The first thing one notices about Ridley Scott's first feature film The Duellists
is that it's visually striking. The cinematography is absolutely stunning
and the shots seem to be plucked out of classical paintings.
The Duellists tells the story of one-upmanship of two Hussar officers in
Napoleon Bonaparte's army who, over a petty little issue, fight a
series of duels for nearly two decades!
Let's have a look at two of the most prominent themes that surface in the film.
The film's opening voiceover tells us-
'The duellist demands satisfaction.
Honour for him is an appetite. The story is about an eccentric kind of hunger.'
Clearly, the theme of honor is something Ridley Scott is really fond of.
He has sought to explore it in several of his works-
The thrillers- Black Rain (1989)
and GI Jane (1997),
Historical epics- Gladiator (2000),
Kingdom of Heaven (2005)
and Robin Hood (2010).
However, it's right here in his very first work that he effectively presents his ideas.
As James Mahon, in his brilliant essay on the themes of the film, writes-
'Honor requires that once D'Hubert
accepts Feraud's first challenge to a duel, he must fight.
Honor also demands that he continue to fight him over the years.
It's a single long drawn-out duel.
After all, the novel by Joseph Conrad
from which the film is inspired, is simply titled-
The Duel.
In the film's production notes, Scott interpreted the story as-
In other words, what rage is to Feraud, honor is to D'Hubert.
Feraud is always looking for a reason to get into a duel.
It fuels his rage.
D'Hubert, at the other end of the spectrum,
is willing to do what is against his desire and nature-
to risk his glorious career, let his beloved girlfriend Laura go away,
and towards the end, endanger his pregnant wife,
who could very well be a widow if things go wrong.
All this, just to cater to his ego.
The film essentially then, is a cycle of violence— an act of one-upmanship.
Feraud is a rabid Bonapartist. In fact, his character is modeled on the
notorious French statesman Napoleon.
For Feraud, fighting is the es sence of military existence;
he is not concerned at all with the hierarchy of rank
as much as D'Hubert, who advances in position as the film progresses,
to eventually become the General as he is able to concur
and camouflage with the political situation in order to gain advantage.
Fearud considers D'Hubert's rise as a conspiracy
and a cowardly manoeuvre to avoid fighting with him.
In the second half of the film, Fearud is seen wearing a black bicorn hat,
which is clearly alluding to Napoleon and in the final shot,
Feraud is seen standing on a hillside with that very hat,
contemplating what just transpired.
As Scott stated later,
this image is based on the paintings of Napoleon in exile on the island of Saint-Helena.
D'Hubert has just robbed Feraud of his
favorite pastime, which is essentially his fuel.
As he states,
"You'll fight no more duels now. By every rule of single combat, your life belongs to me.
You shall keep at my disposal as long as I choose."
Feraud is baffled, offering to be killed instead.
In Conrad's novella, he laments-
"It amounts to sitting all the rest of my life
with a loaded pistol in my drawer, waiting for your word.
Feraud, the defeated and disgraced duellist
shall now tread his beloved Emperor's path.