Review of Anton Chekhov's The Duel (2010) by Jim H — 18 Jun 2012

An aristocrat who questions his relationship with a married woman incites the ire of a scientist in the Russian countryside.

Everything worth loving about Chekhov - the subtlety, the well-drawn characters, the crises of conscience - is here and filmed beautifully. I especially liked the performance by Andrew Scott as Vanya who performs a scene that is described in the script as "hysterics," but I think the best phrase is an "existential paroxysm." The Duel is a film built on subtext, and it takes a sharp, discerning eye to appreciate why the characters behave as they do, each action sharply motivated.

I thought that the subplot of Vanya's financial difficulties was never resolved, but I suspect that an apologia for this film would suggest that larger existential issues over-weighed money; it's true, but a commitment to solving all his problems would not have been hard to show.

Overall, Anton Chekhov is one of world literature's great writers, and The Duel displays all the great aspects of his work.