A Singularly Pointless Anecdote

That is how my well-thumbed copy of Halliwell's describes Ridley Scott's directorial debut, The Duellists. That is a bit too strong a denigration and we should note that Halliwell does accord the movie one lonely star - a mark of noteworthiness in the Halliwell system that grants stars only to the minority of pictures. No doubt the star was in acknowledgement of the film's indisputable cinematographic qualities. In addition, the fight sequences (largely confined to the sequence of ludicrous and barbaric duels fought between Keith Carradine and Harvey Keitel) are bloody and gripping.

The tale (it is based on Joseph Conrad's fictionalised retelling of a true story of French military madness) is simple - the psychotic Keitel takes every opportunity that presents itself to kill his fellow officer Carradine. The ctach is that he has to do so under the ritualistic codes of duelling, hence the episodic structure. What we have is toxic masculinity gone wild. As I say, the Keitel character is psychotic, but the Carradine portrayal is of a man in reluctant thrall to the same toxic nobility. A trifling anecdote maybe, but not a pointless one. 61/100.