The Duellists

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The Duellists
French film poster
Directed by	Ridley Scott
Produced by	David Puttnam
Written by	Gerald Vaughan-Hughes Joseph Conrad (story)
Starring	Keith Carradine Harvey Keitel Edward Fox Albert Finney
Music by	Howard Blake
Cinematography	Frank Tidy
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date(s)	December, 1977
Running time	100 min.
Language	English
IMDb profile

The Duellists (1977) was Ridley Scott's first feature film, based on the Joseph Conrad short story "The Duel" published in A Set of Six. Set during the Napoleonic Wars, it features two French Hussar officers, D'Hubert and Feraud (played by Keith Carradine and Harvey Keitel). Their quarrel over an initially minor incident turns into a bitter, long-drawn out struggle over the following fifteen years, interwoven with the larger conflict that provides its backdrop. The Keitel character is painted as an allegorical representation of Napoleon, and Carradine is a representation of the countries which opposed Napoleon. At the beginning, Feraud is the one who jealously guards his honor and repeatedly demands satisfaction anew when a duelling encounter ends inconclusively; he aggressively pursues every opportunity to locate and duel his foe. As the story progresses, D'Hubert also finds himself caught up in the contest, unable to back down or walk away.

The film has been compared to Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon. In both films, duels play an essential role. In his commentary for the DVD release of his film Scott comments that he was trying to emulate the lush cinematography of Kubrick's film, which approached the naturalistic paintings of the era depicted.

Tagline: "Fencing is a science. Loving is a passion. Duelling is an obsession."