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Duellists, The [DVD] [1977] starring: Keith Carradine, Harvey Keitel, Albert Finney, Edward Fox, Cristina Raines

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Rating: - Attractive movie experience

This film falls beautifully on the eye, seductive photography and meticulous detail provide an attractive movie experience. Accepting the title I could not empathise with the 2 central characters, duelling must be a "man thing". The bonus short film, Boy and Bicycle, is a treasure even social documentary that has greatly inspired me. Scott's visual artistry is evident albeit innocent and unpolluted by commercial formula. Any aspiring film maker must see this short.

Rating: - Scott's forgotten gem

Even if you haven't read Conrad's book it is clear to see that 'The Duellists' stands as visual tour de force in telling the story. Scott does a wonderful job in portraying how a complusive obsession to cross swords dominates the lives of two military officers from Napoleon's Grande Armmee. This is a dramatic story told through pituresque stills underpinned by an exciting script from start to finish. Viewers may be forgiven for noticing the similarities between 'The Duellists' and Kubrick's 'Barry Lyndon' as both films are based on landscape paintings but this only adds to the stunning look of the backgrounds that shroud the intense duel scenes between D'Hubert and Feraud. This particular DVD edition also offers good extras including commentary from Scott and fellow director Keven Reynolds. However, the real treat for more devoted fans will surely be Scott's first short film 'Boy and Bicycle' which takes us through the industrial wastelands of North East England. Over and above the strangness of this art house piece Scott's impressive camera work under natural light does very well to capture the crumbling housing stock and polluted beaches of the time. From his meticulous attention to detail viewers can appreciate the genesis of Scott's visual style which becomes more obvious in his blockbuster films including 'Alien', 'Bladerunner' and 'Gladiator'.

Rating: - Plot flaws more than made up by superb photograpy

This is simply the most beautiful, lush piece of film making I have ever seen. It's classical oil painting transformed into film. Take some Ingre and David, blend with some Turner and a dash of Caspar David Friedrich. The film can seem a little slow and episodic, and the concept of honour that it describes is difficult to comprehend these days, but this is more than balanced by the superb quality of acting, photography, casting and scenery. A little gem. I've watched it 4 times now, and look forward to watching it again.

Rating: - Without doubt, a five star flick...

Based on Joseph Conrad's book "The Duel", the true story of a 30-year feud between two Napoleonic cavalry officers, "The Duellists" was Ridley Scott's first major film. Starring Keith Carradine as the pompous D'Hubert and a particularly menacing Harvey Keitel as Feraud, the film climbs inside the minds of two men for whom honor is more important than life itself.

The two antagonists begin their series of bloody encounters when D'Hubert is ordered by his commanding general to arrest Feraud for wounding the local mayor's nephew in a duel. Feraud, in a hopelessly irrational state, challenges D'Hubert to a duel, which is carried out more or less on the spot. D'Hubert comes off slightly better in the initial encounter, which only serves to fuel Feraud's rage, and the course of the film is set.

The cinematography of this film, shot by Frank Tidy, is almost beyond comparison. The previous versions on VHS simply looked muddy and rather washed out. The colors lacked any real saturation, rendering Feraud's bottle-green dolman black and it almost looked like a poor quality black and white in some scenes, especially those set in Napoleon's abortive Russian campaign.

The DVD transfer, by contrast, is staggeringly beautiful and releases colors, which I did not realize existed in the original. I am, by coincidence, a professional cameraman and I rate this as the best shot film I have ever seen. The only criticism I have is a somewhat inconsistent use of graduated filters, which, whilst they were probably quite innovative for their day, don't always work well. Grads are always a problem and any film made since will tend to suffer the same way. A very minor point.

The costumes and settings; mostly in The Dordogne, make the film not only totally authentic but defy the viewer to believe that it was made on a shoestring budget. The visual splendour challenges any modern filmaker to create the same effect without spending a vault full of money to achieve it. That is only part of the appeal of the film.

The acting performances, particularly by Keitel, want for nothing. The scene with Feraud standing on a cliff overlooking the river valley, taken in context, makes you realise that his life and pretensions to honor have been for nothing. His mania for revenge has cost him everything. Melded to the other performances with superlative skill by Ridley Scott, this film is a masterpiece and has now gone from a film I liked a lot to one which is now firmly wedged in my top ten. Like as not, it will stay there for a long time.

Rating: - Excellent period piece

Scott's first feature is a spectacularly beautiful period piece set in Napoleonic times. Not only is it pretty to look at, it also demonstrates one of Scott's trademark qualities; the ability to create a believable, richly textured universe. Everything here FEELS just right.
The acting as well is top of the line and the story itself is a solid adaptation of Joseph Conrad's excellent short story.
It's not as groundbreaking as 'Blade Runner', as appealing as 'Thelma & Louise' or as kinetically exciting as 'Gladiator' or 'Black Hawk Down' but it's pretty darn good in its own way.

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