The Duelists, based on a story by Joseph Conrad - 9.5. out of 10

The Duelists, based on a story by Joseph Conrad
9.5. out of 10


When I first saw this splendid motion picture, some thirty or more years ago, I was overwhelmed by its beauty, the rather incredible story of strange honor and, as far as I can remember, the eroticism of a few scenes - in the communist days, censors were hostile not only towards subversive political messages, but also flaunting nudity and thus we could rarely see intimacy on the big screen...alas, towards the last years of the Ceausescu regime, we couldn't see much of any film, never mind with anything interesting in it.

The cast is phenomenal in this film, especially Keith Carradine, Harvey Keitel, Albert Finney, Edward Fox and Cristina Raines.
The story is absorbing and rather absurd, all at the same time.

For we are invited to watch two adults - granted, one is much more sensible than the other, although he still plays along, observing preposterous rules of conduct - as they fight duels over...

Decades!

Having said that, this is not an absurd, modern day naive and lame conflict between Batman and Superman, two comics characters that keep coming at each other.
The Duelists is a meditation on honor, what has meaning, valor, determination, perhaps even the manner in which fashions change...it is amusing to see the proud officers display some weird, thin, pony tails...a few of them for each, hanging on the sides of their heads.

Keith Carradine plays Armand d'Hubert, one of The Duelists, the reasonable, decent, smart, brave, in short, the one we identify with, while Harvey Keitel is Gabriel Feraud, compulsive, dishonest, stubborn, insecure, probably- no, scratch that and put surely - psychotic character.
The latter would lie about the initial flimsy reason for the first duel and pretend that his opponent had insulted his majesty, Emperor Napoleon.

In the first part, they are both fighting in the Napoleonic wars and meet in various places, from Lubeck to the Russian front, but towards the end, the decent officer would join the royalist corps, stating that the restored monarchy has to rely on fighters who have learned the trade from the emperor's campaigns.
Wherever they meet, mad Feraud would insist on a new duel and they fight quite a few.

D'Hubert is hoping at different stages that his nemesis would not see him or that a different in rank would exclude any dueling.
A soldier would not be allowed to fight a duel with a colonel.

Nevertheless, they each have the same promotions and end up as generals.
In one of the memorable scenes, during the humbling, gruesome defeat from Russia, when much of the Napoleonic army is decimated by the cold, hunger and disease, Feraud provokes yet again his enemy to a duel.

I mean, give me a break is what anyone would think!
We are all about to die anyway, we don't need to murder each other.

Pride and honor though force d'Hubert to accept the challenge.
They move away from the troops, but they face an isolated Cossack...or if he wasn't a Cossack, he was with the other army anyway.

The Duelists shoot and kill this laughing fool - well, perhaps he wasn't a fool, just a brave one whose faith would rather have him die in battle than fifty years later in his bed - and a couple of his companions, after which the others run.
You would think that this moment in which they saved each other's lives - and d'Hubert would do that again for the crazy Feraud, some time later - would create a bond and they would at least stop dueling after this nadir.

You would be wrong.