Review of The Duellists (1977) by Jay J — 18 Jun 2010

If you've ever wanted to see the work of a master film maker, this is the film to see. Essentially, this film explores the ideas of a strict code of honor and also passion beyond reason, bordering on violent fixation. Based on the Joseph Conrad short story (titled "The Duel"), the story is set in Napoleonic France. An Army Lieutenant, Gabriel Feraud (played by Harvey Keitel) kills a man in a duel of "honor", and a General orders another Lieutenant, Armond D'Hubert (played by Keith Carradine) to tell Feraud that he is under arrest. Feraud takes offense to D'Hubert seeking him out, demands satisfaction & forces D'Hubert into a duel he does not want to fight; the duel ends in a draw. Over a period of 20 years, Feraud seeks out D'Hubert and forces him (due to the concept of "Honor") to fight duel after duel. Ultimately, Feraud forgets why he called D'Hubert out in the first place, but that is not important to him; he's blindly fixated on D'Hubert as the source of all his problems and feeds his spite on him.

The Duellists was Ridley Scott's first venture into cinema, and he showed a directing mastery unexpected for a first time film maker. This film was made for $900,000 (hilarious by today's standards; most films have craft service budgets larger than that). With little money to work with, Scott focused on the strength of his story & shot the entire film on location (again, unheard of by today's standards); he used tricks like showing a side street with several soldiers hurredly walking in it to suggest a busy town, as it was all he had available to him, and his choices were perfect. This is a very strong story with characters with whom you become emotionally invested. The look of the film is unbelievable; it's so majestic and beautiful that it pulls the viewer into that time period without their knowledge. The musical score is magnificent, as is the sound work; the last scene of Feraud standing on top of a cliff overlooking a rain soaked valley (with the sounds of the wind, seagulls & rain dripping from leaves, intermingling with the film's score) is exquisite & worth the price of admission alone. The ending is unexpected and a parable in itself. All in all, an unbelievably engrossing & magnificent film created by a film master who was soon to be revealed to the rest of the world.

The critics were unanimous in hailing this film as a tour de force, a masterpiece; it won the 1977 Palm d'Orb award at the Cannes Film Festival. And, after having created such a universally acclaimed film out of almost nothing, how did Paramount Pictures reward Ridley Scott's efforts? By releasing only 7 prints of the film in the US, guaranteeing that virtually no one would see it and it would be a financial flop. Unbelievably shortsighted of the studio; they had a Ferrari and they made a bumper car out of it (which answers the question why so many film makers hate the Hollywood studio system & work independently). Ridley Scott would have the last laugh; he would go on to direct some of the biggest and best received films in Hollywood history.

Buy this film, rent it, do whatever but see it. This is one film you will not be sorry you did.