Review of The Duellists (1977) by Colm M — 13 Apr 2011

Ridley Scotts first feature. I had the luck of catching this movie on Film4. After 5 minutes of watching I had a strong suspicion that it was a response by Scott to Kubricks Barry Lyndon. After checking good old wiki during an add break my suspicions proved to be correct.

So the question remains; is it a worthy response? The answer is a catagorical yes. The visuals are just as stunning and ,as in Barry Lyndon, it is all captured naturally with no effects. This was Scotts main aim apparently.

The story like Lyndon involves duels but in this movie it is the main focus. It also has a narrator and on a minor point it also employs the use of the actress Gay Hamilton who played Barry Lyndons first love.

She appears briefly near the beginning. The movie takes place in history just after the period in which Barry Lyndon is set ,during the Napoleonic Wars and beyond but Scotts masterpiece (yes I said masterpiece) has no playful element.

It is based on a true story and it is a commentary on the honour code that existed during this era. Regarding the acting some have suggested that Carridine and Keitel are hard to believe because of their accents.

I discount this criticism because an english accent would be no closer to being authentic for obvious reasons. I found that both actors were brilliant. This lucky find is going on my favourites list. The movie found me.

How often does that happen? For me Scotts movie is better. Unlike Lyndon it is not overly long and it should be noted that it was done with less than one tenth of Kubricks budget.