The Duellists, a period drama directed by Ridley Scott in his directorial debut, has a compelling premise about two French officers whose rivalry leads to frequent duels, but ultimately falls short due to its emphasis on style over substance.
The film is adapted from a short story by Joseph Conrad called The Duel, based on the true tale of two French military men, Pierre Dupont de l’Étang and François Fournier-Sarlovèze, who had it out for each other and fought seventeen duels over two decades. The Duellists, which takes place between 1800 and 1816 during the Napoleonic era, begins with Lieutenant Gabriel Feraud (Harvey Keitel) fighting a duel and seriously injuring the city mayor’s nephew in Strasbourg, causing the mayor to order Lieutenant d’Hubert (Keith Carradine) to place Feraud under house arrest. After being confronted by d’Hubert about the arrest, Feraud takes it as a personal insult and dares him to a duel, setting in motion the long-term feud between these two men that serves as the film’s driving conflict.
There are several time jumps throughout the film, and each segment features at least one showdown between the two rivals. A few basic guidelines for fighting a duel are that “both the participants should be of the same rank in the army” and “there will be no fight if the state is at war because duels between nations take precedence.” As honorable and disciplined military men, they adhere to the rules fervently. The duels between two men grow in scale as the film progresses, ranging from sword combat to horseback dueling to pistol combat. The fights are violent and meticulously choreographed, and the shaky camera movements add a raw and realistic feel to the action. However, these fight scenes lacked tension and a sense of progression, reducing their overall impact. Consider a film like Barry Lyndon (1975), which also had a duel fight. The entire sequence had a terrific buildup, and as the duel began, there was dramatic tension and anxiety about who would prevail, which was missing in this film.
The film’s technical aspects are top-notch, especially its cinematography, which makes good use of the beautiful settings of the French countryside. Cinematographer Frank Tidy shoots the outdoor scenes with gloomy skies and misty green landscapes. Ridley Scott has said that Stanley Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon, a film that takes its aesthetic cues from 19th-century paintings, was an influence on his visual approach. Seeing some of the interior wide-angle shots (with numerous characters in the frame) and outdoor visuals in The Duellists will remind you of Kubrick’s masterpiece.
Even though The Duellists is about the rivalry between two men, the film suffers from uneven characterization, with most of the film shown from d’Hubert’s perspective and Feraud’s character relegated to the background. Feraud comes across as an unlikeable character with no redeeming qualities, making it difficult to understand his actions or empathize with his character, both of which were necessary in his case. Also, both Keitel and Carradine felt miscast in the film, especially Keitel, with him speaking with a 20th-century New York accent in 19th century France, due to which the film does not feel entirely authentic. Though I understand the A-list casting of Keitel and Carradine for commercial reasons instead of French-speaking actors, they could have at least tried to speak English with a French accent.
Despite the thin script and not-so-rich characterization, Ridley Scott demonstrates in his directorial debut that he has a solid technical command and an eye for visual storytelling, which we see him explore further in his future filmography.
The Duellists movie link: IMDB
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