{"id":10038,"date":"2009-11-11T12:48:11","date_gmt":"2009-11-11T19:48:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=10038"},"modified":"2022-09-11T22:52:56","modified_gmt":"2022-09-12T05:52:56","slug":"duellists-the-1977","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=10038","title":{"rendered":"Duellists, The (1977)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;The duelist demands satisfaction; honor for him is an appetite.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/Duellists-Original-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/Duellists-Original-Poster-192x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"192\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-37617\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/Duellists-Original-Poster-192x300.jpg 192w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/Duellists-Original-Poster-82x128.jpg 82w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/Duellists-Original-Poster.jpg 320w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 192px) 100vw, 192px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nA truculent French soldier (Harvey Keitel) challenges a cavalry officer (Keith Carradine) to a duel, thus setting off a 15-year feud that lasts throughout the Napoleonic era .\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Feuds<\/li>\n<li>Harvey Keitel Films<\/li>\n<li>Historical Drama<\/li>\n<li>Keith Carradine Films<\/li>\n<li>Ridley Scott Films<\/li>\n<li>Rivalry<\/li>\n<li>Soldiers<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary&#8217;s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nAs Peary notes, this &#8220;excellent, highly original&#8221; first feature by Ridley Scott features &#8220;exquisite photography&#8221; by D.P. Frank Tidy and meticulous &#8220;attention to period detail&#8221;. Unlike Scott&#8217;s later blockbuster films &#8212; such as <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=16783\"><em>Alien<\/em> (1979)<\/a>, <em>Blade Runner<\/em> (1985), and <em>Gladiator<\/em> (2000) &#8212; <em>The Duellists<\/em> (based on a 60-page short story by Joseph Conrad) was &#8220;not an ideal commercial project&#8221;, and has remained more of a favorite with critics than with the masses. Keitel and Carradine&#8217;s series of &#8220;exciting, brutal and realistic&#8221; duels &#8212; which &#8220;parallel the ongoing, equally senseless Napoleonic Wars&#8221; &#8212; are posited as a thinly veiled attack on &#8220;nations that are enemies because of events that happened long ago and are long forgotten&#8221;. Interestingly &#8212; and perhaps strategically &#8212; it&#8217;s never made entirely clear why Keitel&#8217;s Feraud challenges Carradine&#8217;s D&#8217;Hubert to a duel in the first place; we simply get the sense that he&#8217;s a pugnacious, &#8220;temperamental brute&#8221; who&#8217;s continually &#8220;itching for a fight&#8221;. While it&#8217;s difficult not to wish that Scott&#8217;s original choices to play D&#8217;Hubert and Feraud &#8212; Michael York and Oliver Reed (sigh) &#8212; had been cast, I&#8217;ll agree with Peary and most other critics that Carradine and Keitel, despite their anachronistic American accents, eventually emerge as compelling leads. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A compelling tale of an enduring rivalry<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/duellists-duelling.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/duellists-duelling.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"312\" height=\"240\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-10042\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Frank Tidy&#8217;s gorgeous cinematography<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/duellists-cinematography.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/duellists-cinematography.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"312\" height=\"240\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-10043\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Impressive period detail<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/duellists-period-detail.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/duellists-period-detail.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"312\" height=\"240\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-10044\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Fine supporting performances<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/duellists-supporting.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/duellists-supporting.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"312\" height=\"240\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-10045\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, as an impressive debut by a master director. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Important Director<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0075968\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1978\/01\/14\/archives\/new-movie-the-duellists-is-set-during-napoleonic-wars.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s686duel.html\">DVD Savant Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.qnetwork.com\/index.php?page=review&#038;id=1098\">Q Network Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/73738\/the-duellists#articles-reviews?articleId=253294\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;The duelist demands satisfaction; honor for him is an appetite.&#8221; Synopsis: A truculent French soldier (Harvey Keitel) challenges a cavalry officer (Keith Carradine) to a duel, thus setting off a 15-year feud that lasts throughout the Napoleonic era . Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Feuds Harvey Keitel Films Historical Drama Keith Carradine Films Ridley Scott Films Rivalry Soldiers Response to Peary&#8217;s Review: As Peary notes, this &#8220;excellent, highly original&#8221; first feature by Ridley Scott features &#8220;exquisite photography&#8221; by D.P. Frank&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=10038\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10038","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10038"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10038\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":87303,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10038\/revisions\/87303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}