“We came here to kill each other. Any ground is suitable for that.”

Drake’s rating: En garde!

Drake’s review: Two years before undertaking Alien, Ridley Scott made his directorial feature debut with another story about an unforgiving monster focused on death. But instead of a toothsome and seemingly indestructible xenomorph, the creature here is a boorish and merciless Harvey Keitel, who unrelentingly pursues his target through early 19th century France.

And honestly, being chased by an angry Keitel is no picnic, either.

Keitel plays Gabriel Feraud, a lieutenant in Napoleon’s 7th Hussars, who opens the film by engaging in a duel which he wins handily. Unfortunately, his opponent was the nephew of the local burg’s mayor, and Feraud is now in a bit of trouble with his superiors. Sent to retrieve Feraud is Lt. Armand d’Hubert (Keith Carradine), who unwittingly sows his destiny for the next two decades with this seemingly simple task. Feraud takes offense to an imagined slight and demands an immediate duel. D’Hubert accepts and knocks Feraud unconscious with the pommel of his sabre, but the fight isn’t over. In fact, it’s only just begun.

Set against the backdrop of the Napoleonic wars, The Duellists is the tale of two men inextricably linked by honor and violence. D’Hubert takes the concept of honor seriously, refusing to even speak of Feraud’s combative nature to his superiors when pressed. He engages in violence, of course, as it is his profession, but he never shows signs of delighting in it.

Feruad, on the other hand, enjoys nothing more than inflicting violence on another. He is a man who might well have been at home in an even earlier age, brawling among the Visigoths or raiding with the Vikings. But stuck as he is in the France of the 1800s, Feraud uses honor as just another weapon, claiming it to be breached merely to undertake in yet more bouts of aggression.

Keitel and Carradine are impeccably cast. Keitel is short and stocky, brimming with dark rage in every frame. Even on those rare occasions when he smiles his eyes are black pits of anger. Carradine, by contrast, is tall, blonde and graceful. He speaks in quiet, cultured tones and has an open, friendly manner. They are polar opposites, drawn together by their differences into a years-long struggle that only one man can win.

And of course this is a Ridley Scott film, so it is gorgeous. Shot largely in a rural area of France, Scott takes advantage of his location’s scenic backdrops. The film revels in the natural beauty overflowing in the background, even as Feraud and d’Hubert clash in the fore. Scott fills the screen with beauty and with action, and one can see the beginnings of the director that’s just a few years away from Alien and Blade Runner.

As the years progress, the two men clash again and again, but the fights are never conclusive. D’Hubert is willing to end their disagreements after the second duel but Feraud will have none of it. He wants d’Hubert dead, and will spend years of his own life attempting to make that happen.

Late in the film the men’s opposing natures have led them down divergent paths. Feraud, a Bonapartist, is imprisoned and awaiting death after the Battle of Waterloo. D’Hubert, now happily married and a General in King Louis XVIII’s army, quietly intercedes and saves his old foe. Again, it’s a matter of honor. He dislikes Feruad, but cannot bear to see a man he once served alongside so unceremoniously killed.

But d’Hubert’s honor may yet be his undoing as, sixteen years after he forced the first duel, Feraud once again comes after his imagined nemesis. And this time, at long last, there will be a conclusive end to their years-long feud.

So if you couldn’t tell by the lack of my usual snark, I think The Duellists is a great film. Visually entrancing, the action set pieces are enthralling and intense thanks to fight choreographer William Hobbs, whose other work includes Richard Lester’s The Three Musketeers and John Boorman’s Excalibur. I rarely recommend a movie without reservation, and indeed, if the notion of two grown men trying to kill each other over the course of a decade and a half for virtually no reason doesn’t interest you in the least, then give The Duellists a pass. But if you want to see the stylistic beginnings of an accomplished and visionary director, and some of the best dueling scenes ever put to film, then this one is a must-see.

Intermission!

• The Duellists was based on Joseph Conrad’s “The Duel,” a novella which itself is based upon a real-life series of duels between two French officers over the course of 19 years.
• Despite weeks of shooting dueling scenes, Keith Carradine was only injured on the last day of filming in France after his horse threw him against a tree.
• The winter scene in Russia is the only part of the film shot outside of France. It was filmed instead on a mountain range in Scotland.