...	Feraud
Albert Finney	...	Fouche
Edward Fox	...	Colonel
Cristina Raines	...	Adele
Robert Stephens	...	Gen. Treillard
Tom Conti	...	Dr. Jacquin
John McEnery	...	Chevalier
Diana Quick	...	Laura
Alun Armstrong	...	Lacourbe
Maurice Colbourne	...	Second
Gay Hamilton	...	Maid
Meg Wynn Owen	...	Leonie
Jenny Runacre	...	Mme. de Lionne
Alan Webb	...	Chevalier

Also Known As:

Duel (UK) (working title)

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | Russian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Netherlands:12 | Australia:M | Brazil:12 | Portugal:M/12 | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Singapore:PG | Sweden:15 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) (1987) | USA:PG | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Aquitaine, France

Company:

Enigma Productions

Trivia:

In the Notes for the liner of the soundtrack album, the writer states that both director Ridley Scott and producer David Putnam "were of the same mind about (composer Howard Blake's) score, and requested Blake to write a huge, almost Wagnerian closing composition for the film - stating they would adjust the length of the end credits to whatever Blake wrote."

Goofs:

Continuity: In the opening scene, Harvey Keitel's character's sword strikes home in the upper chest (near the heart) of his opponent, then the film cuts to a side view of the opponent depicting the sword as having entered his stomach area.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Narrator: The duellist demands satisfaction. Honour, for him, is an appetite. This story is about an eccentric kind of hunger. It is a true story and begins in the year that Napoleon Bonaparte became ruler of France.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in 'Kingdom of Heaven': Interactive Production Grid (2005) (V)

Soundtrack:

Bist du bei mir

A fine wine of a movie

The whole touch and "feel" of this marvellous movie is like slowly sipping a wonderfully rich and satisfying glass of superb wine. 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. The duelling is rivettingly realistic and the characters of the two main protagonists are rounded, deep and fascinating. Keitel is just a plain nasty man who is arrogant, hate-filled and remorselessly vindictive, never forgetting an enemy, even one of his own creating from an imagined slight. The resulting feud drags on for about 15 years, with Keitel determined to avenge himself and kill his more honorable and sometimes rather bemused arch-enemy out of blood-lust, pure vindictiveness and a desire to inflict a humiliating defeat - something he is repeatedly denied. The end solution is perfect. Sit back and enjoy a brilliant and ageless portrayal of two men caught up in the Napoleonic Wars, including the mercilessly cold Retreat from Moscow. Usually I don't particularly care for this kind of repeat-fighting gendre of a movie but this somehow manages to climb out of that kind of a mire. Out of 10, I rate this another flawless 10.