The Duellists

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The Duellists

French film poster
Directed by Ridley Scott
Produced by David Puttnam
Written by Gerald Vaughan-Hughes
Joseph Conrad (story)
Starring Keith Carradine
Harvey Keitel
Edward Fox
Albert Finney
Music by Howard Blake
Cinematography Frank Tidy
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release date(s) December, 1977
Running time 100 min.
Language English
IMDb profile

The Duellists (1977) was Ridley Scott's first feature film, based on the Joseph Conrad short story "The Duel" published in A Set of Six. Set during the Napoleonic Wars, it features two French Hussar officers, D'Hubert and Feraud (played by Keith Carradine and Harvey Keitel). Their quarrel over an initially minor incident turns into a bitter, long-drawn out struggle over the following fifteen years, interwoven with the larger conflict that provides its backdrop. The Keitel character is painted as an allegorical representation of Napoleon, and Carradine is a representation of the countries which opposed Napoleon. At the beginning, Feraud is the one who jealously guards his honor and repeatedly demands satisfaction anew when a duelling encounter ends inconclusively; he aggressively pursues every opportunity to locate and duel his foe. As the story progresses, D'Hubert also finds himself caught up in the contest, unable to back down or walk away.

The film has been compared to Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon. In both films, duels play an essential role. In his commentary for the DVD release of his 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.

Tagline: "Fencing is a science. Loving is a passion. Duelling is an obsession."

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